Rachel Lindsay’s season of “The Bachelorette” may have been a first for the franchise, but it ended much like the others.
After a series of overnight dates, Lindsay reluctantly sent Bigger packing.
“I’ll always love you, ” he told Lindsay. “That’s just the truth.”
The pair met up during the live portion of the show and the rejected suitor thanked Lindsay for the experience.
“Prior to the experience my heart was broken, I never had love in my heart, ” he said. “With Rachel, she fulfilled by heart…that’s what I was lacking my whole life. I just want to say thank you for giving me that and allowing me to receive love from you because now I’m a man.”
Kraus and Lindsay had a tearful parting on their final night together after clashing over her desire to get engaged and his reluctance to pop the question.
When they later reunited, Kraus explained he just wasn’t able to give Lindsay the proposal she said she needed.
“While things didn’t end the way that I hoped, I have you to thank for the feelings I did have, ” he told Lindsay. “I wish you nothing but the best and I really just want happiness for you, that’s all.”
That left the final rose for Abasolo, whose proposal Lindsay accepted.
“I am the best version of myself when I am with you, ” he told Lindsay before dropping to one knee. “You are so easy and effortless to love, and I just want to love you the rest of my life.”
He proposed a second time during the live show.
“It feels good to have him with me and by my side, ” Lindsay said.
Not everyone was thrilled with the ending, and some viewers took to Twitter to express their displeasure.
Lindsay was the first African American to star in the “Bachelor”/”Bachelorette” franchise. She broke down under the weight of that responsibility at one point during the season.
Related: ‘The Bachelorette’ is newer than you thought
“The pressures I feel about being a black woman and what that is and how… I don’t even want to talk about it, ” Lindsay said with tears welling. “I get pressure from so many different ways being in this position.”
Related: When ‘The Bachelor’ franchise and race collide
One suitor proved to be a lightening rod when it came to ethnicity.
Nashville singer/songwriter Lee Garrett was accused of being racist after tensions with other suitors and the discovery of some racist and misogynistic tweets sent prior to his appearance on the show.
During last week’s “The Bachelorette 2017: The Men Tell All” reunion special, Garrett defended himself against the accusations.
Related: Lee Garrett was put in the hot seat on ‘Bachelorette: The Men Tell All’ reunion
“I was being irresponsible in what I put out, ” Garrett said. “That was another thing about being inconsiderate that I said I thought about a lot.”
