Things took quite a dramatic turn for Michelle Young on The Bachelorette on Tuesday night.
And it all centered on Jamie Skaar.
Just seven days ago, Skaar was chosen for Young’s first one-on-one date, making a strong impression on the school teacher and emerging as a front-runner.
Then, however, Jamie started to stir up some controversy by telling Michelle that the other guys had been saying she had a previous relationship with another suitor, Joe Colemen, prior to arriving on set.
The other contestants denied it.
Skarr refused to take responsibility for creating the mess.
And that brought us to the latest installment of this franchise.
Jamie made it clear early on that he was surprised when Brandon Jones earned the group date rose over him.
At the end of the outing, viewers saw Jamie appear to pull a producer aside and actually criticize Michelle’s decision-making.
"The challenging part with Michelle right now is that she’s basically just in f–king spring break mode," the biotech CEO whined. "It’s a little bit of a turnoff."
Cut to the cocktail party, and Rick Leach telling Young that Jamie was the one causing problems on set.
Rick also told Nayte Olukoya and Casey Woods that Jamie had been the culprit.
The three guys went ahead and confronted Jamie, who said he told Michelle that "speculation" about Joe had "created this character in the room."
Eventually, the other aspiring husbands learned about Jamie’s role in the drama… with Joe even telling Jamie he’s a "snake."
Once Michelle returned, she noted the tension brought up Jamie having mentioned last Tuesday that his pals saw her "in Minnesota walking with a light-skinned dude."
After pulling Jamie aside, Michelle told him their "trust was completely broken" by Skaar bringing up the story about his friends in Minnesota.
"I’m very hurt by you right now," the 28-year old said. "I don’t trust you at this moment, and I have to be done with it, and so I do think it’s best that I walk you out tonight."
Upset by this development, Young canceled the rest of the cocktail party.
"I’ve worked really hard to build a strong character and will not stand to be manipulated in conversations," she told the group.
The guys understood, but were also pissed about losing more time with Michelle.
"Jamie was a snake behind the scenes, and Michelle addressed it and took care of it," said Clayton Echard, who is set to be the next Bachelor. "Every freaking rose night, there’s drama."
After the episode aired, Jamie actually took to his Instagram Story to share some negative direct messages he had apparently received from viewers.
He also seemed to mock the show’s passionate fan base.
"Ppl that were looking for summin to be angry about or towards found it," he wrote.
"I’m [unfazed]. They’ll be on to their next trigger next episode & next szn.
"I know very little about this show and [Bachelor Nation] but it seems pretty clear that this is the pattern for some of them."
Sheesh, dude.
For her part, Michelle appeared to reference Jamie’s "spring break" comments by Tweeting after the following last night:
"What can I say…teachers truly do love Spring Break #nomoregradingpapers #naptime #icanpeewheniwantto."
The Bachelorette airs Tuesdays at 8/7c on ABC.