Bachelor talk: Rien finally reveals his big secret

This week, the episode revolves around one thing for me: will I be right about the shocking announcement from Rien to Paul? We will only get an answer to this in one way: trying to stay open-minded while we watch the entire episode as Rien bites his tongue in front of his brother.

The bachelors are getting reinforcements in the form of family members. For Paul, this means that his sister Julie is arriving, and their strong bond is clearly visible during their reunion. Paul really has to make an effort not to burst into tears during her embrace. For Rien, it feels a bit different when he meets his brother Ewout, who has come all the way from Colombia, after a long time in Zanzibar. It almost feels like a casual encounter with an acquaintance. Rien immediately shows his brother proudly the booklet he received from one of the ladies. ‘All my secret notes are in here,’ he says happily, flipping through it. But of course, we are talking about Rien here, and I only see a nice drawing when we sneak a peek over his shoulder into his notebook.

Ewout and Julie both get the chance to have conversations with the women. I immediately notice that Ewout's voice is very similar to Rien's. With Julie and Paul, it's very different, as Paul has of course taught himself the posh accent. Just by Julie's Maastricht accent, I feel like I get to know Paul much better in one go, as if we are catching a glimpse of his roots. Josephine finds it important to let Julie know that she thinks Paul is a nicer person than Julie herself.

For a moment, we are back in the terms of ’team Paul’ and ’team Rien’. During the group date, they are going paintballing, and the family members are also invited to join in. Amber eagerly tests her weapon and almost shouts: ‘Say hello to my little friend!’ It's nice that she can vent her underlying anger during this activity, so we no longer have to be afraid that she will set the jungle of Zanzibar on fire. Afterwards, Rien and his brother discuss how the group date went in the pool (how else could it be, our mermaid shares this passion with his brother). It mainly revolves around Femke, so maybe that's why Rien decides he is in a hurry to go to the drinks at the women's villa.

At the drinks, Josephine takes Paul aside to almost climb on top of him (who is the object of desire here, Josephine?), while Rien only wants to talk to Femke. The drinks last about five minutes, I think, because the men quickly make their exit after those private conversations, leaving the other women surprised. This is the moment we have all been waiting for: Rien takes Paul to the beach. What we all saw coming from miles away is finally spoken out loud. He tells him that he is only going to give a rose to Femke. Paul is so in shock that it seems like they have never talked about the women before; otherwise, I can't imagine he didn't see this coming.

Fortunately, Rien handles the rose ceremony very respectfully and also gives compliments to the other women. However, that doesn't change the fact that Amber struggles to contain her anger. She and Milan say they are very happy for Femke and Rien, but Milan is the only one I truly believe without fearing that a revenge action will follow. The contrast with Paul is significant, as Paul this time doesn't send anyone away at all. I will miss Rien and his youthful spirit. Hopefully, we can still watch when it comes to the crafts and drawings he brings home for Femke. His stray dog friends also come to say goodbye to him, as he explains to the camera how he came to this choice.

The preview for next week shows us that Paul seems to be completely down now that Rien has left him. Fortunately for him, family members of the women are coming by, maybe that will help him make the choice for the lady who gets to go on a 24-hour date with him...