Fans missed Kelley Flanagan at The Bachelor: Women Tell All, but the show is apparently trying to make it up to everyone by bringing her to The Bachelor finale's After the Final Rose special. Naturally, fans were quick to hope it was more than just a makeup appearance for a non-WTA invite. (She was in Los Angeles and everything! It would have been so easy to include her!)
At the top of the show, the camera panned to show Kelley in the audience and host Chris Harrison said, "Kelley, it’s good to see you in the house tonight. Important that you're here." Bachelor creator Mike Fleiss also hinted at Kelley's appearance on Twitter ahead of the taping, writing, "Wait... Was that Kelley backstage? Couldn’t be…"
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Wait... Was that Kelley backstage? Couldn’t be... #TheBachelor
— Mike Fleiss (@fleissmeister) March 10, 2020
Everyone's being so coy about the whole thing, which is naturally sending much of Bachelor nation into theorizing overdrive. Is there any way it's because the theory that Peter Weber is with Kelley actually true? Is she there because Peter's going to break up with Hannah Ann Sluss and propose to Kelley instead? The Bachelor writers clearly know their audience, because by having Harrison point out that Kelley was there right after mentioning that engagement ring creator Neil Lane was there, they basically set Twitter on fire. This show is notorious for trying to make fans jump to conclusions, and that's exactly what The Bachelor was up to, but fans on Twitter were already on their way.
"KELLEY GOT AN INVITE TO THE FINALE WHAT DOES IT MEAN," Bachelor fan Brett S. Vergara tweeted. Another viewer tweeted a conspiracy theory board joking about trying to solve this mystery. Everyone was immediately in a tizzy.
KELLEY GOT AN INVITE TO THE FINALE WHAT DOES IT MEAN #TheBachelor pic.twitter.com/KOQAhmDehR
— Brett S. Vergara (@BrettSVergara) March 11, 2020
bachelor fans trying to figure out why chris harrison just said it’s important that kelley and neil lane are in the house #TheBachelor #TheBachelorFinale pic.twitter.com/gblD9j46Xn
— kathleen (@kathleen_hanley) March 11, 2020
I like how ABC keeps zooming in on Kelley in the audience like ‘SEE SHE’S HERE NOW OK PLEASE STOP YELLING AT US” #TheBachelor
— Brett S. Vergara (@BrettSVergara) March 11, 2020
Sorry, Kelley stans, the wild Bachelor finale didn't circle back to your gal for a big reveal. She was just there to appease Twitter and witness the drama of it all. But at least we now know one thing — she's seemingly back in ABC's good graces. Next stop Paradise? Please?
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