Iowa Bachelorette Mercedes Northup is Sent Home on ‘The Bachelor’
The road to love has come to an end for Mercedes Northup... the road to Zach Shallcross' love, anyway. On Monday night (February 20th), the Iowa-native was one of two women to be sent home on 'The Bachelor.'
It was another dramatic week on 'The Bachelor' as the cast travelled all the way to London, England. Unfortunately, Zach didn't really get to enjoy London the way he had planned. After his first one-on-one date Gabi (which had all of the women radiating pure jealousy), Zach comes down with COVID, effectively destroying all of the other women's hopes of spending some alone time with him.
During this week's episode, Mercedes finally opens up about her desire to be selected for a one-on-one date with Zach. She says she would be really happy to NOT hear her name on the group date card for once, and tells the camera, "this week is make or break for me." Unfortunately, Charity was chosen for the soon-to-be-cancelled date, which bring Mercedes to tears. She ends up leaving the room and talking to one of the other women, expressing that she doesn't feel "seen." She hopes to talk to Zach in-person, but when he doesn't show for the group date and after party, she breaks down again.
At the end of the episode, Zach holds a virtual rose ceremony. Mercedes and Kylee are the only two ladies to not receive a rose, which means they'll be headed home without an in-person goodbye. That was hard for Mercedes, who says that she wishes she could've had that closure.
On Tuesday afternoon, Mercedes posted a series of photos from London on Instagram and talked a little bit about her experience on the show. The post reads:
"Oh man, I’m not sure what to even say. It is over just as fast as it started. Before we started filming, I was so overwhelmed with emotions. I remember sitting in the airport just sobbing because I knew that I wasn’t going to be able to see my family and friends for awhile, but damn, I am so glad I forced myself to do something SO outside of my comfort zone. These girls are some of the best people I have ever met. Saying goodbye to them was so hard but that’s how I know the love between us is real and I have besties for life"
To be honest, it's not surprising to me that Mercedes was sent home this week. And it wasn't because of anything she did or didn't do, it's simply because she wasn't given much attention. For whatever reason, Mercedes never really had any one-on-one time with Zach. Not on-screen, at least. I don't know about you, but I'm rooting for her to be the next Bachelorette! We'll keep our fingers crossed.