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‘The Bachelorette’ Producers Thought Becca Kufrin’s Runner-Up Blake Horstmann Was ‘Going to Pass Out’ (Exclusive)

The Maldives backdrop was beautiful; the breakup, not so much. Blake Horstmann’s final moments with Becca Kufrin on season 14 finale of The Bachelorette on Monday, August 6, were gut-wrenching — and the scorching temperature did not help.

“Producers thought Blake was going to pass out during the final rose ceremony,” a source tells Us Weekly exclusively. “His mouth dried up, he went pale and suddenly started dripping sweat. They were concerned.”

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Becca Kufrin and Blake Horstmann

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The end of Kufrin and Horstmann’s whirlwind romance came as a shock to the sales rep. Host Chris Harrison even warned viewers at the top of the show that they were about to witness “the most emotional finale” in the history of the ABC dating franchise.

The publicist, 28, admitted in a confessional that she felt like “such a monster” for ending things with Horstmann. “I have to say goodbye to somebody and I have to break his heart,” she said. “I thought my last breakup [with Arie Luyendyk Jr.] was hard, but this is going to be so much harder. I know that this man doesn’t see it coming. He’s going to feel so blindsided and it makes me feel so terrible.”

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Becca Kufrin and Blake Horstmann

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Horstmann started to break down in tears after Kufrin told him that she felt Garrett Yrigoyen was a “better fit” for her. She then walked the runner-up back to his car while he sobbed into a towel. He later told viewers, “I f–king knew it.”

Since returning home to Bailey, Colorado, Horstmann has seemed “absolutely crushed” by his split from Kufrin, a second source tells Us. However, the first source reassures, “Blake is OK and will be OK.”

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The former couple came face-to-face for the first time since the Maldives during Monday’s After the Final Rose special. Horstmann told Kufrin that he watched back “every second” of the season and got “a lot of the answers” he was looking for.

“If people think that this is gonna keep me down, they didn’t watch this season too closely,” he later told Harrison, 47. “I’ve learned and I’ve grown from a lot in my life, and this will be no different. … My person is still out there. I’m never going to apologize for how hard I love.”

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