Vancouver's Bachelorette Jillian Harris makes her final decision

Vancouver's Jillian Harris chose soft-serve Ed Swiderski over the hunky free-spirited Kiptyn Locke on the season finale of The Bachelorette.

After nine weeks of perfectly crafted dates, combined with perfectly coiffed hair, The Bachelorette’s Jillian Harris made her long-awaited choice.

Harris had to decide between the sound, stable, sensitive technology consultant Ed Swiderski or the hunky, free-spirited Kiptyn Locke on The Bachelorette’s season finale on July 27.

It was no secret that the 30-year-old Vancouverite wanted to rip Kiptyn’s clothes off every time he came near. “There is a definite physical chemistry that is through the roof”, Harris confessed during last night’s two-hour episode.

While her final days on the Big Island of Hawaii with her two suitors were spent doing all things romantic, there was also the important meet-and-greet with Jillian’s family. Meeting the folks can be stressful under the best of circumstances, but throw in a few cameras and a nosy mom with 66 questions in her back pocket and you get the feeling that a few cold beverages may have been necessary to get through the event.

Ed, who left Jillian in week five (during a visit to Whistler) to tend to work matters, returned in week seven after he realized that his love for Jillian—or maybe the camera—was too strong and he needed to come back. This gesture was sure to put him under scrutiny with Jillian’s family. But as grandma said, “he’s terrifically good-looking” so all was forgiven. He managed to answer Jillian’s mother Peggy’s questions with ease and won over Jillian’s dad Glen by professing his love for Jillian and asking permission to pop the big question.

“I would love to be with her forever. I wanna propose to Jillian”, Ed said during the finale. While forever is a romantic thought, if previous seasons of the show are any indication, these two probably won’t be walking down the aisle—let alone spending the rest of their lives together.

Following Ed, it was Kiptyn’s turn to face the family and, after going through much of the same questioning and awkward conversation, it appeared that the easygoing Kiptyn had won over both Jillian’s mom and her cousin Tori.

With the meeting of the parents out of the way, Jillian had one more date with the gents before making her big decision. The bubbly brunette was happy to finally see Kipytn open up about his feelings for her, while on her date with Ed, she convinced herself that they did in fact have physical chemistry—although it was obvious to viewers that their chemistry was virtually non-existent.

When it came down to ring time, both Kiptyn and Ed made their selection from an array of bling that was certain to get most women jumping for joy. (Yet why, after weekly eliminations by the bachelorette, does the final proposal still rely on the men getting down on one knee? It strikes me that perhaps the one doing the choosing should be the one doing the proposing.)

Dressed in a simple and elegant strapless pale pink gown, our glowing Canuck stepped up to the plate, ready to make her final decision.

Kiptyn was first to pull up in a white stretch limo ready to profess his undying love—only to be told by Jillian that she had fallen in love with another man. Both Kiptyn and Jillian tried their best to pull off an emotional goodbye, but her fake tears and his gloomy face didn’t quite convince that either was broken up about it. With over 30 minutes still left in the show, reality show connoisseurs everywhere knew something “shocking” was about to go down.

Mere moments later, a cab pulled up and out stepped Reid Rosenthal, the baby-faced blonde who couldn’t open up to Jillian and was sent packing on last week’s episode. Engagement ring in hand, the slightly cocky Reid got on one knee and proposed to the stunned Jillian. Tears ensued and questions were pondered, but alas this bachelorette’s mind was set on vanilla boy Ed.

The rest, as they say, is history. Ed’s limo pulled up to an excited Jillian, who proclaimed her love for him saying, “Do you know how long I’ve been waiting to tell you I love you?”

And so another season of The Bachelorette (which included episodes shot in Vancouver) comes to an end. With only one of the last four couples who met on The Bachelorette still together, the safe bet isn’t on Jillian and Ed’s happily ever after.

But, hey—she probably gets to keep the ring, right?