The Bachelor and The Golden Bachelor had another iconic crossover in honor of Joey Graziadei’s Fantasy Suite Week episode, and this time, Gerry Turner’s runner-up Leslie Fhima returned the TV to share some words of wisdom with one lucky Bachelor Season 28 contestant.
Three golden gals flew to Tulum, Mexico ahead of The Bachelor Season 28 finale to meet with Graziadei’s three remaining women and chat about emotions, fears, and their romantic relationships at a level they couldn’t with host Jesse Palmer. “You need a real woman with experience,” Golden Bachelor alum Susan Noles explained. “Think of me as your mom — your best friend, right now. I’m in your corner.”
Ahead of their big nights, Noles chatted with contestant Rachel Nance, Sandra Mason met with Daisy Kent, and Fhima sat down with Kelsey Anderson to share her firsthand Fantasy Suite Week and finale experience.
“Be completely organic. Don’t let anything come into your head. Be present. Just be focused on each other. And make use of every second,” Fhima advised Anderson before giving her a glimpse at her post-Fantasy Suite mindset. “I went into my last day confident by the things we talked about and the things [Gerry] said to me, and I didn’t get chosen, and that was hard.”
Fhima — who previously revealed she was so sure it was going to be her and Turner at the end of The Golden Bachelor that she picked out a dress and wrote her vows — said she wanted to ensure Anderson was being careful with her own emotions because she knew what it felt like “to be so hopeful for the future and hopeful that you’re gonna be the one.”
“I wish I wouldn’t have felt so confident, because then I was devastated. [I was] very, very sad, because I was really in love with him,” Fhima continued. “I would not wish that on my worst enemy — that feeling I had where I was confident and that was it.”
The Golden Bachelor runner-up encouraged Anderson to always have the idea that it might not be her and Joey in the back of her head. “If you’re it, it’s amazing. And if you’re not, you have a little bit of protection,” she said.
Anderson caught Fhima up on her Bachelor journey thus far, chatting about her successful Hometown Date and the fact that although she hadn’t told Graziadei yet, Anderson was in love with him. The two women also connected about a major similarity in their lives: the premature deaths of their moms.
“We’re in the same club,” Fhima told Anderson. “I lost my mom when I was 24. That really impacted my whole dating life.” After Anderson shared her mom-related butterfly symbolism with Fhima, the Golden Bachelor alum said, “Your mom would be very proud of you…I know she would love Joey.”
When the moving heart-to-heart concluded, Anderson left the conversation with a fresh perspective, but also a newfound realization that her heart could be broken. Later that night, she caught Graziadei up on the chat and he shared that with Charity Lawson on The Bachelorette, he thought she would choose him 100%, so he still struggles to be completely open for fear his dream will get taken away again.
Despite their fears, the two had a super successful overnight date, but the episode ended with Anderson leaving a mysterious “We need to talk” note in Graziadei’s door. Did Fhima’s advice help or hurt Anderson and Graziadei’s connection? We’ll have to wait and see.
Let the record show, however, that Noles and Mason had delightful conversations with the other two Season 28 contestants. (More on those chats and the big Bachelor cliffhanger in Decider’s Season 28, Episode 9 recap.)
New episodes of The Bachelor Season 28 air Mondays at 8:00 p.m. ET on ABC with next-day streaming on Hulu.