The Bachelor season 29 star Grant Ellis blindsided Carolina Sofia when he said goodbye to her right before his hometown dates, but I believe that it's possible that the producers had a hand in keeping her around longer than he should've. Grant, a now-31-year-old day trader from Newark, New Jersey, and Carolina, a 28-year-old public relations producer from Guaynabo, Puerto Rico, had a strong connection. He chose her for his second one-on-one date, during which they flew to Las Vegas and bungee jumped off of the Strat Hotel and Casino. Later, at dinner, Carolina opened up to Grant about having epilepsy.

Throughout The Bachelor season 29, Grant and Carolina seemed to be developing a very strong connection. This upset many of the women, who felt that every group date became "The Carolina Show." However, Grant always seemed to want to spend time with Carolina, and his desire to make her feel comfortable made her appear to be a frontrunner to win his heart in the end. It was shocking when he sent her home, but I think that perhaps the producers' interference was the reason that he kept her around for so long in the first place.

Grant Ellis Seemed To Really Care For Carolina Sofia

Carolina's Elimination From The Bachelor Season 29 Was Shocking

During The Bachelor season 29 episode 2, Carolina won an R&B singing contest during a group date, which meant that she had the chance to dance with Grant on stage while singer Mario serenaded them. During the dance, Carolina and Grant made out, while all of the other women on the date were watching. They later confronted her about it, which upset her because she was feeling great, but then she felt guilty.

However, when Carolina spoke to Grant about it, he told her that they'd done nothing wrong and that he wanted to protect her from the other women ganging up on her. Grant defended Carolina again when Rose Sombke informed her that he'd told her that, during his dance with Carolina, he was thinking about Rose the whole time. This happened after Carolina and Grant's one-on-one date, and she felt foolish because she didn't know if he was playing her. Grant vehemently denied ever saying anything like that, and he reassured Carolina that it wasn't true (shared via the Bachelor Nation YouTube channel).

Later in the season, Carolina began to express her doubts to the other women about getting engaged to Grant after just one date. The other women, especially Juliana Pasquarosa, felt that she was being ungrateful, and they said that they didn't like her negativity. Grant noticed that Carolina was visibly upset before he handed out one of his group date roses, and he pulled her aside to talk to her. After their conversation, he decided not to give out the rose on the date at all, which caused the women to turn on Carolina even more.

On the final Bachelor group date in Edinburgh, Scotland, Carolina was struggling with having to share Grant with so many other women. When he saw that she didn't seem to be having a good time, he once again left the other women to speak to her. They ended up spending almost the whole group date alone together, discussing Carolina's concerns. Grant made her feel so seen and validated, and, because he didn't send her home on the spot, it seemed as though she'd be getting a hometown date.

However, Carolina said that she was blindsided after Grant didn't give her a rose at the rose ceremony, and instead chose Juliana, Litia Garr, Zoe McGrady, and Dina Lupancu for his hometown dates. It was a shocking moment, and I believe that Grant led Carolina on by giving her so much attention throughout the season. He never seemed bothered by her drama, but instead defended her and made her feel as though she was in the right. I really couldn't believe that he let her go and didn't want to meet her family after all of that.

Carolina Sofia Might've Been A Producer Plant

Carolina Appeared On Another TV Show

Before The Bachelor season 29 began, I was surprised to discover that, in 2024, Carolina had appeared on another one of my favorite TV shows, FOX's We Are Family. She can be spotted in the audience in the clip above (shared by the FOX YouTube channel). Hosted by Anthony Anderson and his mother, Doris, the show featured celebrity relatives singing with their famous family , who were hidden behind a screen. Using clues and the singers' voices, the audience , who were there for the whole season, had to guess who the hidden singers were. The more they guessed correctly, the more money they won.

Carolina was a featured audience member in We Are Family episode 6, during which she was introduced as Carolina Sofia, a dog walker from Guayanabo, Puerto Rico. She shared that her strategy for guessing the celebrities was picking up on mannerisms because family tend to have the same mannerisms. The We Are Family episode that featured Carolina included the reveals of Joey Fatone (who sang with his sister, Janine Fatone-Butler), Kenny Smith (who sang with his daughter, Kayla Brianna Smith), and Sarah Palin (who sang with her cousin, Jason "JD" Morgan).

Although being on another TV show doesn't automatically mean that Carolina was a Bachelor producer plant, it could mean that she was a recruit for the show, and it wasn't her original idea to . At first, I felt that this made her Bachelor appearance less sincere because perhaps she only ed the show for publicity, and not to find true love. However, I changed my mind when I saw how much she seemed to really care for Grant, and how challenging it was for her to share him with the other women.

Carolina Sofia Seemed To Be Developing Real Feelings For Grant

Carolina's Doubts Were A Sign That She Was Taking The Experience Seriously

Although the other women thought that Carolina's doubts about getting engaged to Grant so quickly meant that she didn't have real feelings for him, I feel that it's just the opposite. It's almost laughable to think that Juliana was ready to accept a proposal from Grant before she'd even had a one-on-one date with him, and that Zoe is introducing him to her family during a hometown date without ever having had a one-on-one date with him. While I know that it's the nature of the show, I still find it all absolutely ridiculous.

Carolina expressed a few times on the show that her doubts meant that she was taking the engagement seriously, and I agree with her completely. I feel that anyone who'd jump into an engagement without consideration is setting themselves up for failure. Carolina's only mistake was trusting the wrong people with her concerns. However, the show isolates the contestants so much that they have no choice but to confide in each other, which leads to the drama that the producers love. I believe that Carolina was beginning to develop real feelings for Grant, and, even if she was a producer plant at the beginning, she was starting to fall for him in the end.

The Bachelor Producers Might've Made Grant Ellis Keep Carolina Sofia Longer Than She Should Have

Carolina Made Great TV & Is A True Star

I'm struggling to understand why, if Grant didn't feel as strongly for Carolina as he did for the four women whom he chose for his hometown dates, he'd spend that much time attending to her needs. However, it dawned on me that perhaps the producers pressured him to keep her around longer than he wanted to, because she made great TV and was a true star. Carolina was a lovable villain with a heart of gold. What I mean by that is that she did things to upset the other women, but I believe that she didn't do it out of malice, but rather because she wanted to figure out her relationship with Grant.

The Bachelor producers have been known to keep the focus on the people to whom they give a villain edit in the past because they keep the show interesting. However, if Carolina was really starting to fall for Grant, it was wrong of him to continuously give her roses if he knew that he was going to send her home anyway. I think that Grant should've let Carolina go during their last long conversation on the group date to save her from the heartache of not receiving a rose at the rose ceremony in front of all of the other women who got such satisfaction from seeing her leave.

I believe that Grant led Carolina on during The Bachelor season 29, but he might've done it because of the producers' interference. As Carolina sang during her last episode, she was their "crazy and evil" villain, but the truth was that she became a fan favorite, and a Bachelor Nation icon. She's not a villain at all. She's a queen who deserves the world, and I loved watching "The Carolina Show." I hope to see more of Carolina in the future either on Bachelor in Paradise season 10, or, better yet, as the next star of The Bachelorette.

The Bachelor airs Mondays at 8 p.m. EST on ABC.

Sources: Bachelor Nation/YouTube, FOX/YouTube