I’m Struggling To Understand Why The Bachelor Season 29’s Grant Ellis Gave Rose Sombke A Rose (Are The Producers Interfering Again?)

The Bachelor season 29 star Grant Ellis inexplicably gave Rose Sombke a rose, after she caused drama between him and Carolina Sofia and made him look bad, and I believe that the producers interfered and forced him to keep her around. Grant, a now-31-year-old day trader who's originally from Newark, New Jersey, but now lives in Houston, Texas, chose Carolina as the winner of an R&B singing contest on a group date. Because of this, they shared a dance on stage in front of the other women.

Carolina upset her fellow The Bachelor season 29 contestants when she and Grant made out after the dance while they were all watching. They later confronted her about it, and she cried as she said that she felt guilty. However, when Carolina talked to Grant, he told her that she did nothing wrong, and that they were just having fun. She left the conversation feeling much better about everything. Things got even better for Carolina when Grant gave her a one-on-one date, during which they flew to Las Vegas. However, Rose put a damper on things by causing a lot of drama, and I don't understand why Grant would give her a rose unless the producers made him.

What Happened Between Grant Ellis & Rose Sombke?

Grant Was Very Upset With Rose

During the third Bachelor season 29 rose ceremony cocktail party, Carolina was spiraling because Rose had revealed to her off-camera that Grant had told her that, the whole time that he was dancing with Carolina, he was thinking of Rose. Carolina felt foolish after they had such a wonderful time on their one-on-one date, so she confronted Grant about it, leaving out Rose's name. Grant was completely shocked and denied saying anything like that. He was upset because he thought that the comment made him look like a player.

When Carolina didn't want to tell Grant that it was Rose who said this, Grant guessed her correctly. He then pulled Rose aside and asked her if she said it. Rose seemed caught off guard, but I was surprised when she admitted that she did say it. I fully expected her to deny it, but instead she told Grant that she thought that she heard him say it. Grant continued to deny it in such a way that I believed him. Rose apologized to him, but he walked away from their conversation, obviously still very annoyed by her.

Although in episode 2, Grant did tell Rose that he was thinking about her during "the whole dancing thing on stage," and he didn't want her to feel like he wasn't paying attention, I don't think he meant it the way that she presented it to Carolina. I believe that he was trying to say that, even though he danced with Carolina, he was still open to other connections, and not that he'd rather be dancing with Rose. Regardless, I feel that it was completely unnecessary for Rose to tell Carolina that he said that.

During the rose ceremony, I was shocked when Grant gave the last Rose to rose. I really thought that he was going to say goodbye to her because she'd caused so much drama, but he decided to keep her around for another week. I wondered if he did it because he didn't finish their conversation, and he wanted more time with her, but he could've just pulled her aside during the rose ceremony as so many Bachelors and Bachelorette's have done before. I also thought that maybe Grant felt a strong connection with her, but I doubted it because that really hasn't been depicted on the show.

It’s Suspicious That Grant Gave Rose A Rose After Their Talk

The Producers Might Be Interfering Again

As I struggled to understand why Grant would give rose a Rose, I realized that perhaps the producers were interfering with The Bachelor again. It's been pretty obvious in past seasons that certain people were only being kept around to create drama, and I believe that this is why Grant gave Rose a rose even though he was so angry about what she'd said to Carolina. It doesn't make sense that someone who was so insulted by being made out to be a player would continue to pursue a relationship with the person who did that to him.

Now the Bachelor season 29 producers have their typical feud storyline, and they can continue to pit Carolina and Rose against each other. I feel that Grant went along with it because his connections with the some of the other women were so much stronger that it was all the same to him who stayed beyond the small group of women with whom he really wanted to pursue a relationship. Grant eliminated Bailey Brown, Alli Jo Hinkes, and Chloie Costello, while Beverly Ortega had to leave early due to a medical emergency.

I feel that Grant really didn't have much of a connection with any of those women, so eliminating one of them to keep Rose around to appease the producers probably didn't make any difference to him. I was surprised that he didn't send Rose home on the spot during their conversation, but, looking back at the history of The Bachelor, and how many villains have overstayed their welcome, I remembered that it's nothing new.

While Rose did seem to be genuinely sorry, and I believed her when she said that she thought she heard Grant say those things about her, and she didn't seem to be lying about it, I still think that he should've said goodbye to her if he really wanted to pursue his connection with Carolina. Rose obviously misinterpreted what Grant said, as proven by his adamant denial about saying it.

Also, there really was no reason for Rose to tell Carolina anything about what Grant said, unless she was trying to make her jealous. To me, the most logical explanation for why Grant would keep Rose is that the producers forced him to. Even Rose was shocked to receive a rose from Grant.

While I hope I'm wrong about my speculation about the producers continuing to interfere and manipulate things during The Bachelor, Grant's situation with Rose doesn't make sense otherwise. If someone Grant was developing a deep connection with made Rose's mistake, I'd understand if he didn't want to let her go. However, Grant and Rose haven't spent much time together, so I thought for sure that he'd simply say goodbye to her to end the conflict. Hopefully, this chaos won't become an ongoing storyline, and Grant will be able to give out his roses without any more drama from Rose.