The tragic story behind why last night's The Bachelorette elimination was different.

Last night’s episode of The Bachelorette saw Ali Otejen say goodbye to two more men on her quest for lurve.

While contestant Pete was sent off with the general ‘you didn’t receive a rose’ spiel from Osher – sorry Pete – the evening’s first elimination was far more dramatic.

Quick recap if you weren’t watching (and there’s a good chance you weren’t): mid rose ceremony, the camera zoomed in on a distressed Ali holding her next rose. After a few loud, deep breaths, the 32-year-old placed the rose back on the silver tray and asked Danny if she could have a chat with him outside.

There, under the fairy lights strung along the bach mansion’s veranda, she let him down gently.

“You know how much I care for you,” she told the 39-year-old chiropractic student from QLD.

“I didn’t want you to be waiting for a rose.”

It was a lovely moment, but at the same time, it didn’t quite make sense. (You can watch it below, post continues after video.)

From what we’ve seen of this season’s The Bachelorette so far, Danny and Ali didn’t appear to share a close bond. Aside from an awkward kiss that was a bit uncomfortable to watch, there wasn’t much else to suggest they were all that fond of each other.

Speaking to Mamamia, Danny explained we didn’t see an important conversation between himself and Ali early on that explains why she pulled him aside.

“Before I went into the show, I lost my mum to cancer about six days before meeting Ali on the red carpet. I kept that to myself for most of the time in the mansion, I didn’t want to be the sob story. But eventually it came out and I was honest with her about it,” he said.

“After a few weeks [of being in the mansion], one of the cocktail parties landed on the anniversary of my mum’s birthday and I was pretty upset. A few of the boys came around and gave me a hug, and that’s when I decided to let Ali know because I felt heartbroken and I was struggling to laugh and be my happy self, I knew that people were noticing it.

“That was a really beautiful moment… Ali was so kind and beautiful about it, I really appreciated it. We developed into really great friends, and she was showing me some respect [by sending me home] and trying to soften the blow.”

The decision to go on the reality TV show at all a week and a half after losing his mum Sherron to stage four metastatic cancer was a tough one for Danny to make, but ultimately, he thought it’s what his mum would’ve wanted for him.

“I buried mum on the Friday and met Ali on the Wednesday, it was hard. I thought about pulling out of the show and not going, but mum was so excited for me to go and try to find love, I thought that’s what she would’ve wanted.”

“I’ve lost a lot of my family, four of my closest family members in the last two years, and my brother 20 years ago, it’s taught me that life’s really short and to make the most of each day. The process to go onto this series is really arduous and I’d gone that far, so I thought, why not? I could meet the love of my life.”

I didn’t leave with nothing, I left with hope and nineteen amazing friends (Ali & those amazing men). It was hard having buried Mum six days before the red carpet to relax and be my happy self but I hope I made her proud. #BacheloretteAU

A post shared by Daniel “Danny” Harris-Wolf ???? (@dnhwolf) on Oct 25, 2018 at 3:44am PDT

Danny also said that was another reason he decided to kiss Ali during some one-on-one time they shared together, a moment that made viewers slightly uncomfortable because it appeared to be forced and out of the blue.

Of that moment, Danny said, “That was after I’d told Ali about mum, we’d been getting to know each other over about three weeks and had had several conversations over that time… for me, it was difficult because I could see she was forming strong connections with half a dozen of the other guys and I was sort of at the point where I thought, it might be my only chance [to kiss her].”

Despite not finding love with Ali, Danny says his Bachelorette experience was entirely positive.

“Some of it was a little heart-wrenching to see on TV, but I think each one of the guys as we leave goes with a different experience. Some guys were jaded, some were upset, I felt enlightened. I’ve made 19 friends and it’s been an amazing experience, I wouldn’t change it for the world.”

“Life’s good, I’m really positive and have a great outlook, and am single and putting myself out there to maybe meet someone.”

Are you watching The Bachelorette Australia 2018? How do you think it differs from past season?

To debrief on what the heck happened on The Bachelorette this week, get the latest episode of Bach Chat in your ears right here.