'The Bachelor' recap: Woman Ben dumped says she still loves him

Ben Higgins of ABC's "The Bachelor." (ABC)

Ben Higgins faced the women he rejected as part of Monday night's "The Bachelor: The Women Tell All" special.

During the show, which precedes next week's big finale, the ladies customarily dish on each other and confront the bachelor for dumping them. But Monday's episode was particularly painful, as Ben had to endure an awkward chat with third-place finisher Caila.

As fans saw last week, Ben sent a devastated Caila home after they had spent the night together—and after she had told the bachelor she loved him. Ben told Caila he had stronger feelings for Lauren and JoJo, his final two, who had also shared "The Bachelor's" infamous "Fantasy Suite" with him.

With Ben's other discarded bachelorettes looking on during Monday's special TV reunion, Caila told host Chris Harrison that it was hard to watch video of Ben's rejection.

"I really did love him and I still do, in a way," she sighed.

Caila said she had expected to have more conversations with Ben, instead of getting the shaft that terrible day.

"I've never felt that way before, understood by someone ... and for him to say he never loved me back was really hard," she said.

Caila admitted Ben's decision still affected her, but she realized that she wanted a man who looked at her the way he did at Lauren B. and JoJo. Still, she told Harrison, "It hurt a lot ... he never got there with me. I fell in love with him. For someone like myself ... who doesn't fall in love easily, it's really hard." Caila also said she still missed him.

Then Ben took the stage and turned to Caila to say their relationship meant a lot to him, recalling one of their deep conversations: "We just explored life to a level that I never expected. So I appreciate you. I appreciate you coming back here tonight and talking and I don't want you to ever think that I discount our relationship at all."

Caila thanked him and then, seeming to blame herself, asked Ben if her indecision through most of the season had stalled their relationship. Ben said theirs hadn't stalled, but his romances with the other two girls had accelerated, and "that's why ours had to end."

Final four choice Amanda seemed less heartbroken than Caila, telling him she appreciated how he'd treated her two young kids and wished him "a lot of happiness."

Then Ben thrilled the audience by telling Harrison that his final pick is a keeper: "I’m more in love than I've ever been and I would marry that woman tomorrow if I could. She's incredible."

But instead of getting married, Ben got grilled as war veteran Jubilee claimed he paid more attention to the others and then charged, "You dumped me. Do you remember that?" Ben said they fizzled due to communication issues.

Regarding Olivia, who earlier had told Harrison she considered Ben the man of her dreams, the bachelor said "there was something that wasn't right" between them.

Also on the show, the women took pot shots at each other, with some saying Jubilee had caused unnecessary drama. Jami and Amber, who are biracial, claimed they were offended when Jubilee boasted she would be the first "full black woman" to go far on the show.

While Jubilee at first claimed she hadn't said it that way, she later apologized to her former housemates. Jubilee said she's still in the military and just made sergeant in the Army Reserves.

Fans were also reunited with Lace, known for her crazy antics and quitting the show in a sudden meltdown. Lace laughed when she saw her old clips and said she's gotten her life back together; still, she's going to take another plunge into reality TV. When Harrison asked Lace to appear on "Bachelor in Paradise" this summer, she said yes.

Later, Olivia apologized to Amanda for commenting that Ben wouldn't want a woman with kids. After twins Hayley and Emily loudly claimed that they'd been bullied by Olivia, she denied it, saying she had been bullied as a kid. Being in "The Bachelor" house had brought those bad memories back, and Olivia said the others had talked trash behind her back: "To make fun of my breath and my toes, this hurts."

Olivia also sobbed that she gave her sister her social media accounts because she was being judged online since the show starting airing.

But enough about her! Next week, it's the moment fans have been waiting for—will Ben choose Lauren or JoJo?

"The Bachelor" airs Monday on ABC.