Chris Harrison blogs 'The Bachelorette' episode 7

This was my first time to visit the historic city of Prague. Prague is one of those places I had heard so much about and I was sure that there was no way it could live up to all the hype. Amazingly, it not only lived up to the hype, it far exceeded it — and it quickly became one of my favorite cities in the world. Between the history, the beauty, the culture and the people, the city has a lot to offer no matter how old you are. We shot the opening scene at the Royal Palace and Church that sits at the top of a hill overlooking all of Prague. We didn’t shut the square down, but we were fortunate while shooting that morning the streets were virtually empty. The best part was right in the middle of shooting we were treated to a private performance of the changing of the guards. I was staying with the guys at this cool little rock and roll hotel called Aria, while Emily stayed at another hotel just around the corner from us.

Arie got the first date and they spent the day strolling around old town Prague. One of the things I enjoyed the most was wandering the streets and eating food from the many street vendors, but hot wine was not high on the list for me. I want to talk a little bit about the Arie situation and his relationship with our producer Cassie. I feel like we handled this situation well. Was the story big enough that it needed to be touched on? Yes. But was it a huge scandal? No. So I think we did a good job of showing you the truth about what happened and how it absolutely didn’t affect Emily and Arie’s relationship whatsoever. Later that night during the date, Arie was the first man to tell Emily he’s in love with her and by the look on her face, she was happy to hear it. The fireworks display over the Charles Bridge was one of the most incredible backdrops we’ve used to light up the sky around the world. Fireworks — they’ve kind of become a tradition for us.

John got the second one-on-one date and they too took to the streets of Prague. As I said, this city has so much to offer and I love that you never have to get in a car to enjoy any of it. There’s something special about “walking” cities like this. Their first stop was the Lennon wall, which was actually very close to our hotel. I visited the wall often, as it was ever-changing and very cool to see at different times of the day. In fact, I was there right before John and Emily arrived and I wrote them a little note in a heart that said, “Take a moment and say your goodbyes,” and signed it “Chris Harrison.” We didn’t show this, but Emily and John stumbled upon my little note and got a good laugh when they read it together. John asked if that was Emily’s way of letting him go? Little did I know at the time it was only foreshadowing what was to come for “Wolf.” The lock fence is only about a hundred yards away from the Lennon wall and is a great place for all couples to lock in their relationships. The overall date was fun but you could tell that Emily’s relationship was just moving slower with him than with the other guys.

After John’s date, Sean took it upon himself to chase Emily down as she made her way back to her hotel around the corner from ours. It was a bold move and it worked out very well. Emily loved his moxie and obviously enjoyed spending some time with a guy she seems to like more and more every time they spend time together. Sean was on the group date along with Chris and Doug, at least for a little while. Doug has been obviously slowly drowning for weeks now with Emily. He just couldn’t show her what he claims he was feeling for her. Well, that was true until Emily was in the middle of breaking up with him and he decided that this was the perfect moment to go in for a kiss…? This really summed up their relationship. Emily and Doug were just never on the same page. I think he said it best when he told us his “girl radar is broken.” As far as Emily was concerned, that seemed to be the case. The date then turned into an awkward two-on-one date with Sean and Chris. Obviously, after the night before, Sean was a sure bet to get the rose but Chris had no idea and really took it personally that he didn’t get it. He wasn’t proud of how he reacted that night and assumed he had just sunk his chances of getting a hometown date.

Jef’s date was very simple but amazing at the same time. The two of them bought marionettes and made their way to an old historic library in Prague. The scene the two of them acted out was very interesting. It’s like they were able to say everything they ever wanted to say to each other by talking through these marionettes. This brings up a very good question: If someone says they love you through a puppet, does it really count? I ask because after that Jef would only tell Emily to her face that he really liked her. Either way, I think Emily took it to heart, and has taken Jef into her heart as well.

The rose ceremony was held at this old house/castle up on the border of the Czech Republic and Austria. The history of this country and this particular house, which had been occupied during the war, was incredible, but it was also incredibly cold. Actually, that’s not quite accurate: It wasn’t cold — it was downright freezing. Once again I have to give Emily props for showing up in a skimpy dress, and she never complained once about how insanely cold it was. Maybe she didn’t have time to complain because I was doing it enough for both of us and I was in a suit and tie and actually had socks and shoes on. The woman is a trooper and true southerner who doesn’t mind a little pain to look good.

Emily made the rules this week and decided she didn’t need a cocktail party. No word yet on if the fact it was freezing helped her make up her mind quickly! Whatever the reason was, Chris was completely freaking out. Sometimes, like last week, there’s not room for me to actually stand in the room during the rose ceremony but this week, I was. I was watching Chris closely because he was breathing heavily, shaking, and swaying back and forth. At one point I thought the poor guy was going to pass out. Then he broke the silence and asked to talk to Emily. I stayed in the room with the guys while Emily and Chris went and talked. All night John was very confident he was getting the rose. When Emily and Chris left the room he still had a smile on his face and was joking with the guys about Chris and how nervous he was. He was shocked when Emily came back in and gave him the boot. On a positive note this is the farthest a guy named after an animal has ever made it on our show. Congratulations, “Wolf.”

These rose ceremonies are getting tougher and tougher on Emily, and as you saw, emotions are at an all time high in the coming weeks. Next week we make our way back home to the good ol’ USA for hometown dates. This is always one of my favorite episodes as it is always a pivotal point and I love seeing everybody’s families. Thanks for watching this season and once again making this show a success. As always you can find me via Twitter @chrisbharrison and you can find all things Bachelorette at our web site www.thebachelor.tv.

Watch EW’s Kristen Baldwin on After Party: The Bachelorette below and click here to see the full episode on ABC.com:

More Bachelorette from EW:

Bachelorette episode 7 recap: Marionettes… with Children

Emily’s Bachelorette blog on people.com