Farmer Wants a Wife: Jay’s Prospect Breaks Down in Tears as John Processes the ‘Interesting Turns’ That Led to Samantha’s Exit

Also in the April 17 episode, Matt Warren reacted to the “awful” suspicions surrounding him and Halleh as Colton Hendricks deepened an unexpected bond

Warning: This post contains spoilers for Farmer Wants a Wife.

It’s safe to say the Farmer Wants of Wife season 3 leads certainly have their work cut out for them in more ways than one.

The April 17 episode picked up with Farmers John Sansone, Jay Woods, Matt Warren and Colton Hendricks enjoying their time in Nashville at a barn dance with their ladies. And naturally, the action continued to occur both on and off the dance floor.

Kicking things off, Samantha, who had been debating on leaving the show in the previous episode, managed to pull Farmer John, 25, aside for what proved to be a pivotal conversation.

Samantha Makes a Big Decision About Her Future with Farmer John

In their chat, Samantha called John “one of the most amazing guys that I’ve ever met in my life.” However, the 25-year-old Texan also admitted to feeling “overwhelmed” by the experience, which she initially believed was “going to be extremely easy.”

Samantha then revealed that she was exiting the competition, citing there being “little things that are keeping me from believing that I am what you need from a partner.”

“I think I’m what you want, but you are very much someone who likes to be in the driver’s seat and so am I. I think you need someone that’s going to let you lead,” Samantha said, to which John responded, “That’s okay, I appreciate your honesty. I really actually did enjoy having you around, because it was fun. It felt like I had somebody who was in the same exact headspace as me.”

“It’s gonna be interesting not having that anymore, but there’s a possibility that I may find it with somebody else,” he added.

John, afterward, moved forward by placing his focus on his three remaining daters, whom he feels Samantha was “somewhat holding me back” from getting to know better. Now, he tells PEOPLE that there were “definitely some interesting turns” that his relationship with Samantha took before she left the show.

“It was quite an interesting ride,” he explains. “I thought she was like a challenge because I feel like she was testing my words. With everyone else, I was kind of asking them questions more about them.”

Farmer Matt Looks Back on Rachel’s Shocking Exit — and Allegations

Elsewhere in the episode, Farmer Matt, 30, reflected on the aftermath of last week’s dramatic episode, involving Rachel, 25, leaving the competition after accusing him of sneaking around with fellow contender Halleh, 29.

“Suspicions kind of rumored around about Halleh and I,” Matt told the cameras. “It’s been awful. That’s not how I wanted things to go.”

“At the end of the day, I want this to be a great experience for me [and] for the girls. So, it’s time to put it behind us. Let’s just go have a good time,” he added.

Farmer Jay Investigates Drama Amongst His Daters

Meanwhile, 25-year-old Farmer Jay’s fun on the dance floor was halted upon realizing something was awry with dater T’yana, 23. Amid his conversation with Karina, also 23, she noticed that T’yanna was crying, and Jay went to investigate the matter, leading to more tears flowing during their honest chat.

“I’ve just been feeling, like, left out in a way, and I haven’t felt like that in so long,” she said, clarifying that her tears were about the fellow women competing for Jay. Before the pair’s exchange, T’yanna had spoken with Jay’s fellow ladies, who accused her of telling the other farmers’ daters that they were a “clique” and claimed she also “basically” called Julia, 22, a “hoe.”

“They’ll go in their room and they’ll shut the door,” T’yanna continued to tell Jay. “Sometimes, I’ll like walk into a room and people like walk out. I try to make everybody feel included because I feel like I was always that person, like, in high school that was always left out.”

To that, Jay said that her feelings are “definitely valid.”

“I’m really glad that you kind of opened up and told me that because I could really tell. You’re always smiling,” Jay said. “I don’t really know what’s going on in the house. You’re here for a reason, right? To get to know me. So I feel like whenever that starts bothering you, you kind of gotta look at it like, ‘Alright, well, I know what I’m here for.'”

Although T’ynna said she didn’t feel “left out” by Jay, in particular, she still felt as if he didn’t “want me here.” Jay then reassured her that he was happy she was here, and he was still interested in getting to know her “a little bit more.”

Solo Dates Are Announced — and Colton’s Date, in Particular, Proved to Be a Game-Changer

After the merriment from the barn dance party wound down, host Kimberly Williams-Paisley informed the four leading men — who were also given sound advice from season 2 success story Mitchell Kolinsky, who is still in a relationship with his final pick Sydney Errera — that they would have to pick one of their ladies to go on a special solo date. John picked Kaylee, 25, Jay picked Karina, 23, Matt picked Alex, 29, and Colton picked Zoe, 22.

Farmer Colton’s date with Zoe, in particular, proved to stand out amongst the pack. He picked her for the solo outing after the pair’s candid conversation at the barn dance about her career aspirations, during which Zoe revealed she’s “very passionate about getting into anesthesiology” and wanted to ensure her advancement plans weren’t a “dealbreaker.” This impressed Colton, who praised Zoe for being “smart as hell” as he declared he’d be her “biggest supporter.”

After giving her a mini tour of his small Arkansas hometown, the pair had a serious conversation about what their future could look like, which allowed them to progress their bond on a deeper level.

Zoe noted how she liked how “homey” Mena, Ark. felt, and she preferred small town vibes over the busyness of the area where she currently lives in Sarasota, Fla. Zoe also didn’t think she will find her person in Sarasota.

With that, Colton asked: “Let’s say if I did get serious about you and you did get serious about me, do you see any kind of opportunity for what you want to do here? For real, do you actually see yourself moving to Mena?”

“I need a change and I didn’t know where that was going to be, but I would be so open to it,” said Zoe as Colton responded, “Oh, that’s cool! People in Arkansas are always hurting themselves, so I think they’re looking for some good nurses and anesthesiologists and stuff like that.”

Zoe then expressed fascination with that fact and then asked if he “searched that up” himself, leading Colton to admit, “I Googled it right before we got here!”

Afterward, Colton raved about the “natural” conversation the two had. The farmer enjoyed himself so much that he didn’t even think to “sneak a kiss” before the date ended, which is something he had done on previous outings. “Honestly, I loved talking to her more than anything, and I just wanted to listen to her more and more. I just can’t stop smiling thinking about her, she’s great,” he added.

Farmer Wants a Wife airs Thursdays at 9 p.m. ET on FOX.