‘This Is Robbery.’ Grant Ellis Defends His Decision After The Bachelor Fans Express Shock Over Hometown Elimination

Spoiler alert! This story contains spoilers for the March 3 episode of The Bachelor Season 29. You can also see the spoiler for who Grant chooses here, but if you’re not caught up, you can use your Hulu subscription to stream the latest episodes.

It feels like Grant Ellis’ season of The Bachelor just premiered on the 2025 TV schedule, and yet, here we are, down to our final three women. In the latest episode, the Jersey boy hit the road for Hometowns to meet (some of) the contestants’ families before ultimately eliminating one of the Season 29 contestants. His decision sparked some shocked reactions from Bachelor Nation, and Grant has spoken out to explain his reasoning.

Grant Ellis Explains Why Zoe McGrady Got A Rose After Hometowns

Dina Lupancu was sent home Monday night after she and Grant Ellis enjoyed a date in Chicago with her friends (her family refused to participate), while Litia Garr, Juliana Pasquarosa and Zoe McGrady advanced to Fantasy Suites. The fact that Zoe is still around — and part of his final three! — left fans flabbergasted, as Zoe didn’t get a one-on-one date this season and seemingly hasn’t spent that much time with Grant.

However, he told The Wrap that Zoe opened up on her Hometown date in New York City in ways that resonated with him, saying:

Grant Ellis also said Dina Lupancu’s absent family “didn’t affect” his decision; it was just that his time with Zoe McGrady gave him reassurance.

Bachelor Nation Reacts To Zoe McGrady Advancing To Fantasy Suites

However, many fans have been expecting Zoe McGrady to be eliminated for weeks, and especially after she didn’t even get a one-on-one this season, things didn’t look good for the tech engineer/model. Fans didn’t agree with Grant’s choice, to put it mildly, as one called it straight-up “robbery”:

No offense whatsoever to Zoe McGrady, but after some initial bad vibes with the other women in the house, she (and everyone else) kind of took a backseat to Carolina Quixano’s drama, with Zoe getting no real alone time with Grant. Another fan wrote on X (Twitter):

Lots of people spoke out about how wild it was that for their first date, Zoe McGrady took Grant Ellis to do an engagement and wedding photo shoot. Some found the activity awkward and said the couple lacked chemistry, as more social media reactions included:

• Having an engagement photo shoot on your first date with Grant is quite the choice Zoe... – mike_h1990
• Zoe isn’t the one for Grant. She never even got a 1 on 1 and made it this far. That’s a 🚩 and that’s Grant’s fault 🤷🏻‍♀️ – karina438
• I’m sorry is there chemistry between Zoe and Grant that they’ve been hiding from us? – gabbycastano
• This truly felt like a hometown date between strangers… – zoececkem

It seems like a bit of a mystery to many out there why Zoe McGrady is still on The Bachelor Season 29 and not Dina Lupancu, but Grant Ellis said his Hometown dates gave him all the answers he needed. I’m excited to see just how far Zoe can take this.

Tune in at 8 p.m. ET Tuesday, March 10, for the Women Tell All, before continuing Grant’s journey with Fantasy Suites on March 17.