Caila's Response To The 'Bachelorette' News

Usually, I am so absorbed in being up on all the latest Bachelor spoilers that it's rare the show actually surprises me, but on Monday night, it totally did. For the past couple of weeks, based on a report from Us Weekly, it's seemed like Caila Quinn was a lock for Bachelorette, but then, everything changed. On After The Final Rose, Chris Harrison made the announcement that instead, JoJo Fletcher is the next Bachelorette, and it completely blew my mind. And although I'm super excited that Fletcher is getting the chance to find love again after seeing Ben Higgins brutally break her heart, my first thought wasn't about how good her season would be, it was about what the almost Bachelorette must think of all this. And now, Quinn is reacting to The Bachelorette decision, and the way she's handling the situation is very mature.

Bustle reached out to ABC regarding the reports that Quinn was previously selected as Bachelorette and they had no comment.

Instead of mentioning the fact that she could have had the lead, she chose to leave that out when she finally broke her silence on Twitter early Tuesday morning. Rather that dwell on the negative, Quinn chose to congratulate her former cast mates on their good news — Fletcher as Bachelorette, obviously, and Lauren Bushnell's engagement to Higgins — and it was a really sweet gesture.

Having seen her cheerful persona on the show, I guess I shouldn't be surprised that she's taking this bad news with a smile, too. But being that she's no longer in the running for Higgins' heart and doesn't have to be on her best behavior anymore, I wouldn't have judged her if she took this opportunity to air how she really feels. And in her situation, I would be royally pissed. Of course, unless producers decide to share their process, it's hard to say if Quinn "officially" had the job or not.

And if what Reality Steve says about the whole incident is true, how it all went down seems like it would definitely be difficult for Quinn. The Bach spoiler guru claims that Quinn wasn't told she didn't have the role until Thursday night, which would mean that until just a few days ago, she would've thought she would be flying to LA on Monday to appear as the Bachelorette for the first time on After The Final Rose, only to have it ripped out from under her. Think about it: What if she'd already taken time off of work and shopped for potential rose ceremony gowns? Is that not the most heartbreaking thing you've ever heard? Has this girl not been through enough already?!

Obviously, this is all hearsay and unless Quinn or The Bachelor/ette decide to share the story, we'll never know what truly happened. Maybe she's relieved she's not tied to the show. Maybe she decided she didn't want to do it anymore and backed out, and that's why the network went with Fletcher instead. Maybe the entire Bachelor franchise is just some giant social experiment where scientists are trying to find out how far they can push reality TV fans before they hit their emotional breaking point. Who knows?

I couldn't be more thrilled to watch Fletcher as the Bachelorette, but I can't help but feel a little bummed for Quinn in the process. Homegirl deserves a hug... and a really, really awesome guy waiting in her future. At least she'll always have their playhouse? Or maybe that makes things worse? Either way, she gets major props from me for handling this awkward situation so well.

Image: Kelsey McNeal/ABC