“Every time I picture my future, I can’t not see you in it,” he told her. “I picture you becoming a part of my family and me apart of yours. I can’t get you out of my head. I’m falling in love with you I can feel it. And nothing makes me happier than that.”
But despite being “happy” to hear these words come out of Joe’s mouth, the 26-year-old nurse, unfortunately, didn’t feel the same.
Instead of waiting for him to arrive at the final ceremony by car, Elly broke Bachie protocol and set off to Joe’s room to let him down gently.
“I’ve had a million and one things going through my mind. I sort of look back and I think about what I was hoping to find at the start of all of this. And I think about the kind of person that I want to end up with and it’s exactly the kind of person that you are,” she told him, taking hold of his hand.
“You’re kind and caring and easygoing and laid-back and funny. It’s so easy with us and I know that what I want out of life is exactly what you want out of life.”
She continued: “And then I think about our last date together… hearing you tell me that you’re falling in love with me. And I can’t tell you how happy that makes me feel hearing you say those words to me. I just don’t know if I felt the way I was supposed to feel hearing you say that, Joe.
“I want to feel it in the way that I’m so certain,” she added. “But I’d be lying to myself and I’d be lying to you if I didn’t come and tell you honestly that my heart is elsewhere.”
Following the heartbreaking moment, Joe took to Instagram to share his two cents on her decision with his 26.6k followers.
"Sometimes things don't work out, no matter how much we want them to, and that's just life,” he captioned a gallery of their final moments together.
“I've said from the beginning of this whole experience that I'm a firm believer of fate, and that everything happens for a reason, and for me this means that it hasn't been my fate to find love here.”
"I hold my head high knowing I stuck by who I am, and know that I put everything on the table with how I felt.”
He went on to add: "Cannot thank everyone enough for their messages of love and support, from my family and friends, to people I haven't even met before, you've all helped me through this experience and for that I am so grateful."
"To both Elly and Becky, you are both incredible women and carried yourself so well throughout the entire journey, you both deserve great things and I truely hope you find what you are after in life!"
The news has come as a huge surprise to fans as Joe had been a front-runner since night one in the mansion when it was revealed that he and Elly had history.
“No! It’s a small world!” he said, clearly shocked to see her waiting for him on the red carpet.
In a later episode, it came out that the pair had casually dated whilst living in their hometown of Newcastle, NSW. Joe told his fellow co-stars that he had lived with Elly's bestie, Katie, for six months.
Still, Joe hasn't given up hope of finding ‘The One.’
"For me, this means that my search for love continues ❤️" he concluded his post social media post.
*Starts petition for Joe to be The Bachelor in 2021*
