“The Bachelor” Season 29 star Grant Ellis crisscrossed the country during Monday night’s hometowns episode to meet the families of his final four women.
He went to Boston, New York City, Chicago and Star Valley, Wyoming, where he hung out with a large group of Latter-day Saints.
“I’ve never met a Mormon before. I don’t really know anything. ... It’s new for me,” Ellis said as he prepared for the date.
Ellis was in Wyoming with Litia Garr, a contestant from Salt Lake City who, throughout her time on the show, has spoken about being a member of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.
Last week’s episode marked the first time she brought it up directly with Ellis, and her comments prompted a long conversation about faith.
“I want God to be part of my marriage. I want my kids to grow up in a house where they know that God loves them and that they’re important, and that their parents love them and that there’s nothing they could do that would make them not loved,” Garr said, as the Deseret News previously reported.
Ellis told her then that he’s not traditionally religious but that he’s leaned on God throughout his life and loves the idea of raising religious kids.
“As many times as I messed up in my life, God has always been there for me,” he said.
‘The Bachelor’ date in Wyoming
During Monday’s episode, Garr again urged Ellis to consider what it would be like to be part of a big Latter-day Saint family before they met with her loved ones.
“Today, he’ll have a more comprehensive view of what our religion looks like in our family. If he couldn’t see himself in my family, that would be a dealbreaker,” Garr told the camera.
Ellis acknowledged that he was nervous, in part because he isn’t familiar with Latter-day Saint traditions and in part because he didn’t like how strict his own mom was about faith during his childhood.
“My mother was really religious, really strict. It gave me such a narrow view. ... It caused arguments,” he said.
Ellis told Garr that he didn’t know what to expect but that he had an “open heart (and) open mind.”
“I don’t know a lot about the Mormon faith. But I’m going in there with an open mindset. The base of their beliefs is what I believe, so I think there’s some common ground there.”
After sharing their nerves with each other, Garr told Ellis that they’d be meeting her mom, dad and brothers. But then, they were led to a party with Garr’s extended family, including aunts, uncles and cousins.
The camera caught Ellis losing tug-of-war to some of Garr’s relatives and checking out a “dirty” soda bar.
“I’m having a lot of fun today. It’s a unique, eye-opening experience for me,” Ellis said.
Litia Garr’s family
During his hometown date with Garr, Ellis had one-on-one time with several of her loved ones.
Her mom, Maurie, and dad, Rob, both reassured Ellis that they would welcome him with open arms if he wanted to build a life with their daughter. Rob talked about his own experience joining the family when Garr was young.
“I hope that you feel comfortable being yourself with us. There’s really no expectation from us. The core value that God is important and he will be important as you raise your family together — that’s the most important thing," Maurie told Ellis.
“As long as he has faith, has values and is going to treat my daughter with respect and going to love her, I give him my full love,” Rob told the camera.
Garr’s father died in a car crash when she was a baby. He was from Fiji and, during the Wyoming date, Garr spoke with her grandpa about what it was like for the family to welcome someone who didn’t look like them.
Her grandpa explained that her dad was easy to love and that, at the end of the day, love is what matters.
During her own one-on-one meeting with her mom, Garr talked about being afraid to let Ellis know how she’s feeling and afraid to trust that he’ll take care of her heart.
But by the end of the day, she was ready to take the leap. She said that “signs and confirmations” during the Wyoming date had shown her that Ellis is a “safe space.”
Garr told Ellis that she’s falling in love with him and Ellis said he’s feeling the same.
“I think that our connection is really strong, and today only strengthened it,” Ellis said at the end of their hometown date.
Garr later received one of the three roses handed out during Monday’s episode.
‘The Bachelor’ updates
After his day in Wyoming, Ellis went to Chicago for a hometown date with Dina Lupancu — and faith-related tension once again took center stage.
Lupancu revealed that none of her family members would take part in the episode, in part because of their religious beliefs about dating and marriage.
Lupancu and Ellis met with some of Lupancu’s friends instead of her parents and siblings.