Kelsey Anderson Urges Fans to ‘Be Kind’ to Golden Bachelor’s Leslie Fhima
The Bachelor season 28 contestant Kelsey Anderson is reminding fans of an important message after Golden Bachelor runner-up Leslie Fhima caught flak for her warning message.
“Leslie helped me realize regardless the outcome I will be OK. I am so thankful for our talk,” Kelsey, 25, wrote via Instagram Story on Tuesday, March 12, alongside a reposted a snap from Leslie’s account of the pair embracing. “Please please be kind.”
Leslie, for her part, wrote on the pic, “I got [to] meet this beautiful soul.”
During the Monday, March 11, episode of the hit ABC reality series, each remaining contestant had a heart-to-heart with a former Golden Bachelor contestant heading into the show’s fantasy suites.
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While bonding over their shared tragedy of losing a parent, Kelsey and Leslie, 65, had a sweet conversation — which ended with the Golden Bachelor alum encouraging Kelsey to be cognizant that there are still other contestants vying for the affections of Joey Graziadei.
“I wish I wouldn’t have felt so confident, because then I was devastated. Very, very sad because I was in love with him,” Leslie recalled. “And I would not wish that on my worst enemy to be honest, where I was confident, and then that was it.”
Leslie ultimately wasn’t The One for Golden Bachelor season 1 lead Gerry Turner, who got engaged to Theresa Nist during the November 2023 finale episode and later tied the knot in January.
“And I would say, just always have something in the back of your head that you might not be it,” Leslie told Kelsey. “And then if you’re it, it’s amazing. And if you’re not, you have a little bit of protection.”
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After the conversation aired, some fans expressed their frustration with Leslie for seemingly making Kelsey unsure of her connection with Joey, 28. “I’m sure Leslie came from a place of love, but putting that doubt in Kelsey’s head was so uncalled for,” one user wrote via X on Monday.
While her chat with Leslie didn’t seem to affect Kelsey at first — she and Joey ultimately went to the fantasy suite where she dropped the L-word — viewers watched as she began to spiral while he went on a date with Daisy Kent.
“There’s, like, a conversation that needs to be had before going into the rose ceremony. It is more pressing now than later,” Kelsey told the camera. “I don’t want to blindside Joey, ever. I just want to be honest and I want to be able to tell him everything that’s on my mind. I would rather leave now than have my heart completely broken.”
Kelsey ultimately asked Joey to have a conversation via an ominous letter which read, “We need to talk.” Security camera footage showed her placing the note in his hotel room door, which he received later and began to have a downfall of his own.
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“I don’t understand what this is. I’m confused. I didn’t expect to see a note on my door. … Usually when someone writes, ‘We need to talk,’ it’s scary and you think it could be, ‘Something went wrong,’” Joey said. “And I don’t understand what could’ve went wrong because I haven’t said anything to her. This would derail everything. … This is, like, my worst nightmare coming true. I’m over giving everything I can and feeling like they aren’t choosing me.”
The episode ended on a cliffhanger with fans wondering which of his remaining three contestants — Kelsey, Daisy and Rachel Nance — would be in the final two.
The Bachelor airs on ABC Mondays at 8 p.m. ET.
