Gabi Elnicki was not the woman Zach Shallcross chose to get engaged to on season 27 of The Bachelor. On the show’s March 27 finale, Zach and Gabi had their final date together in Thailand. It followed a week of ups and downs for the pair during the fantasy suite, where they slept together, despite Zach initially wanting “no sex” during overnights. Things were going well, until Zach said that he wanted to be honest with Kaity Biggar about his night with Gabi, and Gabi was upset that their intimate moment was being shared so publicly.
Before meeting Zach’s family, Gabi wanted to have a conversation with him about how things went down the week before. “Although he told me he didn’t regret anything [about the fantasy suite], it feels like there’s some regret there,” Gabi admitted. “Before I meet Zach’s family, I need to have a conversation with him. I think if it doesn’t go well, I won’t be meeting Zach’s family.”
“I’m feeling a lot of weight on me right now,” Gabi admitted. “Yesterday at the rose ceremony, all I was hearing was the negatives. I just want to make sure that you aren’t associating negative feelings with me.” Zach insisted that this wasn’t the case and said he only felt like a ‘failure’ because of the parameters he had placed himself. “That week was huge for us,” Zach assured Gabi. “I wouldn’t take anything back. Hearing that you felt pain that that you caused this…I don’t know how else to say it, but you’re the farthest thing from it. You opened my eyes, You were someone that, in my heart…it’s love. I want you to know that.”
By the end of the talk, Gabi was feeling reassured. She went on to meet Zach’s family and had amazing conversations with them. “I felt an overwhelming sense of love,” Gabi gushed afterward. After hearing from Zach’s family, her feelings for Zach were confirmed more than ever before. “I can see our life together more than I have ever before,” she admitted. Gabi went on to tell Zach that she was in love with him after their day together.
Later that week, Gabi and Zach had their final date of the season. Things started out great, but as the day progressed, Gabi’s doubts started trickling in again when Zach told her that he was still feeling torn about his decision. “I just think that if Zach knew how he felt about me, he’d say it,” Gabi said, in tears. “I have a gut feeling that it’s not me. I can see what’s coming.”
Gabi still let the nighttime of the date play out, but she wanted clarity. Gabi expressed to Zach that it was really scary for her to hear that he was still being pulled in two different directions. He insisted that he wouldn’t still be here with Gabi if she didn’t see a future with her. “He can say he’s falling in love, but if his heart is in two places, he’s also falling in love with Kaity,” Gabi realized. “He’s going to leave with a full heart, but one of us leaves with a heart broken.”
When Gabi arrived to the final rose ceremony, she had a gut feeling that it wasn’t going to be her, and she was right. Zach recounted all the amazing times he and Gabi shared, and before he could finish his breakup speech, Gabi interrupted him. “I know, you don’t have to say it,” she told him. She didn’t want to hear Zach’s apology because she didn’t need it. “Can you stop?” she asked. “I knew it was coming, I’ve known it was coming. What I don’t know is why you didn’t tell me when you knew.”
Zach insisted he didn’t make the decision until the night before, but Gabi didn’t want to hear the speech. She assured him that she appreciated all that they went through and that she knew what she was getting into. “It’s okay, I’ll find love somewhere, somehow, it’s okay,” she said, before leaving.
In the car leaving, Gabi was in tears, as she admitted to feeling strung along by Zach. She then appeared on After the Final Rose to discuss how she felt about the whole thing today. “It’s honestly worse watching it back,” she said. “I had a little bit of hope going into that day and I never thought someone who said they were falling in love with me would make me go through that. The last day you prepare a speech, you have hours and hours of interviews and you get ready and spend all morning waiting and waiting. I remember having the thought, ‘Zach would never make me go through this,’ so even though I had that gut feeling, I didn’t think someone who cared about me would make me go up there and go through all of the stress and anxiety of that day. I felt humiliated.”
Gabi also admitted that it felt ‘extremely violating’ to know that the entire nation now knows about her intimate moment with Zach in the fantasy suite. The two came face-to-face for the first time since their breakup on the after show.