Daisy Kent brings ‘The Bachelor’ home to Minnesota for Hallmark movie-worthy date

After taking “The Bachelor” to the Christmas tree farm where she grew up, Minnesotan Daisy Kent got one of the season’s final three roses.

Kent, 25, met the reality TV show’s star, tennis pro Joey Graziadei, in Becker, Minn., a city of 5,000 people about 45 miles northwest of Minneapolis. During the visit, filmed in October, they rode a horse-drawn trailer through B&J Evergreen farm in nearby Clear Lake, Minn., which her parents sold when she was in college.

The pair drank hot cocoa, fed llamas and kissed under a flurry of fake snow. On Twitter and Facebook, fans declared the date fit for a Hallmark movie.

Then Kent introduced Graziadei to her family, including her parents, whom she’s credited with supporting her through years of difficult health issues, including profound hearing loss. Getting a cochlear implant, an electronic device that is surgically implanted, is part of what allowed Kent to go on the show, she said.

Sitting in their living room together, her brother Harrison told her how college had been, and Kent burst into tears. For the first time since having the surgery, she said, “Harrison’s voice sounds like Harrison.”

It was an emotional moment, Graziadei said.

Kent had told Graziadei that, partly because of those health struggles, she’d need him to meet her family before knowing how she felt about him. While other contestants had told him that they were falling in love, Kent had not. As her mother Julie put it: “She has to be vulnerable to make it work.”

A conversation with her father, Brandon, clarified things. “If you think that you’re falling in love with him...” he said.

“I think I am,” Kent replied.

“OK, so then shoot the shot,” he said. “Then if you nail it, then it’s all the marbles... It’s not like you’re going to lose your hearing over it.”

They laughed together, then cried together. “It’s only love,” he said.

Alone on the porch afterward, Kent told Graziadei: “I am falling in love with you and I’ve been falling in love with you. … You make me so happy and feel so special. And my whole family can see that.”

Graziadei gave Kent the first of the episode’s three roses. Kelsey Anderson, of New Orleans, and Rachel Nance, of Hawaii, will also move onto the next round — so-called fantasy suites in Tulum, Mexico. Graziadei sent Canadian Maria Georgas home, even after her last-minute attempt at an “I’m falling in love with you.”

A preview of next week’s episode revealed another Minnesota reality TV star: Leslie Fhima, the runner-up on “The Golden Bachelor,” was among several of the show’s stars giving their younger counterparts some advice.