Season 17 of The Bachelorette was full of twists and turns, but strangely enough, one of the most unexpected moments happened during the July 26th special rather than the actual competition. After his heartbreaking exit from the show, Connor “The Cat” Brennan managed to smooch an audience member during the cast reunion special, and fans are all kinds of confusion. So who kissed Connor B. on “Men Tell All”? Her name is Tara and yes it seems like there could be more to her story …
ICYMI, Connor who was eliminated in week 6, actually had a pretty good time on the show. After the couple stepped out of the limo in a cat suit on Night 1 (because Katie Thurston loves cats, not because it’s his usual style), the couple shared their first kiss of the season, which marked the start of their dubious physical chemistry fans during his endure the entire season.
One thing that the viewers kept getting was how * intensely * Connor kissed Katie. No, he didn’t keep his eyes open like ex-Bachelor Matt James, but it was still a lot – so much so that Katie cited her lack of physical chemistry as the only reason to send him home.
Fast forward to Connor’s hot seated interview on “Men Tell All”. After reliving his sweet but sometimes scary time on the show, he told presenters Tayshia Adams and Kaitlyn Bristowe that he feared being a bad kisser after his experience with Katie. He was so concerned that he even asked some ex-boyfriends to share their feedback on his kissing style.
ABC / Craig Sjodin
According to Connor, his exes said he wasn’t bad; it was just the lack of connection that threw him and Katie off. To get to the bottom of the mystery “Connor is a good kisser”, however, a woman from the studio audience got up and volunteered to make out with him. After sharing a very intimate kiss, she said Connor’s kiss was an 11 on a scale of 1 to 10. But where does she come from and how well does she actually know Connor?
According to detectives on Twitter, the mysterious woman is Tara Kelly, a musician from California. Some believe it was planted by producers to make this moment possible with Connor, and honestly? That checks out. Not only was it already miced when she “accidentally” interrupted Connor’s hot seat interview, but also, let’s not forget that we are still living in COVID times, folks! There was no way she could have grown a performer without first being thoroughly tested. On top of that, she seems to be releasing new music the day after her “Men Tell All” performance, and it smells like a setup to me.
However, that does not mean that Tara and Connor have not established a real connection! After all, they shared two big kisses on the screen (and he asked her number). In addition – perhaps even more meaningfully – the two follow each other on Instagram and only interacted publicly with the other’s accounts on July 21st. MTA “special. Who knows – maybe they’re even together now. Talk about a meeting-cute!
And before you say “but Connor is going to paradise, so nothing can have happened to Tara”, it is very likely the “Men Tell All” special that was filmed at Paradise after Connor’s time. That means Connor may have left BIP unrelated – unless he hooked up with someone on the beach and that kiss on stage was just one way to put everyone off? Anything can happen with the Bachelor franchise.
Season 17 of The Bachelorette airs Mondays at 8 p.m. ET on ABC.