Fans of The Bachelorette who showed up to Sundown at Granada on Monday to watch the latest episode of Rachel Lindsay's quest for love got to watch more than that. Toward the end of the show, Lindsay, a Dallas native, walked out onto the rooftop patio.
"Everyone cheered — we turned around and saw her, but she didn't make any kind of announcement," Lesley Merritt says. "She walked in and sat with a few girls [fans] at one of the front tables."
Sundown often hosts screenings on its rooftop, which Merritt says was fairly full despite rain earlier in the day.
"It was fun, pretty chill," Merritt says. "Everyone seemed to be into it."
Merritt had shown up that evening specifically for The Bachelorette watch party.
"I'm a huge fan — of the show and this bachelorette," she says.
It was around 8:45 p.m., with about 20 minutes left in the show, when Lindsay surprised her fans. She even got into impromptu discussions about the show.
"We talked about the Demario scene," Merritt says.
Suitor Demario Jackson has been an early source of drama on the show. A woman showed up in the second episode to announce that she and Jackson had an ongoing relationship and that Jackson was lying about it. Lindsay kicked him off the show, but on Monday's episode, Jackson returned to ask for forgiveness. Lindsay listened to his apology but stood firm.
"I think she's an awesome Bachelorette," Merritt says. "And she was just as cool and down to earth in person as she comes across on the show."
Last month, Lindsay told the Observer she's engaged. It's clearly not to Jackson, but Merritt has some guesses who the future hubby might be.
"Brian, Dean and Will are my picks for early front-runners," she says.