Episode 8 of “The Bachelorette” will start off with five men … but only three will remain by the end of the rose ceremony. With hometown dates put on hold and the overnight dates moved up, star Kaitlyn Bristowe has some big decisions to make this week.

After Chris “Cupcake” was left crying on the edge of a cliff last week, the remaining contestants are a little nervous moving forward. Ben H., Jared, Joe, Nick and Shawn B. are still in the running, but they know that any one of them could be sent home at any moment.

First One-On-One Date

Ben lands the first one-on-one date of episode 8. “Let’s make today unforgettable,” reads the date card. The two spend the afternoon talking and later move the conversation in front of a fire at night. Both Kaitlyn and Ben admit that they’re falling in love with each other, but Ben has to tell the bachelorette about his biggest fear – he feels like he’s unlovable after his split from his last girlfriend. Kaitlyn’s touched by his confession and reassures him that he’s “very lovable.”

The conversation moves to Ben’s feelings on the overnight dates getting pushed up. Ben confesses that he’s looking forward to spending the night talking with her. That leads Kaitlyn to ask him a serious question – “Are you a virgin?”

“Um … no,” Ben responds.

Group Date

Joe, Shawn and Nick get tossed on the group date in episode 8. “Let’s let our love run amuck,” the date card reads. Needless to say, Shawn’s not too happy about sharing his time with Nick.

Shawn lands some one-on-one time with Kaitlyn almost immediately. Although Kaitlyn told the cameras last week that she regretted giving Shawn so much reassurance, the first words out of her mouth are, “I missed you … a lot.” Talk about leading someone on.

Kaitlyn knows Shawn has issues with trust and tells the cameras that she has to tell him the truth about her “intimate” night with Nick. However, it’s a tough conversation to have and she stalls just long enough for Nick to swoop in. Shawn leaves thinking that they’re back on track … little does he know that Kaitlyn has a big confession to make.

The bachelorette goes to mumble town with Nick. Viewers can barely make out the words, but fortunately ABC delivers some subtitles to make out their conversation. Kaitlyn tells him that she has no regrets about their night together, but that they did move fast. Nick knows just what to say to her. “You’re not ‘The Bachelorette’ to me,” he says.

Joe’s last to land alone time with Kaitlyn. He once again tells her that he’s in love with her, but this time Kaitlyn can’t handle his confession. She gets “brutally honest” with him and tells him that they’re just not on the same page. However, she also tells him that she “can’t imagine saying goodbye.” Her words confuse him, and his demeanor turns cold.

“Can you give me a hug or something,” she asks. “I guess,” he responds.

But after the hug Joe doesn’t know what to do. He asks her, and Kaitlyn tells him, “I just wanted to hug you and say goodbye.” Brutal.

After the awkward goodbye with Joe, Kaitlyn doesn’t feel right about handing out the group date rose. So, instead she decides to send Nick back to the hotel and set up a date later that evening with Shawn.

Nick’s upset that his day with Kaitlyn gets cut short, and Shawn is ecstatic that he managed to get a lead on Nick. However, Shawn still doesn’t know that Kaitlyn wants that extra time with him to tell her about her “intimate” night with Nick.

After a couple attempts at stalling, Kaitlyn is finally honest with Shawn about Nick. “We went back to my place and I just feel like it went too far,” she confesses about her one-on-one date with “the other guy.”

Shawn is silent as Kaitlyn continues. “It’s hard for me to admit it, but we had sex,” she tells him.

Still in shock over her confession, Shawn finally asks to take a minute to “regroup.” While he’s away thinking things over, Kaitlyn worries that he can’t handle her confession. However, when he comes back he surprises her by thanking her for her honesty. He admits that he’s “obviously” upset, but that he’s just going to have to “man up and deal with it.” Why? He tells her that he’s there for her.

She asks if he thinks this whole experience is worth it, and Shawn’s answer is sweet. “Yeah, I do,” he tells her. “I think you’re worth it.”

Kaitlyn appears reassured by Shawn’s reaction, however the contestant later tells the cameras that her confession makes him feel “sick to his stomach.”

Rose Ceremony

On the night of the rose ceremony, Shawn admits that he’s still got a lot of questions and is unsure if he can accept a rose if he’s offered one. He tells the cameras that he could possibly be walking away from love. Jared, on the other hand, is ecstatic about the opportunity to talk with Kaitlyn because he hasn’t seen her in four days. Unfortunately, he receives some bad news from host Chris Harrison – they’re all moving straight to the rose ceremony.

Kaitlyn offers the first rose to Shawn, but he doesn’t immediately accept or deny it. Instead, he tells her that they need to talk. Kaitlyn’s face drops, but she agrees to hear him out.

“I did a lot of thinking last night and I had a real tough time sleeping,” he begins. Shawn acknowledges that she’s in other relationships and has other connections, but he doesn’t understand why it was Nick.

“You asked me how I felt about him and I told you my honest opinion,” he tells her, adding that he doesn’t know why she would jeopardize their relationship. Kaitlyn doesn’t hold back. She breaks the cold, hard truth to him – She’s on “The Bachelorette” to explore other relationships. She adds that it was a mistake telling him that he was “the one” and that it wasn’t fair to anyone when she wasn’t “150% confident.”

“You need to let me figure out things for myself,” she adds. “You have to trust me and I just don’t think you do.”

Kaitlyn and Shawn reenter the rose ceremony room and the bachelorette offers the rose to him again. This time Shawn accepts the rose, saying, “absolutely.”

Ben lands the second rose, leaving Jared and Nick to sweat it out over the last rose. So, who does Kaitlyn hand it to? Nick! In a shocking move, Kaitlyn sends Jared home.

Jared takes the breakup well and is super classy about it. He even comforts Kaitlyn when she begins to sob uncontrollably.

First Overnight Date

Nick lands the first overnight. But before things can get romantic, Nick vents about Shawn. He admits that he has “no respect” for Shawn and that he’s insecure and doesn’t give people a chance. He also reveals in the biggest “WHAT?!” moment of the episode that Shawn bragged about being “eskimo brothers” with someone because they both hooked up with a famous country singer in one night.

Kaitlyn gets annoyed with Nick’s bashing of Shawn and begins to question him. She tells him that everyone has something to say about him, but never about Shawn. They eventually drop the conversation and Kaitlyn offers Nick the key to the Fantasy Suite. Nick accepts and they spend the night together ... again.

Things get interesting the next day when Nick returns to his hotel room. Shawn calls the hotel and asks for Nick’s room number. He pays his foe a visit to tell him that he doesn’t want to talk behind his back. Instead, he wants to say everything to his face. Once again Shawn questions Nick’s motives, bringing up Nick’s time on Andi Dorfman’s season of “The Bachelorette” last year. But Nick doesn’t care because he claims that Shawn doesn’t know him. Shawn fires back that he doesn’t want to know him because he’s “manipulative” and “arrogant.” Episode 8 ends with those three little words fans have hated all season -- “To be continued …”

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