The Bachelor traveled to Australia’s Gold Coast for the randy “fantasy suites†episode this week, where, for the first time in the show’s history, the women weren’t given the privacy of their own lodging while contemplating if they wanted to have sex with a mediocre white man. Instead, the trio of Hannah Ann Sluss, Madison Prewett, and walking red flag Victoria Fuller were forced into a nightmarish pillow-talk setup at a communal hotel suite for the entirety of their stay, in the hopes they would all divulge their sexual exploits with Peter Weber to each other. The arrangement was particularly difficult for Prewett, who, at the beginning of the episode, confirmed a lingering suspicion about herself: She’s a virgin who’s saving herself for marriage. When Sluss and Fuller implied the morning after their respective dates that sex indeed occurred, Prewett was visibly distraught, as she previously told Weber that she would likely leave if he was intimate with the other women.
The hotel arrangement seemed particularly cruel to Prewett, and in a new interview on the Bachelor Happy Hour podcast, host and producer Chris Harrison admitted the unprecedented move was done to expedite the drama surrounding her virginity. “There are things we do as producers that will force you into this uncomfortable zone and force you into making this decision,†Harrison said. “Yeah, it was tough love, and it was really awkward, and again, in the history of the show, I don’t know if we’ve ever done this. But we decided to do it this week because there are conversations that needed to be had, and it was because I think the double standard and the things that Peter was gonna deal with, we needed the women’s perspective on this.†He added that it was deemed necessary for Prewett “to face Victoria and Hannah Ann and have them express their emotions on this.â€
The episode concluded with Weber telling Prewett that he had, in fact, been “intimate†with the other women, an admission that prompted her to cut their date short and tearfully leave. “I just feel really hurt,†she told him, “and I can’t change who I am.†In previews for what happens next, Prewett is absent from the rose ceremony. Congrats, Weber! You played yourself.