Mzansi hung onto every word, kiss and emotional exchange in the final episode of M-Net’s “The Bachelorette SA” season one.
It was by no means an easy decision for Qiniso Van Damme and, right up until the very end, she remained conflicted about who she was going to choose: Gareth Ehret, 27, or Henk “Swazi” Nel, 29.
Of course, viewers joined the conversation on Twitter from start to finish, weighing in on who was best suited for the sexy, smart and vivacious Qiniso.
Helping her with the massive decision was her family: mom Sibongile, brother Sandile and protective-as-hell sister Phumzile.
Her mom felt that the person she needed to be with had to be “spontaneous, warm, loving and very sensible”.
Qiniso's sister was clear about one thing - she was going to read the person to see if they were deserving of her. And she didn’t hold back with the questions, either.
Henk made a great first impression on mom. And, despite being grilled by Phumzile, appeased the family with his confident responses.
In fact, her brother was impressed by his understanding of the lobola process and its traditional importance.
At the end of the meeting, the family seemed to give him their stamp of approval.
When Gareth brought in, her mom asked him to introduce himself.
Although he was a bit uncomfortable on several occasions during the meeting, he tried his best to allay their concerns and prove his sincerity.
Next up, Qiniso enjoyed dates with both guys.
First up, it she went sailing followed by wine-tasting with Henk.
However, the first part of the date got a bit awkward when Qiniso pushed him for an answer on how he felt about her - he wasn’t keen on putting any labels on things but admitted to liking her a lot. Talk about a mood killer.
Her date with Gareth was more playful, silly and fun.
And she loved his “amapiano massage” during their date.
But she didn’t get completely carried away with her emotions. She made it very clear about what she wanted when she said: “I’m not looking for a conjoined twin.”
She made no bones about the fact that she cherishes her independence and downtime with friends, too.
Gareth’s freespirit disposition with chasing dreams and living in the moment did raise some flags with her as it brought up some daddy issues.
Before the final rose ceremony, she opened up about her feelings for both guys to host Jason Greer.
She admitted: “I love that Swazi is just composed and stable. He really just embodies what I feel will be a good father and a partner. I can tell that he’s loyal and diplomatic.”
“Gareth has just such a unique personality and outlook, he’s as pretty as he is smart. I really like that we can talk on an intellectual level about things in the world as well.”
Despite Henk’s declaration of love at the rose ceremony, she didn’t accept his ring.
Next up was a nervous Gareth, who spoke from the heart: “This has been probably the most unexpected surprise.
“Like I said, I came in here not really expecting anything to happen. What did happen between you and I shook me.
“And every moment we shared together, my feelings grow for you.
“I don’t think I’ve ever connected with someone on the sort of level that we connect and I feel full confidence with what I’m about to say.
“I do love you. Would you take this ring as a symbolic ring of our future together. Having laughs and spending time together.
A moved Qiniso responded: “I’m grateful to you for sacrificing so much for being here. I’m in love with you.
“That being said, I cannot see my life without you and I’m going to accept this ring as a reminder to both of us for this commitment that we are making to each other and pursuing something outside of this. Journey phase 2…”
In the catch-up session with Greer, it was clear that there were no hard feelings between Henk and Qiniso. And she admitted to looking forward to a proper getting-to-know-each-other courtship with Gareth.
Now that she’s got her guy, her Bachelorette days are history!