‘The Bachelor: Women Tell All’ Season 28 Recap: The Biggest Bombshells With Joey, Maria and More

Did Maria Tell Lea to ‘Shut the F–k Up’?

One of the biggest allegations of the season was when Sydney accused Maria of telling Lea Cayanan to “shut the f–k up,” which Maria always said never happened. “I never said it,” she reiterated at Women Tell All.

Lauren Hollinger jumped in and confirmed that she was the one who made the comment. “She was telling me to practice patience and be quiet, super condescending for no reason,” Lauren said. “I said it.”

Maria vs. Sydney

The Maria and Sydney conflict barely got resolved at first. Sydney defended herself for tattling to Joey about Madina Alam saying she felt “bullied” by Maria. “My truest intention was to stick up for a friend. That is it,” she insisted.

Edwina Dorbor stuck up for Maria. “You just never liked Maria, that’s what it was,” she fired back at Sydney. Sydney said that she and Maria just had “different” ways of communicating, and Maria clapped back. “I speak the truth and you make up lies. You’re absolutely right,” she said.

However, later on, the women decided to put their issues behind them and hug it out. Sydney admitted that it was “cringey” to watch how she reacted to certain things on the show. “I don’t blame you for any of it,” she told Maria. “I think, moving forward, I should’ve been more resolution-oriented instead of pointing the finger at you.”

Maria said she did not condone the hate that Sydney and Lea were getting on social media over the situation and they all agreed to put the drama behind them.

Maria vs. Jess

Jess Edwards also got upset with Maria on the show. Her frustrations came when Maria pulled Joey away for some one-on-one time at a cocktail party when she already had a rose. The women went at it at WTA.

Jess accused Maria of interrupting her every time she tried to speak her mind and the interruptions continued at the reunion. “That pisses me off!” Maria retorted, as she denied ever telling Jess to “shut up.”

“There were just multiple things – we’ll leave it at that – where I felt shut down by Maria,” Jess eventually got out. “So there was a little animosity building up.” She also slammed Maria for “not taking accountability” for the way she handled certain things.

Lexi’s Story

Lexi Young decided to leave The Bachelor when she realized that she and Joey didn’t have the same timelines for marriage and kids. She opened up about her choice and the support she’s felt from Bachelor Nation at WTA.

Lexi praised Joey for how he handled when she opened up about her endometriosis and the possibility that she may not be able to have kids. “Joey is such an incredible guy, so that decision [to leave] was not easy for me to make,” she shared. “But I knew it was only fair to myself and to him at that moment to leave. I was floored by his response. He handled that so well. He just listened to me and made me feel so heard. I didn’t feel judged.”

Moving forward, Lexi said she’s “ready to meet [her] person” and admitted that Joey “has set an extremely high bar.”

Jenn’s Heartbreak

Jenn Tran was sent home right before hometown dates and she discussed the heartbreak on WTA. Jenn got emotional while discussing the breakup.

“Going into it, I wanted to put everything on the line and put my heart into the experience and be vulnerable and the things that make me me, like my past and my dad and my family,” she explained. “I had a lot of previous relationships where I didn’t put everything on the line and for the first time I feel like I was able to do that with Joey. When I left, it was tough to sit there and wonder what happened. Throughout our entire time together, we were so aligned with everything we wanted, and just seeing my heart get crushed was heartbreaking.”

Jenn also revealed how opening up about her strained relationship with her dad on the show affected her afterwards. “In our family, we don’t really talk about emotions,” she admitted. “My brother and I – for the first time – talked about our father and we grew closer from that. I’ve had cousins who I haven’t talked to in years reach out to me and show their support.”

Maria in the Hot Seat

Maria was finally put in the hot seat to talk about being dumped by Joey after hometown dates. “I think it’s undeniable how our connection was,” she admitted. “It was pretty strong and it’s kind of that ‘what could’ve been’ situation. It’s sad to look at. But I think everything happens for a reason and it’s beautiful that I get to rewatch it for myself and my family gets to see how happy I was.”

Maria laughed while describing Joey as “a friend you really want to makeout with,” and said that their relationship was just “easy,” adding, “It was like I’ve known him a lot longer than I did.”

Rachel’s Return

Viewers saw footage of Joey eliminating Rachel Nance during the Women Tell All special. She then appeared in the studio to talk about the heartbreaking split.

“It’s hard to watch back but all the emotions are just coming back,” she shared. “As emotional as I was and as hard as it was, I still think it was a beautiful moment between the two of us. You can see how much love there was between the two of us. They’re sad and happy tears at the same time.”

Rachel admitted that “part of” her wished she would’ve opened up and been more vulnerable sooner than she was. However, she added, “I’m so proud of myself that I got to the point I did towards the end. I really pushed myself and allowed myself to feel the emotions I felt and fall in love again. I have no regrets.”