The Bachelorette 2022 contestant Nate Mitchell was in the hot seat on the August 29 "Men Tell All" special.
Nate, 33, was grilled by host Jesse Palmer about online rumors that alleged he had dated two women at once—before romancing one of this year's two Bachelorettes, Gabby Windey, on the show.
There was plenty of drama to dissect on the special episode as Palmer, Gabby, and this year's other Bachelorette Rachel Recchia were reunited with 14 of Season 19's most unforgettable men.
Fans had been anticipating Nate's interview and Palmer started by asking him how it felt to watch back his breakup with Gabby. The couple had formed an intense romantic connection during Nate's time on the ABC show but Gabby made the tough decision to end things in Week 6, due to her concerns over potentially becoming stepmother to Nate's young daughter.
"Seeing how beautiful our journey was, it just brought up so many raw emotions," the electrical engineer said of the emotional breakup scenes. "Even though we broke up, it was still a beautiful moment that I got to share in time with her."
Nate was then grilled about online rumors he did not tell a former girlfriend that he had a daughter for over a year. Nate explained: "I went through a pretty traumatizing time when I went through divorce and essentially, the foundation that was built around my daughter was pretty much crumbled.
"And the one thing that I protect most in this world is my daughter. I would never bring her into a situation I thought was dangerous, a situation that I feel is unstable. And so it just made me put a wall up protecting my daughter from the instability of my dating life."
Palmer then pressed Nate on further rumors, started by the same ex who said she didn't know about his daughter, that suggested he was "dating two women simultaneously."
"I would say I'm deeply sorry for the way that I acted," Nate responded. "I should've been more communicative. I should've been more clear in my actions and I pray that you forgive the man that I was because I'm not that same person."
Elsewhere on the Men Tell All episode, former Bachelorette contestant Logan Palmer, who had to leave the show right before the hometown visits after contracting COVID-19, spoke out about his decision to switch teams from Rachel to Gabby.
After some crossover in their love interests early in the season, Gabby and Rachel implemented new rules that meant the men on The Bachelorette had to choose which woman they were there for and could only pursue one for the remainder of the season.
Logan initially chose Rachel but later decided he had feelings for Gabby and was allowed to change course, much to the annoyance of the other men who were on Team Gabby at the time.
"I saw this moving connection with Gabby and so I accepted a rose and you know, if that's seen as a b***h move, so be it," Logan told Palmer of his shock switch up. "But I thought it was worth exploring if it means spending the rest of my life with someone."
"I wish I had done it in a more graceful way that didn't affect so many people...but I don't regret pursuing Gabby, no," he continued.
Logan added: "I'm sorry for making things even more hard than they needed to be, but I hope they can just see my heart is in the right place."
Ahead of the Men Tell All special, Palmer revealed to viewers that Rachel and Gabby didn't send anyone home at the latest rose ceremony. This means that in the upcoming Fantasy Suites episodes, viewers will see Gabby share dates with Erich, Jason, and Johnny, while Rachel has Aven, Tino and Tyler still in the running.
There will be two Fantasy Suite episodes this year, presumably because there are two Bachelorettes. The first Fantasy Suite episode will air on Monday, September 5, with the second then following on Tuesday, September 13.
The season finale and After the Final Rose live special will then air Tuesday, September 20.
The Bachelorette continues on ABC. Episodes are available to stream on Hulu after their original airing.
Uncommon Knowledge
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Newsweek is committed to challenging conventional wisdom and finding connections in the search for common ground.
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