I knew the ending beforehand, but I was still surprised. Surprised at just how cruel Ashley was to Ben. I liked Ashley and JP. I liked JP. I thought there were many times during the season where JP was definitely the frontrunner, and it showed.

But . . .

Here's a girl who, in one season, mentioned Bentley more times than Obama mentioned change in his entire campaign, and Bentley was there for mere weeks. So when, exactly did Ashley "fall"? If it was so early on, why did she continue to lead Ben on the way she did. The lubing with the sunscreen in the previous episode and the mud in this one was way too much. While my heart absolutely broke for him, I was also so happy he left the way he did.

Samboobree, brought to life by Arkie

Agree that the overt sexual behavior with Ben, when she had already decided on JP was pretty disgusting and again, very immature. All the seasons try to keep you guessing, getting it down to the final 2, and actually editing to making it look like the loser will be the winner - but I don't recall another season where the deception was this unnecessarily over-the-top. These scenes didn't even need any fancy editing. Ashley showed her true colors by apparently deciding she could provide the necessary deception all by herself. Ugh. Ben deserved much better than that. He's so better off without her.

On that last date when she was rolling on the bed with Ben, engulfing him with her legs, I couldn't help notice the 2 big mosquito bites she had on her upper thigh. For me it was hilareously distracting.

LAST EDITED ON 08-02-11 AT 10:08 AM (EST)

So the rejected one finally had something to say - all I remember from previous times is the leaving/crying whatever.

I've said all along (since I started watching a few seasons ago) that it's crazy that the Bachelor or Bachelorette expects all the suitors to fall in love - & never seems to give a thought to how they will feel when rejected.
It's a very selfish concept - but makes good tv watching.

Oh, & Ashley professed that she was in love; and then said she had not made her decision yet. Did that mean she was in love with both men? or she knew she was in love but didn't know with which one?

The 'in love' bit was editing by the producers. They know all the spoilers out there. They wanted to keep people guessing.

Have they broken up yet?

LAST EDITED ON 08-02-11 AT 03:21 PM (EST)

Supposedly, they've set a wedding date, towards the end of 2012 with the exact date not made public. But, then again, maybe even they're not sure based on their responses during their live appearance on Kimmel last night. They pretty much repeated the same thing on Good Morning America this morning.

Suffice it to say that the invitations haven't been sent out yet. In the meantime, they're tabloid fodder.

Tabloid fodder indeed !!!!! But, look at the Vienna sausage and Jake. Yesterday's news. I think if Ashley and JP can keep it together until the next season of idiots come back, they might be able to make it. Look at Trista and Ryan. They are a great couple. Why does everyone have to be such "haters" ? ( Not the poster here. Just the public in general. ) God forbid, that someone finds love in a different manner than the norm. 10 years ago, who would have thought og internet dating? It seems impossible to find happiness when you are in the publics eyes. Someone out there always tries to tear others happiness apart. These people need to get a real life. Like I said, I only hope and pray that Ashley and JP can keep it together for awhile. I know at the time it will be extremely difficult for them, but again, like I said later on they will eventually be yesterdays news.

Yup, the haters just have to have someone to hate.

Btw, I met my husband by online dating 15 years ago.

I hope Ashley and JP make it, but living with someone 24/7 in the *real* world is much different from being swept off your feet and "falling madly in love" with a person in exotic locations across the globe. Let's see if they're still together a year from now. If so, great. If not, that just means that they're human - as human as the rest of the population that gets together (in any circumstance) and then breaks up.

I think that if Ashley & J.P. last at least a year, they would have a good chance of having a wedding. But as Ants put it, it's harder living with someone 24/7 than it is to fall madly in love with them while in exotic locations around the globe (probably one reason why Jake & Vienna flamed out quickly -- they found out they had to live with the "real person" 24/7!) Trista & Ryan probably succeeded because they could live with each other 24/7 and not drive each other crazy. Ali & Roberto seem to be on the same path as well. Hopefully, Ashley & J.P. will follow in their footsteps -- but I'm a bit skeptical if only because I've seen so many couples who fell in love on this show break up.

Ashley and her sister are quite the odd couple... Ashley appears to be more of a naive straightlaced...while her sister looks like she can go hang out with Kat Von D on Ink and swap Jesse James stories.

I get the feeling that her sister might be right. I wish Ashley the best, but her judgment with men doesn't seem to be all that great. And, just watching JP... I feel like he's pretty thin-skinned like something boils under the surface. Also, in normal life, the sister doesn't get the opportunity to talk to her sister in private...here, she has to do it in front of the cameras. She probably should have gone for Ames...smart nerdy guy who makes good money. He seemed pretty good natured throughout everything.

Ames seems to be too sporadic for me. Not sure even Ashley could keep up with Ames.

Samboobree, brought to life by Arkie

Agree with you completely.

Surprisngly, since someone with so many (particularly)hideous tats can hardly be assumed to have good judgement, I found myself agreeing with Sis about JP. What she said made perfect sense. I've been a JP fan since the start, and as we've said in previous week's posts, he is one sexy kisser. His passionate side came through loud and clear and it grabbed Ashley as I'm pretty sure it would have grabbed me. But as we know, that so fades. JP seems very mature (more than just age), structured, and steadfast. Ashley still seems like a little girl at this point, still not in control of her emotions.....rash decisions then with immature highs and lows when things don't go her way. Her moods swings may be cute now, especially since everything is easier to deal with in an all-expense paid tropical vaca. And in this temporary situation, it was a competition as well and don't we all like to win? Back in the real world, I think she'll end up driving him nuts. She kept calling herself "goofy". I think it's more like immaturity, with a little ADD thrown in.

I hope they do themselves a favor and don't rush into a marriage that won't outlast the passion.

Except for the fact that Sis is already divorced with kids (plural) and again, all those low rent tats, she might have made a more interesting Bachelorette. She really is the prettiest one in the family, and showed some very welcome mature judgement in this case.

JP might have something boiling under the surface, but I think it's about the same as what Ashley has. During Brad's season, Shawntel was doing a short film with him. He was tied to a post, she came in, karate kicked some bad guys, saved the day for Brad and kissed him. They showed Ashley saying, "This is like torture." Now, think about JP's face during the wedding photo session when Ashley was being photographed by one of the other guys. Yeah, something was simmering under the surface, but it was jealousy that came from watch your S.O. with another. Ashley and JP aren't able to contain that emotion. Well, at least it shows how passionate they are.

There's no direct hating involved here -- at least not for the new couple. I just feel the producers (and Harrison) have realized they gain more publicity/ratings from failure than success and cast accordingly.

Lowest finale ratings in series history.

Next season: convicts.

Not ex-convicts. Current.

As opposed to 'future' which tests the predictive powers of the Big Brother casting department.