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Join us for the After the Final Rose special, which is airing right after the finale, where we saw Ali send Chris L. home before their final date and Roberto sweat his way through a proposal. Ali comes out and is just beaming, talking about how she and Roberto have been counting the days since their “Proposal Day” in Tahiti. She’s glad that now they can have a date in public and not have to worry about spoiling the surprise.
For some reason, they decide to talk about Frank first. I’ve seen more than I ever needed to of this neurotic chipmunk and his ditching Ali in Tahiti for his old flame Nicole. Host Chris Harrison asks Ali if she thinks Frank took the easy way out in fleeing the show prior to elimination to return to the safety of his girlfriend with a really small apartment – but at least it wasn’t in her parents’ basement.
Chris then tells Ali that Frank weaseled his way out of the ATFR taping and once again proves himself as a true rodent. Ali is miffed that she can’t get closure, but is happy for Frank that he’s found love (if in fact he has) and even happier for herself and Roberto. We’ve wasted enough ink on this toad, but at least I have some satisfaction in knowing that we FORT recappers have a bigger reading audience than Frank has for any of his screenplays.
Then the topic changes to Chris L, who was last seen thanking Ali for breaking up with him before the final fantasy date. Chris is looking tan, which isn’t a surprise for a landscaper in the summer, but is still styling his hair in a wind tunnel (that he apparently shared with Kirk for most of last season). Even though we just saw Ali break up with him less than an hour ago, now we’re watching the same footage, but with a shot of present-day Chris watching himself. He’s looking rather stoic, watching the video of himself.
Host Chris Harrison probes Chris’ feelings, and he doesn’t have regrets. He doesn’t think he did anything wrong – she just had stronger feelings for someone else. He’s looking forward to talking to Ali for the first time since they left Tahiti. Ali comes out and is very warm to him, and they compliment each others’ good looks. Chris asks Ali what she learned from their relationship. Ali responds with a really rambling evasive answer about love and respect and being friends first and she thinks he’s a really good guy. Ummmm, ok.
Chris thanks Ali again for not putting him through the last date, and it made Chris respect her even more. Unlike certain former bachelorettes (cough, DeAnna, cough) who actually allowed their rejected choice to get down on one knee and propose before breaking up with them. Yup, Ali is definitely making her case as the humanitarian bachelorette of the decade.
Ali had even noticed the rainbow as she was leaving Chris’ hut in Tahiti, remembering that his mom had set that up as a message from beyond. Silly me, I had thought it was God’s promise to Noah that he would never flood the world again. But sure, Chris’ mom also is joining the rainbow connection. Chris congratulates Ali for finding love, and tells her that Roberto is a great guy. I’m sure his dating currency has gone up, and hopefully he’ll find a nice gal who shares his love of Cape Cod.
Next up, Ali’s finance Roberto. Ali talks about how difficult it has been for her to keep her relationship a secret for the last couple of months since filming ended. Chris Harrison points out that Ali avoided falling for Roberto for a long time, fearing that he was a player. Chris H asked her the first night if she believed in love at first sight, and she told him no. Now she’s willing to change her answer, after all, Roberto did win the first impression rose. Ali claims that she wouldn’t do anything differently.
They bring out Roberto, who looks quite suave and gives Ali a big kiss. Roberto is happy that they are no longer hiding out in dark basements in Charlestown, and now they can go out in public. Roberto talked about stepping out of the limo on the first night and being blown away. Ali talks about how she needed to explore every option to make sure Roberto was the right one for her, and in the end, she only wanted Roberto there with her.
Ali and Roberto snuggle on the couch and watch the video of his proposal (that we viewers saw just an hour before), and Ali is actually crying watching the video. Chris asks Ali why, of all 25 guys, is Roberto the one. I think her answer is pretty much “unbelievably handsome” and then Roberto gets to match his enthusiasm with an “you’re unbelievably beautiful” reply. Um, ok. I hope it goes a little deeper than that.
Roberto didn’t know that Chris L was already gone when he showed up, but he said that signs looked good for him when he walked up the many steps (working up a good sweat), just to see that she was grinning ear to ear just to see him. Yup, that is a good sign.
What are their future plans? They talked about what they’ve been doing in seclusion. Hanging out every couple of weeks for long weekends in a secluded house that the show set up for them. They also have a cute and dorky story about them both going out to see the same movie on the same night, and texting each other, pretending they were on a date together. They’ve found a new apartment in San Diego, where Roberto has already moved. He’s relocated his business across the country. Ali is moving into the apartment too, not sure what she’s going to do for work. Why San Diego – no clue. Maybe she wanted West Coast and he wanted someplace warm. Hey, it’s a better choice than LA. I hope that they do plan to get real jobs.
They talk about setting a wedding date, and how Ali was talking about a summer wedding, but Roberto mentioned how the weather is really nice for spring weddings. They tease him about wanting to move the date up, and he opines that why wouldn’t he want to marry Ali sooner rather than later. Chris is teaching Ali Spanish, and has promised her dad that she’ll be fluent in five years.
Chris then tells them the show has one last surprise from the show – a luxury vacation for the two of them to Catalina Island, with a limo and a helicopter waiting to whisk them away. After they depart, Chris H launches into another promo for The Bachelor Pad. We’ll see if there is an upcoming wedding special for Ali and Roberto, or another “what went wrong” interview on an upcoming season of The Bachelor. Personally I’m a sucker and hoping for a happy ending for these two, like Trista and Ryan. They would have some cute babies (which Roberto was already hinting at). We didn’t get any hints as to the identity of the next Bachelor. Maybe it will be whomever survives the Bachelor Pad with the least communicable diseases – in which case my bet is on Jonathan the Weatherman.
Check in tomorrow night for PhoneGrrrl’s recap of the finale show – she had twice as many hours to cover as I had, and half of my show was replays of the finale anyway. Trust me, it will be worth the wait. Just like Ali’s happy ending, after fooling “spoilers” for months into thinking that she either picked no-one or was already broken up by the reunion show.
Originally Posted by Locarber;4022479; 