‘The Bachelor’ Season 23, Episode 5, Recap: Colton & The Ladies Head To Thailand

This week on The Bachelor, Colton Underwood and the ladies have moved from Singapore to Thailand.

Right out the gate, the ladies receive a date card and discover that it’s a one-on-one with Heather, who has never been kissed before. 

During their date, the two take a scenic boat ride to Ko Panyi, a floating city built on stilts, and Heather repeatedly assures us that she wants to kiss Colton at some point today. 

The two then move onto dinner where Heather opens up about a failed relationship with a guy who was “perfect on paper” and had all the qualities she was looking for, but ultimately felt a lack in chemistry. She then went on to assure Colton that despite never having a first kiss, it didn’t have to come from her husband and that she was just looking for “some magical moment.” Colton then offered her the date rose, which followed by the 23-year-old’s long-awaited first kiss!

Meanwhile, back at the resort, Elyse is seen feeling “heartbroken” over watching Colton go on date after date with other women. That’s when the group date card arrives and Elyse looks to it for validation of their relationship. The group date card is then addressed to Demi, Caelynn, Hannah B., Sydney, Tayshia, Kirpa, Onyeka, Nicole, Hannah G., and Elyse, making Cassie the next one-on-one, making Elyse disappointed.

Heather then returns to the women’s suite and tells everyone about her date. As Heather tells the girls about being kissed for the first time, Elyse tries her best to remain calm and keep a straight face. Then while Heather’s still talking, Elyse gets up and walks out of the room and everyone is left confused, but in agreement on how she looked “really good” in her “statement dress.”

Elyse heads to Colton’s room to tell him that she wants all the time and attention that “a real relationship deserves.” The two then have a heart-to-heart, with Elyse admitting that she could never accept a proposal after sharing him with other women. “You want something that I can’t promise,” she said. 

We then see Elyse’s departure leaving Colton bummed, but still level headed enough for the group date the next day. 

On the group date, Colton takes the women to the jungle where they eat raw bananas shoots and small elephant poo. Hannah B. even went as far as eating a whole bug and Nicole grabbed an eel as Tayshia let a scorpion crawl down her bare arm. Meanwhile, Colton barely touches a snake and then runs away because it was peeing. 

Their guide then tells the girls to break into three teams and for a challenge to go into the jungle on their own to find water and food. With team number one consisting of Kirpa, Caelynn, Tayshia and Onyeka coming in first place, while Demi, Hannah B., and Hannah G decided to play “easier” and “smarter,” returning with “burgers and booze.”

The ladies then went into the after-party where drama unfolded after Onyeka approaches Colton with a warning that Nicole was only interested in him so that she could “get out of Miami.” Apparently, before Elyse left, she told Onyeka that she heard Nicole say that she’s only there to find an opportunity to leave Miami. When confronted with the statement and conversation, Nicole insists that it’s not true. Meanwhile, Onyeka tells the other girls what she did and Tayshia sticks up for Nicole claiming that she was actually there for the conversation in question and that the whole thing had been misconstrued. Tayshia tells Onyeka that she should have just come to Nicole directly instead of going to Colton and creating a whole thing over a misunderstanding. Colton then proceeds to end of the night by giving Hannah B. the group date rose. 

The next day Cassie is up for her one-on-one date with Colton, where he takes her on a deserted island in the middle of the sea. They spend most of the night making out, with a short break to talk, where Cassie admits that she’s nervous about putting her personal life out there. She worries that her family and community will know she’s not a virgin and might judge her for it. Colton assures her that he would never judge her and declares that he’s “crazy for her,” earning her the date rose. 

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We then reach the pre-rose ceremony cocktail party, where the Nicole and Onyeka drama continues after Nicole tells Colton that Onyeka has been bullying her. Naturally, Onyeka denies bullying and belittling her and that’s when the two women pull each other to the side to have a private conversation that quickly escalates into a shouting match. Colton hears the ruckus and steps in to mediate and calm them down, but they continue to argue back and forth until Colton gets up and storms off. Nicole and Onyeka then run after him but he escapes to the beach telling them that he just “needs some time alone.”

The episode then ends with Colton walking along the beach, saying “I’m over this” before going into the TO BE CONTINUED screen.