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Monday's "The Bachelorette" episode was filled with high emotions and intense reactions from Katie, who cut her pool of men nearly in half.
A week after Hunter walked away with the group-date rose, he stood at the center of the drama after his fellow contestants accused him of being a member of the "here for the wrong reasons" party.
Hunter's superfan-level knowledge of ABC's "The Bachelor" franchise worries several of the men in the house; so does the fact that he admitted "privately" that he's not in love with Katie (yet) before declaring his love in front of her and the rest of their group date.
Last week:'The Bachelorette' recap: Michael A.'s date injury leaves Katie 'pretty emotional'
![A week after Hunter, a 34-year-old software strategist from Houston, walked away with the group-date rose, he stood at the center of the drama on "The Bachelorette."](https://cdn.cincylink.com/pub/content/uploads/sites/27/2021/07/Hunter-drama-makes-Katie-physically-ill.jpg)
"The part that's scary for me, especially because we do have that connection, is phrases like 'being calculated.' Someone else compared you to Thomas," Katie tells him about other contestants likening him to this season's king of being "here for the wrong reasons."
Hunter apologizes, but Katie still worries she can't trust him. He later dubs it "the worst conversation I've ever had with her."
"I'm at a point where I'm physically ill; I need to throw up," Katie says, as a shaky camera cuts to the outside of the women's bathroom, from which viewers can hear her retching. "Oh my God, I hate this feeling."
A visibly upset Katie returns to the group, where she announces the evening portion of the group date has come to an end and she won't hand out a group-date rose.
"I just had to get out of there," she says.
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Later on in the episode, Katie says a shocking goodbye to frontrunner Connor B., a teacher from Nashville who caught her eye on Night One by wearing a cat costume. They tearfully part, and Katie is consoled by Blake, who stands outside her hotel balcony with a boom box like John Cusack in "Say Anything."
"It’s impossible to deny that Katie and I are going to fall in love," Blake says. "I feel like Katie's going to be my fiancée."
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Katie sends home four more men at rose ceremony
But the Hunter drama hasn't subsided yet.
![Katie cuts her dating pool from 12 suitors to seven on the latest episode of "The Bachelorette."](https://cdn.cincylink.com/pub/content/uploads/sites/27/2021/07/1626152368_42_Hunter-drama-makes-Katie-physically-ill.jpg)
Shockingly, he's the first name to be called during the rose ceremony. But Katie hasn't been approaching these ceremonies with the same structure as past leads – rather than give him the rose, she calls his name so they can step outside for a brief chat.
She wants to resolve what happened the other night and he defends himself, but they reach no real resolution before she sends him back inside, sans rose.
After saying she's done with drama and relationships that are less serious, Katie hands out six roses (including one given to Justin earlier on their one-on-one date) and sends home Aaron, James, Tre and, yes, Hunter.
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