A Brief History Of The Seriously Dramatic Ending Of Kaitlyn Bristowe’s Bachelorette

The next installment of The Bachelor: The Greatest Seasons — Ever! focuses on one of the greatest seasons ever: Kaitlyn Bristowe's Bachelorette. Kaitlyn's season had everything: A ton of future Bachelor in Paradise stars, pre-fantasy suite sex, two Bachelorettes (that part was a mistake), future Bachelor Ben Higgins, a performance by the Cranberries. But, the main source of drama was Kaitlyn's final two contestants: Shawn Booth and The Other Guy.

Excuse me. Sorry. "The Other Guy" is what Shawn called finalist Nick Viall, because he refused to even speak his name. That's good drama right there.

The season started off chill enough for Shawn. He got the first impression rose. Kaitlyn was into him. But, in week 4, Nick showed up. Nick had been the runner-up on the previous season of The Bachelorette with Andi Dorfman, but she chose Josh Murray over him. Nick wanted to see if Kaitlyn would let him join her season since they'd met in the real world and he was still interested in her. Kaitlyn allowed Nick to become a contestant and things got very dramatic from there.

This is to say, all the other contestants hated Nick. He'd already been on The Bachelorette, so they didn't trust that he was there for the right reasons. Plus, he was a huge threat because he and Kaitlyn had already met outside of the show. It only got worse when it became clear that Kaitlyn really liked Nick. Then, she hooked up with him prior to fantasy suites, which she told Shawn about during week 8. Obviously, Shawn was not happy about this, and it only added fuel to the fire of their rivalry. Which, really, was more of a one-sided rivalry with Nick trying to play it cool, but Shawn literally refusing to say his name. Adding to the intrigue for viewers, there was also a part where Shawn said Kaitlyn told him he was "the one" while they were off-camera.

When the finale rolled around, Kaitlyn had to decide between Shawn, a jealous man who looked like an intimidating Ryan Gosling and who had not been on The Bachelorette twice, and Nick, a kind of dorky guy who seemed genuine, but had been on The Bachelorette twice. (Really, she had already decided, but viewers didn't know that.)

Unfortunately for Nick, when he arrived at the Bachelor mansion on proposal day, Kaitlyn turned him down after his speech. Yep, Kaitlyn's finale was held at The Bachelor mansion rather than at some gorgeous international locale. (Side note: What gives? Were there budget cuts?)

As for Shawn, he proposed, Kaitlyn accepted, and it was made clear that she really had spoiled the finale on Snapchat, as many fans already suspected. Shawn and Kaitlyn stayed together for over three years before announcing their breakup in November 2018. According to her, during the relationship Shawn's issues with Nick remained.

These days, Shawn is seemingly single and owns a gym in Nashville. Kaitlyn has a variety of ventures, from podcast hosting to a line of wine. She's dating Jason Tartick, a contestant from Becca Kufrin's Bachelorette season.

Nick went on to appear on Bachelor in Paradise season 3 and become the Bachelor for season 21. He got engaged to Vanessa Grimaldi, but they split a few months after the finale aired.

Now, after all these people have been through, The Bachelor is making everyone relive it all over again. Good times.