Let me specify that I have no inside information about Ed or Wes on this. But to comment I guess it depends on how one defines "girlfriend". It would seem that Wes had a significant single girlfriend when he went on the show, and one wonders if he would have left this sig other if he had been picked by Gillian. The comment about Ed, on the other hand, leads me to believe he may have has a couple of girls who he dated from time to time, but no true girlfriend to have to decide to leave upon being picked.
Some people never really date multiple people at one time (I never did) but others seem to develop relationships this way.
The Bachelorette's Jillian Harris and her fiancé Ed Swiderski deny reports that he is a cheater.Us Weekly reports that Ed slept with former girlfriend Lindsey Johnson just days after he popped the question to Jillian. On Wednesday's Good Morning America, Johnson also said that Ed emailed her while he was filming, and exited the show soon after citing the need to get back to work. But another former flame, 24-year-old Betheny Steffen, claims to Us that she slept with Ed before he returned two weeks later to win back Jillian's heart.
http://www.tvguide.com/News/Bachelorette-Ed-Cheats-1008677.aspx