The Bachelorette Desiree - Finale - RESULTS & Recap - UPDATED

It's the three-hour finale of The Bachelorette Season 9, and Desiree ends a drama-filled season by choosing the man of her dreams. My recap of the first two hours is here, and now the post has been updated with my recap of the After the Final Rose special as well. Warning: SHOCKERS AHEAD!!

"Will she be the first Bachelorette in history to leave this show alone?" host Chris Harrison asks to start off the three-hour finale. Hopefully not. Des was so sad last week! Really, really sad. In last week's episode, if you need a reminder, Brooks elected to leave because he wasn't in love with Des. Des LOVED Brooks, and she even told him that to his face; however, he still left. So many tears.

Chris Harrison and Des sit down after last episode's tearful Brooks exit. "I'm okay," she says when asked. "You're not," he replies. She still looks crushed. "I'm okay when people don't ask," she responds, and immediately she breaks down. Oh, girl, I can relate. The tears don't start flowing until someone asks if you're okay.

"Could you see yourself with one of these two remaining guys?" Chris Harrison questions. She doesn't know. How could anyone really know when she already found the one person that she loves? However, she still does want to continue on seeing Chris and Drew even though her heart's broken.

Rose Ceremony

So at this point, she's left with two "amazing guys" who she doesn't love, and she's absolutely heartbroken. She's having a hard time breaking a genuine smile during the rose ceremony with Drew and Chris; her smiles look more like grimaces. And then she starts to cry. The wound's still obviously fresh, and Chris and Drew look so uncomfortable standing 30 feet away from here. Default roses for the two of them since Brooks had departed.

Chris Harrison then asks members of the live studio audience what they think will happen. It's a mixed bag; I wonder how many of them have read spoilers…

Drew's Date

"There isn't one iota of hesitation or doubt," Drew says regarding his feelings for Des. However, Des feels much differently. "I'm not feeling the way I should be. I wanted to feel excited, I wanted to feel the excitement I feel when I love someone."

"I really need to talk to you," Des says just after Drew makes a toast to "falling madly in love." It's not just that she needs to talk to him; she REALLY needs to talk to him. That's rough. Even my friend Ryan, who's sitting next to me as I watch, cringed on that one.
Her voice cracks immediately. "I've been so lucky to have you in my life," she sobs as Drew tells her it's alright. "But I don't know if i see our futures together, if i can be 100% for me. I just feel like there's something missing." He's speechless at first.

"You don't have to be sorry for not being in love with me," Drew says. "I would want you to be as in love with me as I am with you." So wise and handsome even though his heart got crushed. There's the eloquent Drew we know.

Drew, it's okay, women are going to be crawling all over you after that. You'll find a wife in no time. "I never wanted a perfect life, I don't want one, I wouldn't know what to do with it," Drew says as he exits.

Chris' Date

She does seem happier with Chris than with Drew the day before, but is that only because she's had an extra day to get over her feelings for Brooks? She thinks her feelings for Chris have been clouded because of her feelings for Brooks.

Chris is so sincere, handsome, and sweet, I can't even handle him. It does seem like she's happy with him, but how happy is she really? She does want to introduce Chris to her family, so she likes him enough.

He gives her a gift. Is it another poem? Oh, it's just a journal. Andddd it's full of poems in the back. You tricked me there for a second, Chris!!! But the poems are always there, he kind of just sweats them out in the gallons.

I've never felt like anyone has loved me as much as i've loved them, and I think that's why it's hard to feel so loved. She feels guilty; how could she not have loved him from the beginning?

Sean and Catherine are here! And Lindsay, Lesley, and Jackie! Yippie. So that's why Catherine hadn't tweeted for the past couple of hours. Chris Harrison asks them when their wedding will be, and they don't give a definitive answer. Sean says that if she was in Des' shoes, he would've packed his bags and left. Even Jackie said that every answer Des gave led to Brooks.

Chris meets the family
Now Chris gets to meet Des' family! And… the ever-charming Nate Hartsock, Des' infamous date-ruining brother, is here as well. But he seems tamer than last time. Chris is 100% confident that Des will choose him in the end. Des is worried that Nate is going to try to find something nitpicky about him. Still, though, things are going smoothly. Des' father gives Chris his blessing to propose to Des.

Des says that in this moment, Chris is the guy that she wants to spend the rest of her life with, but she's taking it day-by-day. Nate reminds her to not settle. He's concerned that she's still hurt by Brooks, but he does like Chris. He's able to provide her with some non-sugar-coated advice, which is what she needs. But… she's really feeling it with Chris. She really, really cares for him.

Proposal Day
We open up Proposal Day with Chris and Des peering over their respective balconies and pondering the outcome of the day's events. Chris picks out his engagement ring for Des. Des, on the other hand, STILL doesn't know what she's going to do. She's put on her dress, pinned up her hair, and walked to the proposal stage. And she still. doesn't. know. Realistically, though, they've only been on this trip for like six weeks anyways. So just follow your heart, girl! Play it slow!

Chris steps out of the limo. And there's Des all alone on the platform. He's nervous. She's nervous. I'M NERVOUS!! He takes both her hands and stares into her eyes, listing out his favorite moments with her. He's so poetic. And dreamy.

He's about to get down on a knee when Des interrupts him. She wants to be completely honest with him and lets him know all about Brooks. She said goodbye to Drew, and he cracks a smile. She says that she "loved" Brooks, and she was torn between the two of them. She feels like she was blindsided by her feelings for Brooks, but she never realized that all she ever wanted was right in front of him. . She thanks him every day for not giving up. "I want nothing but to spend the rest of my life with you," Des reveals.

Chris gets down on one knee. SHE SAID YES!!!! HOLLYYYYYYYY CRAP!!!! IS THIS REAL LIFE?!? DES IS ENGAGED TO CHRIS! I literally have chills all over my body right now. Then we see a montage of their best moments. Once again, Matt White is playing in the background. Oh god. I love this. I'm so happy. The spoilers said Brooks. I'd been thinking it was Brooks all along, but really, she chose Chris. Since you all know that I love Chris, I'm just so happy!

Okay, now to recap the ATFR special. See you in a bit. Let me know what you think!

After the Final Rose

Now, here's my recap of this season of The Bachelorette's live After the Final Rose special. Des just shocked America—or at least spoiler-reading America—by choosing Chris, and they're still engaged to this very day. In ATFR, host Chris Harrison talks with Des, Brooks, Drew, and Chris, and we meet the next Bachelor.

After Chris Harrison and Des chat for a while, Brooks comes back! Oh, not in that way; he just sits down to talk with Des. It's not as awkward as I thought it would be. He thinks he was always honest with her and that he didn't necessarily lead her on. Brooks isn't necessarily surprised that she's engaged to Des, because he saw how she looked at Chris during group dates.

And now, Drew is back too. He was eliminated earlier on in the episode so he didn't have to propose to her and THEN get rejected, so at least he was spared THAT extra hurt, right? It's difficult for him to watch these past couple of episodes, though. He hadn't seen any precursors that led to heartbreak, but he still isn't angry or regretful. He asks if there's anything he could've done differently in the process (no) or if she knows when she finally knew (no). "I fell in love with her, and that love changed my life," he concludes. Still profound through it all, Drew!

Finally, Chris and Des appear on stage as a couple for the first time in public! What an attractive and loving couple. He was convinced since the top of the hotel after Dodgeball that he really had feelings for her. They announced that Des, the California girl, is going to be moving to Seattle. And... classic Chris! He brings her yet another gift on the show. It's a poem that he wrote, titled "My Girl," framed with all of the roses that he saved from the show.

Who's the next Bachelor? He's handsome, charismatic, and funny, Chris Harrison teases. The next bachelor is Juan Pablo!!! HOLY CRAP. Did not see that coming either. As Chris Harrison said, no one has been so popular with so little screentime. The women in the studio audience are flipping. out. I really thought it would be Drew, and I'm glad it's not, because I don't think I would've watched Drew as the bachelor. Juan Pablo has had such a good response from America, and I think many people will be pleased with this choice. Plus, he's the first minority lead in the franchise. It look long enough!

So, my thoughts on the ending and season overall? Well played, Bachelorette producers, well played. They obviously knew that the spoilers said that Brooks would come back, so they kept trying to tease to us that Brooks might actually return. They edited it to set that up as well. But in the end, it was Chris! And I couldn't be happier. I just really, really hope Des didn't just settle for Chris. But, I think it was just the editing. I think (and hope) that they'll be just fine. Best of luck to the happy couple! The last three hours were truly surprising, and I'm glad I felt surprised for once. Props.

Now, what do YOU all think? Did Des make the right decision? Do you think she settled for Chris at the time of his proposal? Are you excited for Juan Pablo to be the next Bachelor? Let me know in comments! And thank you very much for following along with me this season; it's been a pleasure.