It was one of the most bizarre moments of Bachelor In Paradise so far: Blake Colman, full of confidence, offering his rose to Lenora… a woman who LITERALLY doesn’t exist.
What he meant to say, of course, was, “Laurina Fleure, of Bachelor season two fame, you are so memorable and great and I, of course, would never botch the pronunciation of your name. Please accept this rose as a symbol of my undying affection and loyalty.”
Now, after being sent home on last night’s episode (alongside Canadian Daniel who is being mercilessly roasted by his fellow cast mates on Instagram), Blake is setting the record straight on just how he got the object of his affection’s name so terribly, horribly wrong.
Watch: Blake explains why (and how!) he managed to botch Laurina’s name on Bachelor in Paradise.
In a vlog uploaded to YouTube (yes, Blake has a vlog now…) Blake shared that he was actually “so sick” the day the scene was filmed.
“I had heatstroke… late nights, early morning and… my sickness and my health just went really bad,” he said in the video.
“I had to get the medics to come take a look at me and they had to give me a whole tonne of stuff to keep me going. I was in bed the whole day… that’s the reason why, during that episode, you never see me during the day, at all.”
Blake said he had "dragged himself out of bed" for the cocktail party and had had a couple of drinks in attempt to "keep his sh*t together".
"In the rose ceremony I'm actually almost passing out, we had to stop filming because I was actually about to... faint," he said.
"As I got up, you see my face when I say Lenora and I'm just so zoned out. As I said it, I didn't even know I said it, that's the funniest thing.
"I was just so confused, and my mind was just in a whole other place from and health."
Jessie Stephens hones in on the big problem with Bachelor In Paradise so far. Post continues after.
He said as soon as he uttered the name "Lenora", the whole cast and crew began "cracking up", as evidenced by the behind-the-scenes snap posted by Keira on Instagram after the episode.
Blake said even "Osher was losing it" and Laurina/Lenora herself was "having a good laugh at the time".
But in the end, it didn't work out for Blake, who discovered upon watching the episode back that Laurina wasn't too happy with his efforts.
"Blake genuinely has no idea what my name is..." she said during the episode.
"I was sort of a little bit worried about whether or not I could make it work with Blake, and I appreciate that he got my name wrong because it made it a lot easier to decide that... we're done."
It seems now, however, there are no hard feelings between the pair, despite the fact Laurina chose complete stranger 'American Jared' over Blake (and Canadian Daniel) during last night's episode.
"Dear Laurina, Thank you so much for giving me a chance in the first place. You are an amazing chick and gorgeous both inside and out," the 30-year-old wrote on Instagram.
"I am sorry I couldn't fulfil your list of 100 requirements... however I really hope you find that special someone whether it may be in Paradise or after because you deserve to find love."
You can watch the full episode of Blake's vlog here.