Farewell to Sharleen, the Most Revolutionary Bachelor Contestant Ever

“What is Sharleen?” Clare, a woman who is still in the running to become the chosen person of Bachelor Juan Pablo, asked Monday night. The answer is surprisingly simple: Sharleen is one of the most revolutionary Bachelor contestants to have ever chosen to attend this televised jaunt from polygamy to monogamy.

“I wish I was a little dumber, so I could just be like, duhh,” Sharleen said on Monday’s episode. “That would be so much nicer.” When Clare wondered “What is Sharleen?” she was trying to ask “What is the deal with Sharleen?” her fellow contestant on The Bachelor who left the show of her own accord during Monday night’s episode. Let’s see if we can figure it out.

What the Other Bachelor Contestants Thought of Sharleen

I don’t get it. I would be happy to have a first date with Juan Pablo. Just be thankful, be grateful, be happy to spend time getting to know each other.

I can’t figure it out. I can’t figure out where they find common ground.

Her getting a one-on-one is signifying that he’s really into her and I still can’t figure out why.

She was telling me her type, she was telling me how she likes really intellectual nerdy men

Sharleen’s a little anomaly. What is Sharleen?

I find it really hard to believe she really sees a future with him. She might like him and think he’s attractive. But I mean she travels all over for what she does and so have they not talked about that? It just all sounds very not something that would fit. And someone that already has a kid. Because you can’t just move to London.

Of all the people left in the house, she’s definitely the biggest mystery. But, maybe she would give all that up.

I don’t get the sense that she would.

What Juan Pablo Thought of Sharleen

Sharleen. She was different. She was elegant, and I was like, surprised. She was so classy. And she’s sexy.

She’s amazing, she could be the one.

I like the words you use. Words in general. Words that you use, how you speak. So proper.

What Sharleen Thought of Herself on The Bachelor

Tonight, after such an amazing date, I feel like what I should be feeling is like, ‘Yes, no question, he’s coming home to meet my family.’

I guess I am hoping it would have been more black and white at this point. And I feel like that’s just such a hard thing to know after this little time.

I am not sure, and it’s not fair to take that spot from someone else if I’m not sure.

I’m very confused right now. Sometimes I just feel like, yes, it’s obvious why I’m here, he understands me and we can relate on a lot of things and we have amazing chemistry but I just feel like we’re still missing this cerebral connection that I so need.

If by the end of today I can’t see that mental connection, I would be wasting both his time and my own to stay any longer.

It’s pretty important, I think, that I get a one-on-one date this week and have that quality time without a time limit, to sort of, flesh out how I’m feeling. The reality of what next week means is beginning to set in and I don’t introduce a guy that I’m dating to my family very lightly. At this moment I’m not ready to introduce Juan Pablo to my family.

I’m feeling pretty conflicted right now. I have moments where it’s like, we’re great together, it’s so clear that it works. And then other moments where I’m like, why am I here? I feel like we don’t get each other. Not completely.

Juan Pablo is not my typical type but there’s no denying the chemistry’s there. I have a really hard time not kissing Juan Pablo when we’re close and having a conversation. I’m surprised by how attracted to him I am.

When Juan Pablo and I kiss, all the issues in my head, all the things that I’m sort of dwelling on. Just sort of disappear. It’s hard to stay focused. The chemistry is just like…it’s really magnetic. He is ridiculously sexy.

[Being with him] makes me happy, which is something I don’t allow myself to feel very often.

I have definitely put [my work] before everything else. I would definitely say that I’m at the point where I have different priorities then I did. I like change…change is good.

It’s so hard to not kiss him when I’m close to him that it disturbs me. Like it’s one of the things that gives me great pause. Like, I should be able to have a conversation. It makes me worry about what’s propelling this relationship.

I wish I was a little dumber, so I could just be like, duhh. That would be so much nicer.

I am definitely surprised at how sad I am. Tonight was awful. It hurts.

But I feel like I made the right choice for me. I just wish that I didn’t always have to make choices. I just know that he doesn’t have what I’m looking for in terms of forever.

Sharleen Joynt is a 29-year-old opera singer who lives in Heidelberg, Germany. Originally from Canada, Sharleen immediately wowed Juan Pablo with her obvious beauty, great clothes, perfect hair/makeup, intellect and “different” quality. In the world of The Bachelor, “different” means “Isn’t immediately smitten with a man she has just met” and “geeks out about The Hobbit when the group takes a trip to New Zealand.”

Despite her different-ness, Juan Pablo liked Sharleen, giving her the First Impression Rose during the show’s first episode. When he asked her if she would take it, she said “Sure,” prompting all the other women to immediately distrust her because she didn’t scream YES and tear off all her clothes before running into his arms.

Sharleen did decide to go on The Bachelor, so she can’t be considered completely detached from the rest of the women on the show. And yet in their universe, she was “different,” more obviously so than the many other women who have chosen to leave The Bachelor of their own accord and were criticized for doing so. The increased attention was paid to her partially because she had plenty of time to make her difference known; she stuck around for seven weeks. But another part of the attention came because she had something that Juan Pablo, side-stepping his usual stupidity, liked. He saw her as (in her words) “a panda in a room full of brown bears,” just as she wanted him to. That made her difference all the more obvious. She was different and – Heavens be! – he liked it. Unfortunately, him liking her just wasn’t enough.

“What is Sharleen?” Clare asked. Clare, don’t ask stupid questions. You know what Sharleen is, just as you know what your other Bachelor contestants are and what Juan Pablo is. Your actual question is, “What is Sharleen doing here, with me? How would the man I care about want both her and me? How could she and I want the same thing?” At least the answer to that last quandary is clear: you didn’t.