‘The Bachelor’ Recap: Victoria P.’s Revelation Over ‘Fake’ Contestant Causes Peter To Panic

ABC’s latest episode episode of the Bachelor on Monday started off with a bang as dramatic as the sound of a champagne cork popping.

That’s right, #Champagnegate is still in full force. This week, Hannah Ann cries to Kelsey, hoping that Kelsey will believe that she didn’t steal the champagne in last week’s episode. (I mean, technically she did steal the champagne – that’s what it’s called when you take something that’s not yours. But true, Hannah Ann seemingly didn’t know the bottle was Kelsey’s and didn’t have malicious intentions when she shared it with Peter.)

Hannah Ann calls Kelsey a bully, which Kelsey denies and Kelsey then proclaims that her beef with Hannah Ann wasn’t even about the bottle. “I don’t even really like champagne,” Kelsey says.

Meanwhile, Victoria P. is off on a solo date with Peter where they line-dance while shopping for cowboy boots, which is totally considerate of other shoppers. The date continues in an airline hanger where Victoria opens up to Peter about her past, including her father’s death and mother’s drug addiction. She tells Peter she’s assumed a caretaker role since she was young as she always took care of her younger sister as they grew up in and out of shelters and often went hungry. She said that all she wanted when she was growing up was to have a family.

Peter says that hearing this story told him “what type of person” Victoria is. He then gets religious, confessing that before The Bachelor started filming, he prayed that God would watch over his future wife. “The second that I said that, a shooting star went across the sky,” he said, which is sweet, but also kind of has nothing to do with Victoria P. Sure, she could be that future wife, but his “sign” from God wasn’t a “V” appearing in a constellation or anything that would signal that Victoria is the one for him. Seems like an anecdote he could repeat to just any of these girls. But it was apparently good enough for Victoria P., who gladly accepted a rose at the end of the date.

The next morning, Kiarra, Sarah, Tammy, Kelley, Shiann, Savannah, Sydney and Alayah get awakened for their group date by none other than former Bachelor and Bachelor in Paradise contestant Demi Burnett. The women are hit with pillows by Demi’s “henchwomen” and given pajamas to wear for their group date with Peter. Everyone gets cute lingerie, except for Savannah, who must have recently spit in a  producer’s coffee or something because she gets a moo moo, AKA the type of frumpy night gown you’d see your great aunt Marge wear.

Demi takes them all to Cowboy Palace Saloon for an “Extreme Pillow Fight Club” where the women beat the living hell out of each other while Fred Willard and Chris Hanson judge the competition and Peter cheers them on. Fun date idea, right?

“Having a history in pageants, I think Alayah’s gonna be worried too much about messing her hair up,” Sydney says. Despite this, Alaya “The Royal Pain” and Sydney “Syd Vicious” make it to the final round where Alaya comes out victorious, winning a crown and a kiss from Peter.

Syndey’s not having it and says that Alayah “puts on the little pretty princess facade” and thinks that Alayah is “fake and “manipulative.” Later that night the women are all gathered around and Sydney confront Alayah in person.”You sound so rehearsed,” Sydney tells Alayah, letting her know that Peter’s here to meet a real person, not someone (like Alayah, cough cough) who’s “put on.”

Sydney then tells Peter that she thinks Alayah puts on a facade with him. Peter is scared about falling for someone “fake,” and approaches the group of women, urging them to keep it 100 with him. “Be real, be raw, be yourself,” he says. He then gives Syndey the group date rose. “I appreciate you being honest with me,” he says.

Alayah gets mad at Sydney for making Peter doubt her, and Sydney tells Alayah that her personality seems fake and it seems like she’s putting on a show for the cameras, implying that she’s doing the show for fame.

The next day, Peter and the women have a pool party instead of a cocktail party, where Peter attempts to suss out whether Alayah is #fake or not. Frankly, it’s hard to take him seriously as he interrogates the other women about Alayah in red, white and blue striped swim trunks. While Kelsey and Natasha both agree with Sydney’s assessment of Alayah’s character, the biggest revelation comes from Victoria P. Victoria confesses to Peter that she knew Alayah before the show from pageantry, but that Alayah convinced (or perhaps manipulated?) Victoria to not tell anyone that the two knew each other.

Peter confronts Alayah about this, and she is aghast, as shown by the intense close up on her stunned face. She admits to Peter that she told Victoria P. to stay quiet about the two knowing each other, but denies that she was being manipulative. Instead, she tries to convince Peter that she was afraid she and Victoria P would get eliminated if the producers knew their connection.

Peter isn’t buying it. He tells  Alayah that she doesn’t “look genuine” and that he has “a lot to think about.” He walks off and cut to Chris Hanson, who has the worst job because no one is ever happy to see him. Chris tells the women that Peter has gone home and that they’ll have to wait to see him at the rose ceremony. Mykenna freaks out because she didn’t get one on one time with Peter and is worried she won’t get a rose.

Peter is struggling whether to listen to his heart – which tells him that he likes Alayah and wants her to stick around – or his head – which tells him that Alayah is bad news. Unfortunately, his consternation doesn’t cease up at the rose ceremony where he must decide whether to give Alayah the boot or not.

Peter gives roses Kelsey, Hannah Ann, Natasha, Lexi, Madison, Shiann, Kelley, Kiarra, Tammy, Savannah, Deandra, but freaks out and walks out of the room once only two roses remain.

Peter consults with Chris Harrison about whether he’ll regret giving Alayah the rose or not. The two return to the Rose Room, where Chris removes a rose from the table, announcing that Peter will now present the final rose.

And it rose goes to… Mykenna, much to her relief and Alayah’s dismay. Looks like Peter isn’t taking any chances with Alayah though her gives her a goodbye hug and tells her, “This was not easy for me at all.” Easy or not, Alayah is gone, as is her dream of becoming Mrs. Weber… if that was her true intention by coming on The Bachelor.