By David McAlpine

Last night on The Bachelorette, it came down to Ed and Kiptyn, the lovable guy from Chicago who wants to marry Jillian instead of his job, or Kiptyn, the sexy love magnet from San Diego who has never had his heartbroken. After meeting her parents and the last chance dates, all signs pointed to Kiptyn as the winner, but Jillian decided to give him (and Reid, who came back one last time to propose) the ax, picking Ed as her man-to-be.

So, tonight, we get to see the first public meeting (or so ABC says) of Jillian and Ed, the new happy couple, as well as Kiptyn and Reid.

But first, we get to catch up with America’s sweetheart, Melissa Rycroft. I mean, let’s face it, she got crushed on national television by the biggest Bachelor villain pre-Wes, then went on to get engaged by someone twice as good as Jason, almost won Dancing with Stars (proving she has millions of fans), and appears on Good Morning America. What doesn’t she have? She makes that very clear after we watch her get dumped by Jason yet again at last season’s After the Final Rose. But now she’s all smiles! And we love her for it.

First up in the hot seat is Kiptyn, who is clearly the audience favorite, which prompts me to say yet again that I think he was the man to pick. Hands down. And seeing him out there getting a little teary-eyed thinking about all that happened just two months ago is enough for my heart to go out to the guy in a major way. Kiptyn says his heart was broken and he was crushed, but now he’s doing fine.

Enter Jillian, and they seem fine with each other. It doesn’t seem like Kiptyn has any questions for her, and he says that he’s happy about when he said “I love you” and when he spilled his feelings. It seems like it was almost a backhanded jab at emotional Ed, which I enjoyed. Then Jillian says she didn’t realize he had a ring (yeah, right!) until he felt his pocket after she dumped him. Cue Kiptyn: “I was looking for my heart!” And he said it in that half-true, half-joking way that it was just the right zing that the moment needed. Is he the next Bachelor perhaps?

Reid comes out next, looking slightly less calm and significantly more upset than Kiptyn. The tape rolls and Reid sees himself get down on one knee, then watches as Jillian pulls him up and gives him the big fat n-o. Unlike Kiptyn, Reid is upset that he didn’t tell her he loved her earlier, and you can see the tears bubbling to the surface. I didn’t think that these guys were actually going to fall this hard for Jillian—but they did. And as it becomes more and more apparent, this becomes harder and harder to watch.

Reid keeps making the point that he called ABC many, many times to come back, which I really don’t believe. How many phone calls do you think Jake made to come back (besides the fake one to Tanner P.)? Reid also says that he thought he had Jillian when she first saw him come back. He genuinely thought she was going to accept his proposal, driving it home more that she took his heart and crushed it with her 5-inch stilletos.

Enter Jillian, who is a lot more awkward with Reid because the emotion is radiating throughout the room. He has everything to say, but nothing to say at the same time because he has enough class to not air his own feelings on national television. You can see the bitterness brewing, though, as Jillian reminds us again how hard it was to reject Reid. So Reid then does ask her about if things would have changed if he would have told her how he felt earlier. Her response: well, given these two months and how happy I am, probably not.

Harsh, Jillian, harsh. So then Reid jokes about wanting to ask about the fantasy suite (yet another well placed zing in Jillian’s direction), and awkward silence between the two follows. Reid gets asked a question by one of his fans (who looks like she’s 16), as well as gets asked out. See, Jillian? You missed your chance with two great guys.

Now the happy couple comes out and everyone is gushing over them. Ed reveals that he wasn’t sure that she was going to pick him until he saw her looking at him as he stepped out onto the podium. Apparently they haven’t spent more than a week apart, Jillian is planning to move to Chicago with Ed in September, and they’re likely going to get married in the next 12 months. Bets on how long this will last? I’m 50/50 on this one.

Ed gets questioned about his unusually short swimsuit, which Jillian gushes over (I mean, she was ok with the foot thing, too, so that doesn’t surprise me), and about the fantasy suite. Says Jillian: “There are nooooooooooooo bedroom problems now!”

Awkward, but a finite ending to the show, except for one problem—who is going to be the next Bachelor? Chris leads us to believe that he hasn’t been picked yet, so could it mean that our string of lovers who have lost could be over? As much as I love the guys from this season, maybe it would be nice to see someone new come on, get some fresh blood in the cast. But hey, if Jake or Kiptyn come back, I’m sure as hell not complaining.

Stay tuned to RealityWanted for exclusive interviews with the newest reality TV couple Jillian and Ed, as well as runner-up Kiptyn!

(Image courtesy of ABC)

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