The Bachelorette NZ recap, episode 20: Someone gets friend-zoned for good

SPOILER ALERT: If you've not seen tonight's episode of The Bachelorette NZ and want to do so without knowing anything of the foibles of the blokes vying for the affections of Bachelorettes Lesina Nakhid-Schuster and Lily McManus, do not even think about reading on.

Hey, can we steal you for a second? Because The Bachelorette NZ was back on our screens tonight. SINEAD CORCORAN recaps the action.

Good evening and welcome back to another riveting recap of what happened on tonight's episode of The Bachelorette.

Tonight we picked up right where we left off, with Steve unsuccessfully attempting to pash his way out of the friend zone while Lesina cackled nervously and did not take him up on the offer.

In fact, so deeply was Steve entrenched in the friendzone that Lesina saw no chance of him ever crawling out of it, and when it came time for the rose ceremony she picked MICHAEL THE KUMARA FARMING MUTE over Steve, and sent Steve home - but not before the most bizarrely intimate farewell.

READ MORE:
• The Bachelorette NZ recap, episode 18: The worst cocktail party ever, and a Christmas cliffhanger
• The Bachelorette NZ recap, episode 19: A chicken crisis, a vulnerability circle and Richie picks his gal
• The Bachelorette NZ recap, episode 17: Quinn goes to hospital, and is Richie the new villain?
• The Bachelorette NZ recap, episode 16: Lesina's brave, Lily kisses Hot Richie, Tavita goes home and Jesse's hysterical

Despite declaring that she has no sexy feelings for Steve whatsoever, the pairs parted ways by way of locking eyeballs, grabbing each other's faces and putting their mouths no more than 2cms away from each other while whispering passionate farewells. It was a lot.

The next day the gals chose which lads they wanted to whisk away on single dates - Lesina picked Hot Mike (shocking) and Lily chose Terrence and took him horse riding.

During their date Terrence opened up about previously struggling with depression and he and Lily talked about how important it is for men to be open and honest about their feelings and emotions, particularly with their partners - amen.

For her single date, Lesina took Mike quad biking and shock of absolute shocks, insisted on driving while he hung on for dear life on the back.

During their date he also revealed that he's been feeling hella rushed to attempt and fall in love with Lesina when he's only been on the TV show for about three minutes.

Lesina told him she can totally relate as she too has been feeling hectic pressure to pick which one of these dudes to hopefully spend the rest of her days with.

The pair agreed to just pump the pressure brakes a bit and chill out - and they sealed the deal with a hot pash, which is also my personal favourite alternative to a handshake.

Tune in to The Bachelorette NZ again on Sunday night at 7.00pm, and in the meantime subscribe to the official Bachelorette podcast, Can I Steal You For A Second – hosted by yours truly and my wing-woman Anna Henvest. Plus, follow along with us on Instagram for all our behind the scenes vids.