Ahead of the highly-anticipated breakup and proposal, the two remaining women get completely dolled up for one last moment with the man of their dreams before he reveals his intentions. While many viewers are hyper-focused on who gets the guy, Us Weekly is more concerned with what happens to the dresses these women wear after the cameras stop rolling,
Take Clare Crawley, for example. Her finale dress from Juan Pablo Galavis’ season 18 made an appearance in Clare’s season 16 of The Bachelorette. On her first one-on-one date with former NFL player Jason Foster, she threw her teal one-shoulder frock into a fire. “I’ve gone through the healing and this dress honestly means nothing to me,” she said before tossing the garment into flames.
JoJo Fletcher
“I still have it!!” JoJo, who was the runner-up on Ben Higgins’ season 20 of The Bachelor, exclusively told Us Weekly in April 2024. “Not sure what I will do with it one day — but I always thought it would be nice to donate it for a charity auction if someone wanted it!”
During the finale, JoJo rocked a sequin $498 dress from Mac Duggal featuring a pink pattern and a sheer skirt.
JoJo ended up leading her own season 12 of The Bachelorette, where she met now-husband Jordan Rodgers.
Clare — who first appeared on Juan Pablo Galavis’ season 18 — threw her teal finale dress into a fire pit during her season 16 of The Bachelorette.
“[Juan Pablo’s season] one of the most difficult moments that I’ve had to face in my life, but I’ve gone through the healing and this dress honestly means nothing to me,” she told contestant Jason Foster. He then suggested Clare burn the dress, and she threw it in the fire.
She previously opened up about her finale dress via Instagram in 2020 while cleaning out her closet. “Fun fact: the entire zipper is shredded and unusable because I ripped this dress off as soon as I got in the car,” she captioned a pic of the gown. “However! 2 reasons I kept it: [Carey Fetman, Bachelor Nation’s stylist] hand-beaded this and it meant the world to me [and wearing the dress] was the most empowering moment of my life.”
After Juan Pablo allegedly told Clare he didn’t love her but loved “f—king her,” and turned her down at the final rose ceremony, she gave him a piece of her mind. “I thought I knew what kind of man you were. I lost respect for you. I thought I knew what kind of man you were. What you just made me go through — I would never want my children having a father like you,” she told him. Juan Pablo gave his final rose to Nikki Ferrell. The pair later split shortly after the show wrapped in 2014.
Clare was later the lead of season 16 of The Bachelorette. She decided to leave the show with Dale Moss after 12 days into filming. The duo later called it quits, but she eventually found love with Ryan Dawkins, and the pair welcomed daughter Rowen Lily Dawkins via surrogate in January 2024.
Daisy Kent
Kent, who was the runner-up on Joey Graziadei’s season 28, offered her dress to fans after the finale premiered in March 2024. “Who needs a prom dress? #thebachelor #prom,” she captioned a TikTok of her trying on the red staples Nookie gown.
Some fans begged her to send it to them, while others suggested she repurposed the dress to “give it new memories.”
Joey is engaged to Kelsey Anderson. Daisy shared she was offered the role of The Bachelorette, but turned it down.
Gabi Elnicki
A year after Gabi got sent home on Zach Shallcross’ season 27, she opened up about what she wants to do with her yellow Proenza Schouler dress, which featured an open back and halter top. “I absolutely loved this dress but she’s ruined,” she captioned a picture of her at the final rose ceremony. “I think I need to burn this dress in a fire pit with sage. It has bad juju now. Very unfortunate.”
She added, “Haven’t even had it cleaned since Thailand. It probably still has my tears on it. Firm believer if I have a bad night in an outfit, I can never wear the articles of clothing again.”
Zach ended up proposing to Kaity Biggar.