‘The Bachelorette’ episode 8 recap: Nate addresses internet rumors on ‘The Men Tell All’

This week’s episode of “The Bachelorette” picks up where we left off with the final hometown date in Salem, MA with Aven and Rachel.

Aven’s hometown date with Rachel

Rachel expresses to Aven that she is very nervous to meet his parents because they did not approve of his last two girlfriends that he brought home. He reassures her that she has nothing to worry about.

Before meeting Aven’s family, the couple first visits a witchcraft shop (or should I say, “shawp” as the local owner calls it) and meets Lorelei, the self-proclaimed “Love Witch.” She performs a love spell and tells Rachel and Aven to follow their heart (well, actually, their “haht”).

After some spooky spells, Rachel meets Aven’s mom, Dawn, and his Dad, Arthur and tells them about how she and Aven had an instant connection. Arthur is skeptical and asks how this kind of relationship on a television show could fit into the real world.

Though initially doubtful, Rachel wins over both of Aven’s parents. His dad says that she’s a “catch” and is welcome to the family. After meeting the parents, Aven tells Rachel he is falling in love with her. She is thrilled, and although she doesn’t tell him this, she tells the audience that she thinks she’s falling in love with him too.

“The Men Tell All” begins

Jesse opens up “The Men Tell All” section of the episode by telling us that although they won’t be airing the rose ceremony, Gabby and Rachel offered roses to all of their remaining men. So that means Jason, Johnny and Erich will move on to fantasy suite week with Gabby, and Zach, Tino and Aven will move forward with Rachel.

Next we introduce the men seated on the stage including Roby (remember? the magician?) who now has platinum blonde hair. We see a highlight reel of all the drama from the season like Chris getting the boot early and Hayden telling Gabby she was “rough around the edges.” Chris and Hayden weren’t there to defend themselves, so we’re left to wonder what their side of the story might have been.

Logan takes the hot seat

At least one controversial contestant did make an appearance: Logan. Upon taking the hot seat on stage, he defends his decision to switch from team Rachel to team Gabby. He says that he was constantly battling between not wanting to make the two women’s journey difficult but at the same time needing to follow his heart. As you can imagine, the other men had a few choice words to say about that.

Nate addresses rumors swirling on social media

Next up, Nate steps onto the stage and into the hot seat. He gets emotional watching back his highlight reel and breakup with Gabby saying it was one of the toughest goodbyes he ever had to do.

He addresses internet rumors about his past relationships. One rumor was about how he kept his daughter a secret while dating someone for quite some time. He says that he didn’t involve his daughter in order to protect her since he didn’t want to bring anything into her life that might cause instability.

Gabby and Rachel face the men

The ladies are next up to face all the men they’ve rejected. Mario in particular felt like Gabby “did him wrong” by sending him home while allowing Logan to stay.

Rachel addresses the shocker where she sent Jordan V. home during their very first one-on-one date. She says that she didn’t want anyone to feel like they were being strung along and ultimately followed her heart.

After a very serious discussion between the ladies and the men, we are given some levity with everyone’s favorite part: bloopers! The shenanigans continue and Meatball pours sauce all over his body…again.

We get a sneak peek at the rest of the season which is sure to be the most dramatic finale in Bachelorette history. Don’t miss it all as the drama continues next Monday on ABC.