The Golden Bachelor wedding was a spectacular event in itself – and Bachelor Nation is still buzzing about it.
Before the emotional ceremony, we saw the guests’ arrivals, including Bachelor in Paradise and The Bachelorette alum Brayden Bowers with his new girlfriend from Zach Shalcross’s season of The Bachelor, Christina Mandrell.
Brayden seemingly stole the show when he dropped to one knee to propose to Christina just a month after we learned they were an item.
That definitely got some chatter started, as some viewers were really happy for them and enjoyed being able to see the proposal live.
Others were less impressed, calling Brayden out for proposing at Gerry and Theresa’s wedding – even though Jesse Palmer clarified that he got permission beforehand.
But some are convinced that this Bachelor Nation proposal was all set up – and they have shared reasons why they think that is.
Did Christina Mandrell know a proposal was coming before The Golden Bachelor wedding?
When Brayden Bowers and Christina Mandrell arrived at The Golden Bachelor wedding, they were met by Jesse Palmer, who clearly knew a proposal was coming.
He asked the cute couple about their outfits, and it was explained that Christina picked out her dress, and Brayden had to work hard to match it with a stunning forest green suit and pale pink silk tie.
He even wore matching peacock feather dream catcher earrings and a brown cowboy hat to complete the look.
After Brayden’s sweet proposal, he stayed on his knees, and Christina dropped to hers in disbelief. Then she exclaimed, “That’s why we got our nails done?”
But some think that may have been to throw viewers off and that she must have known beforehand that this would happen.
It makes sense that she would, considering how long (or not long) this couple has been together. Brayden wouldn’t want to propose to Christina at the biggest event of the year only to have her say no, right?
Bachelor Nation sounds off about evidence
The Golden Bachelor viewers think Christina Mandrell’s manicure gave away the fact that she knew ahead of time about the proposal.
After the big moment, she took to Instagram to show off a carousel of photos, including two where she flashed her brand new bling and her gorgeous mani – bright red on all fingers except for sparkly silver on her ring finger.
That led to questions about why she would target just that one finger to get sparkles.
One critic took to Reddit with a “Sure, Jan” meme and wrote, “She didn’t know, but magically had her ring finger painted in sparkles with the rest of the nails pink …”
Another commenter shared that they thought maybe Christina was in on this proposal plan as she and Brayden are both known for stirring up drama on the Bachelor Nation shows they were on.
They wrote, “Some part of me wonders if she knew about it and they came up with the plan together to get engaged on the TV screen lol.”
And another was eye-balling producers, thinking they may have encouraged this proposal. They wrote, “Does anyone else feel this was also producer driven? The fact that Niel lane[sic] was there too. I’m just wondering if he would have proposed this soon if he didn’t get a free ring.”
It seems that Brayden is always hated, never celebrated after his time on Charity Lawson’s season of The Bachelorette, and then after he fumbled Rachel Recchia on Bachelor in Paradise.
Bachelor in Paradise is currently on hiatus.