In Chris Harrison's weekly Bachelor Blog, here's what he has to say about Shawntel Newton!
"I know I’ve buried the lead in this blog by not talking about Shawntel yet, so here we go. Shawntel called and informed me that she and Ben had started a dialogue via text after he was on The Bachelorette. Shawntel told me things were going well and she would really like to see if there was more to this relationship, and that she would deeply regret not doing so. I invited her to join us in San Francisco. I obviously knew the other women wouldn’t be happy but I had no idea it would go this bad. I didn’t foresee the complete nuclear meltdown that took place once Shawntel strolled into the cocktail party that night. You all saw the result, so what I want to mention is how pivotal this moment was and how it changed the rest of the season. The ladies’ reaction was so strong Ben couldn’t help but realize just how serious these women were taking this. In return, Ben made the decision to send her home, which sent a definite message to the women that he’s equally serious and sincere about this. This gesture and the good vibe definitely carried over and followed us the following week to Park City, Utah." Read his full blog posting at http://popwatch.ew.com/2012/01/17/chris-harrison-the-bachelor-episode-3-blog-2/