When 26-year-old Todd King was rejected last night on national television, only to be left to mourn, alone, in the Australian outback, surrounded by the constant threat of crocodiles, the collective reaction of The Bachelorette audience was something like this:
It was very sad, and we found ourselves having déjà vu of the moment Georgia Love rejected Matty J and he doubled over in pain.
This wasn't a place we wanted to be again.
Yet here we are.
Of course, just as the producers planned, thousands of voices expressed their firm belief that ALI SHOULD HAVE CHOSEN TODD.
You see, Ali made it very clear from the beginning of the season what she wanted. She told us over and over again about the mistakes she's made in the past when it comes to relationships, and this time, she was going to make sure it was different.
Instead of thinking with her heart, she was going to think with her head, and not choose a person who couldn't give her what she needed.
But when Taite a) couldn't tell her he loved her and b) said he was put off by her 'timeline' of when she wanted marriage and babies, she chose him. Over Todd. Who told her multiple times he was in love and WANTED HER TO BE THE MOTHER OF HIS CHILDREN.
So the tweets started.
So Ali is picking the one who can’t commit to her after spending all season saying she always picks the guys that can’t commit? #BacheloretteAU pic.twitter.com/QjGoZKwuPa
— Ben P (@benfc93) November 15, 2018
Have been out and just watched the finale on Tenplay...Oh Ali...the heart wants what the heart wants but Todd was your knight in shinning armour and he had a ring and he is so in love with you and he was going to give you everything you wanted and... #BacheloretteAU
— Deb (@DebFOPA) November 15, 2018
I can't believe Ali didn't choose Todd!! What the hell #BacheloretteAU
— Ravinder (@ravinder0295) November 15, 2018
Ali: "I've learnt from my mistakes." *chooses the guy who isn't ready to commit*
Australia: CLEARLY YOU HAVEN'T #BacheloretteAU— Nicole (@Nikky_luvsu) November 15, 2018
#BacheloretteAU okay. so she has learnt nothing.. Who in their right mind would reject Todds unconditional love for a guy who isnt sure yet? I’m done. Only good thing she has done is allowed Australia the slight possibility of seeing Todd for another full season #ToddforBachelor pic.twitter.com/jBhU0dVgjs
— Leesmithkloe@gmail.com (@leesmithkloe) November 15, 2018
Confusing final choice on the #BacheloretteAU Todd seemed genuine, Taite seemed noncommittal. Hope Ali gets her HEA. pic.twitter.com/CHlGZN6WiI
— Nicola Marsh (@NicolaMarsh) November 15, 2018
But speaking to Mamamia on Friday morning, Ali said she watched the finale with Taite, and had no idea there was such a backlash to her decision on social media.
Ultimately, however, she said people's comments don't bother her. "I've got the guy of my dreams sitting right next to me," she said.
"He's my Mr Right and I know that and no one else was with me in the experience or knows us like we know in our relationship. I'm fine with that."
When asked whether she had spoken to Todd since that final decision, Ali simply replied: "No."
The 32-year-old also weighed in on the theory that he had been planning to propose. "I think that he was ready and everything like that, but at the same time, he wanted to be in the police force," she said. "So I have no idea."
Speaking to Mamamia, Todd said the ring he had in his pocket was an engagement ring.
"I didn’t really have a plan with what I was going to do [with the ring] but I wanted to have the option of proposing… that’s why I chose the engagement ring,” he said.
“I was definitely open to using it had been me at the end.. it went back to [the jeweller] Dracakis… it was probably not something I’d want to have on me anyway. I was honestly pretty keen not to see it again.”
Ali said the moment she decided she would choose Taite was when he met her family, and got their "tick of approval".
"I suppose it started with our first date, there was an undeniable connection there. And, yeah, I really couldn't stop thinking about him from then on, and as the experience went on, he was basically ticking all my boxes and made me the happiest," she said.
"I couldn't wait to tell him at the end how much I loved him."
Listen to Clare Stephens and Rachel Corbett debrief on The Bachelorette finale week.