Why Was Thomas Missing From ‘The Bachelorette’ Men Tell All?

'The Bachelorette' - Katie Thurston and Thomas Jacobs
ABC/Craig Sjodin

After he admitted to considering the possibility of becoming the next Bachelor star, Thomas Jacobs quickly became the villain of the house on Season 17 of The Bachelorette, getting sent home by Katie Thurston in Episode 4.

During the season’s Men Tell All episode on Monday, July 26, Thomas was noticeably not in attendance. Instead, he appeared via video chat to reconnect with Katie and the other men. Thomas recently spoke with Tayshia Adams and Joe Amabile on the Click Bait with Bachelor Nation podcast to explain why he didn’t make it to the filming of the reunion special.

Apparently, the real estate broker couldn’t leave behind his businesses and responsibilities in his hometown of San Diego in order to make it to Los Angeles for a few days. “However, I’m so thankful I had a chance to actually call in and at least have that dialogue with Katie,” he said. “That’s something that I’ve been wanting to have since we finished filming in New Mexico.”

Tayshia jokingly stated that Thomas dodged a bullet, given that his name was brought up many times in conversation throughout the night. He agreed, replying, “I was a topic of conversation a lot on this season, and that was one of the main things I wanted to apologize to Katie about because there was so much dialogue about me.”

'The Bachelorette,' Men Tell All, Thomas

ABC/Craig Sjodin

As for the drama surrounding him, Thomas stated that the other contestants’ attention should have been on more on Katie and less on him. “I don’t care how you feel about me. You shouldn’t care how you feel about me. Just go and pursue the girl. I mean, the reason why we were all there was for Katie, so I was a little taken aback that I was brought up so much.”

Thomas added that because his focus was on Katie, not necessarily on making friends with the other guys, he was at a disadvantage. “And that’s something wherein hindsight I wish could have been different. However, that’s how I approached it. I was honest to myself, and I can’t change any of that now,” he said.

Despite being labeled as the “villain” of Katie’s season, the 28-year-old doesn’t regret being honest while on the show. “I’m not gonna lie to them, and I’m damn sure not gonna lie to myself, because at the end of the day, once people are on that show, they need to live with their truth, and for me, I was living in my truth, and that’s all we can do as people.”

The Bachelorette, Mondays, 8/7c, ABC