Concussions! Fun! Ashley Hebert's 'Cranky' Episode Just the Beginning for the Poor Saps on 'The Bachelorette'

To all those who felt really, really bad for the eight handsome gentlemen who beat the charming out of each other this past week to fight on for a chance at true love on “The Bachelorette,” take heart: this Monday, they will have every single justifiable reason to pull a Bentley and hop the next plane, train or automobile out of Hong Kong.

Actually, to hear host Chris Harrison tell it, they might all be wishing herpes on Ashley Hebert as we speak.

For those who missed this past Monday’s cruel and unusual train-wreck, Ashley and her harem took a jaunt to Thailand’s famously romantic city of Chiang Mai, known for its saffron-robed Buddhist monks and ornate, ancient temples. It was then apparently Ashley’s idea of a great time to pair off the eight group-dating suitors and let them duke it out in a traditional outdoor Muay Thai kickboxing card.

And boy, does it look like everybody had fun.

See? Concussions! Fun!

Surprisingly, in a TVGuide.com interview, Harrison backed the date completely despite its disastrous conclusion, which included Ames being eventually diagnosed with a mild concussion and being taken away by ambulance from the scene after Ashley’s mounting concern.

“I still love that date,” Harrison said. “I stand behind it. I know people are angry like why are you doing this, but one of the biggest traditions in Thailand is Muay Thai boxing. It's a crazy event, something out of a Tarantino film, where you go to the back of this alley and there's a boxing match going on. ... Testosterone and human nature took over and they started fighting like crazy. For most of the guys it was no big deal, but Ames really couldn't defend himself. But that's Ames... Unfortunately he took one in the head even with the head gear on that knocked him silly.

“Once [Ames] gets under your skin he's fascinating. The more you talk to him he's like, ‘Yeah I was in Phuket last week and I took a cooking class’ or ‘I was in Nepal and I climbed Everest,’ and you're like: What? He shows up like he walked out of a Ralph Lauren ad, but there's no pretension there.”

It’s honestly a toss-up which date got uglier: the Muay Thai exhibition, or the group date with Ashley, Mr. Foot-In-Mouth William or poor, unassuming New Orleans lawyer Ben C.

William got shrewd quickly, playing up in a private moment with Ashley that Ben had mentioned in passing maybe surfing some online-dating sites after the show wrapped. That earned Ben what appeared to be an abrupt dismissal that Harrisonclaims editing didn’t really do justice.

“I think that might have been a little misconstrued in the edit [because] it did seem very abrupt. I know he had said some stuff [about wanting to date after the show] so we should've gotten a little deeper into it and we probably should've shown a little more,” Harrison said. Not long after, it was William who was also sent packing after commenting to Ashley that at 30 years old, he’s not quick to grow up and just wants to have a good time.

But really it’s all OK that these two dreams of love died, because Princess woke up on a bad side of the bed.

“I think it had a little bit to do with it, but I think it also had a bit to do with the fact that Ashley was in a bad mood,” Harrison said.

“I don't think J.P. or Ben F. would've survived that date. She was in a cranky place ... I don't think she was fully sure about William, but they never really had that chemistry.”

Oh sure, one could argue that this is just Ashley putting these men through their paces to test who’s really serious. There’s also the distinct possibility that these men are about to justifiably get fed up when they realize that Ashley requested a reunion with Bentley . . . and is about to get her wish.

“People are anticipating the Bentley thing so much, but what really happens next week is telling the guys. She gets to this happy place and is almost a little arrogant and cocky because of it, but I don't think she thought through the effect it was going to have on the guys,” Harrison said.

“It's like you walking up to your boyfriend and saying, ‘For the last couple of months I've been sleeping with another guy, but the good news is I don't want to have sex with him anymore.’ She didn't really understand it until our deliberation and all of a sudden things start to unravel in the cocktail party in Hong Kong.”