The Bachelorette

J.P. Rosenbaum really stepped up to the plate Monday.

In the aftermath of Ashley Hebert being crushed by Bentley Williams emotionally, J.P. was there to pick up the pieces - and by being a rock she could lean on (and wear pajamas in front of), he emerged as a top contender.

How long will J.P. last this season? We'll point you to The Bachelorette spoilers page on THG to answer that if you want to know, but we will say this now: He's not going home anytime soon, and it's easy to see why.

A 34-year-old construction manager from Long Island, J.P. Rosenbaum was handed a chance to shine with a laid-back date after the Bentley debacle.

He never could have guessed what had just taken place when he showed up, flowers in his hand, but not for a second did he appear disappointed.

Instead, he rose (pun intended!) to the occasion.

“I know that Bentley going home couldn’t be easy for her - I do want to know that she’s OK,” J.P. said Monday just before he met Ashley Hebert.

Bentley Williams became  The Bachelorette's most notorious villain this week. The scary part? He's not even done messing with Ashley Hebert.

After wooing Ashley for three weeks, Bentley repeatedly insulted her behind her back, then walked out and left her in tears while he smirked.

If only she could move on, but he left her hanging with that dot dot dot crap. Soon enough, the sweet-talking slime will be back on the show.

According to Life & Style, Ashley Hebert flew Bentley more than 7,000 miles to exotic Hong Kong for a reunion we will watch unfold in a future episode.

"Ashley wanted a second chance with Bentley, so she begged producers to get him on the phone and get him on a plane out to see her," a source says.

"She couldn't stop thinking about him after he left her."

Upon Ashley's request, producers called Bentley every day for two weeks until he finally agreed to fly to Hong Kong, where the episode was filming.

Yes, it's a reality show - one renowned for its mind games no less - and by going on it, Ashley Hebert opened herself up to scenarios beyond her control.

But still, we've never seen anything quite like this week's episode.

Knowing what they did, should The Bachelorette have pulled the plug on Bentley Williams before he was allowed to stab Ashley in the heart?

There are plenty of people who go on the show for the wrong reasons, and plenty of cases where people are edited in ways that craft a more compelling story.

Bentley Williams was in a class by himself, though.

Over the course of three episodes, he made his antipathy toward Ashley abundantly clear and left no ambiguity about the situations he was discussing.

The burning question is this: Because he was making disparaging comments about Ashley - and revealing his intention to toy with the poor girl - directly to ABC's cameras, should the show have kicked him off right there?

Celebrity news tabloids love to play up heartbreak, real or imagained.

We've seen it so often in our five years in the business, it's hard to take seriously - but the emotional ransacking of Ashley Hebert on The Bachelorette this week certainly qualifies as "stabbed in the heart" material.

Ashley thought Bentley Williams was her Prince Charming. It turns out he was anything but. The divorced Utah businessman led Ashley to believe he adored her, only to trash talk her behind her back, then exit in despicable fashion.

Before appearing on The Bachelorette, Bentley was inching closer to a reconciliation with his ex-wife, Suzette Davis, the mother of his daughter, Cozette.

They were married for two years but divorced in 2009.

“They were together all the time and looking for houses, to start again,” a friend of Suzette reveals to OK! this week. “He was saying he loved her.”

Suzette, who's a practicing Mormon like Bentley, was shocked when she heard through a friend that Bentley had signed on to do The Bachelorette.

In our Bachelorette recap earlier, we touched on many burning questions from last night, most of which we may never fully know the answer to.

Why did Bentley Williams go on the show? Why did he treat Ashley like garbage? Why didn't ABC boot him? How can he be allowed to return!?

One thing is clear: We need Chris Harrison like never before.

Below are excerpts from Chris' EW blog this morning, in which The Bachelorette host addresses the scourge of society that is Bentley:

On whether Bentley Williams is the show's worst villain: My first thought about that is that’s really something for you guys to judge, not me.

My second thought is the “villain” title really doesn’t do justice to what went down. It softens the blow and simplifies things too much in my opinion.

On why Bentley left and when: I’m not positive, but something about not getting the rose on this group date seemed to set the wheels in motion.

Whenever he decided he was going, he pulled the trigger the next morning. Let me be very clear about my thoughts on Bentley and him leaving.

I have no problem with him coming on the show, even if he hoped The Bachelorette was Emily, or with him deciding it was time to leave. That's up to him.

It's become a joke how we're promised the first [something] in Bachelorette history almost weekly, but this truthfully was an episode like no other.

First, we saw one of the contestants rip Ashley Hebert so badly that she broke down in tears. Amazingly, that was only the beginning of her torment.

While William's comedy bit crossed a line, Bentley crossed every line of human decency, lying, manipulating and straight up messing with Ashley.

WHAT A JACKASS: With his heartless ransacking of Ashley Hebert, slimy Bentley Williams cemented his place in the pantheon of reality TV villains.

Unlike past fellas that producers try to make appear sinister, Bentley Williams was as genuine with ABC's cameras as he was devious with Ashley.

He's not into her. Ashley Hebert is not hot. This is a game to him.

This was pretty unbelievable stuff. We often found ourselves torn between the sheer entertainment value and feeling genuinely awful for the poor girl.

Not only was she falling for this a$$, she's got to watch what he says on TV like we do. It's enough to make our stomachs turn. Imagine hers.

One wonders how she got past this and trusted someone else (see The Bachelorette spoilers to learn who) - and how Bentley sleeps at night.

Continue on for THG's patented +/- Bachelorette recap ...

"I'd rather go swimming in pee." - Bentley Williams on marrying Ashley Hebert

Bentley will not win this season - to learn who does, read The Bachelorette spoilers here - but he's generated almost all of the show's buzz so far.

With most bad boys on The Bachelorette, you either love 'em or love to hate 'em. With Bentley Williams, no one's even in the former category.

The 28-year-old divorcee from Utah is seemingly on the show just to straight up mind f%*k Ashley Hebert, who's obviously smitten with him.

It's sad, really. While past "villains" like Wes got a bad rap, Bentley Williams is in a league of his own, leading Ashley on and loving every second of it.

Obviously, this is The Bachelorette. You can't believe everything you see or take it at 100 percent face value. But this is no sabotage by editing here.

His direct quotes show a sleaze determined to not just mislead, but mock Ashley at every turn, and reveal a guy just going on the show for kicks.

How far will he make it? How does he leave? That will begin to play out on tonight's episode (again follow the link above for what we know so far).

For now, here's a little background on the shadiest contestant yet:

Aside from bad guy Bentley Williams, Jeff Medolla has caused the biggest stir on The Bachelorette so far this season, and we've yet to see his face.

Until now!

When he arrived in a mask (claiming he didn't want Ashley Hebert to fall for his looks) he didn't exactly endear himself to the other guys, but he stuck to his guns.

Soon enough, though, Ashley will see this:

"I'm here for the right reasons," he told a confused Hebert on The Bachelorette season premiere, where he earned a rose despite her trepidation.

This week, he stole Hebert away during a pre-rose ceremony cocktail party to reveal ... the details of his past. His recovery from a devastating brain hemorrhage, chiefly. At that point, he was about ready to show his face.

Then Matt thwarted his one-on-one time, unfortch, and the mask stayed on.

Insisting that he'll remove his mask during his next date with Hebert, 35-year-old Jeff Medolla is really just an ordinary fella looking for love.

The St. Louis-based entrepreneur is "the most normal guy," says a friend. "He has more swagger than any of the other guys in the house!"

For all the scoop on Ashley's season, check out The Bachelorette spoilers here!

Bentley Williams is already establishing himself as one of The Bachelorette's all-time villains. When Wes Hayden is calling you out on Twitter, you know things are getting uglier by the day - and we're only two episodes into the season.

Despite admitting that Bachelorette star Ashley Hebert wasn't his type, Bentley is basically wooing her just for kicks. That has Chris Harrison pretty upset.

Here's what the ABC show's host had to say about the drama:

On how he even got cast: "He obviously didn't say all those derogatory things in casting. He might have said, 'It would be cool if it was Emily [Maynard].' Bentley obviously didn't say, 'If it's Ashley, I'm going to use and destroy her.'"

On whether he warned Ashley: "If you have information about a guy before he even gets out of the limo, which we did, that's beyond a red flag. We gave her the option, telling her, 'You don't have to meet this guy. We can pull him.'"

"We justify everything by giving Ashley the power."

After last week's Bachelorette season premiere, the stakes were even higher this week as Ashley Hebert cut her field of suitors down to 15 from 18.

Did she thrive in her element? How did she handle the pressure of the first one-on-one dates?  Is she even cuter than we thought? Who got the chop?

Follow this link for The Bachelorette spoilers that we know so far. Then continue on for THG's patented +/- Bachelorette season premiere recap!

ASHLEY UNMASKED: It's time to get to know the real her!

Ashley chooses William to go on a coveted one-on-one date in Vegas. Plus 4 for the good choice by the producers. He seems like a good pick.

Their awesome dating adventure? Cake tasting, ring shopping, then wedded bliss! Sort of. Minus 3 because it's getting a little uncomfortable.

"To me, it's a joke, it's not going to happen," he insists as a minister arrives to perform the ceremony. Good call, Will. Very astute. Plus 5.