The Shrimp Gate saga that's unfolding on The Bachelor season 26 with Clayton Echard took a turn for the worse when Elizabeth Corrigan claimed she was never in the hot tub when Shanae Ankney offered her the shrimp. The drama began after Shanae ate a little too much of the crustaceans, which had been cooked by Elizabeth. As Clayton tried to resolve the shrimp conflict, Shanae accused Elizabeth of bullying and said that while everyone loved Elizabeth’s shrimp, no one in the hot tub had acknowledged the shrimp that Shanae cooked later. However, Elizabeth scoffed at Shanae’s claims by saying she was “in the hot tub once and it wasn’t that day.” Since Elizabeth was sent home by Clayton, Shanae became the villain. However, as it turns out, Shanae wasn’t really lying about Elizabeth being in the hot tub, per one major clue from The Bachelor episode 3.
The crustacean controversy caused a lot of stress in The Bachelor mansion, with Clayton admitting that Shanae and Elizabeth were making it harder for him to spend time with other contestants. “We’re not resolving conflict, we’re talking about shrimp,” a frustrated Clayton told the cameras when he walked away from Shanae exclaiming that Elizabeth put poison in the shrimp which made her poop. The other women claimed they didn’t eat Shanae’s shrimp because they were already full from feasting on Elizabeth’s shrimp. However, the cocktail party was canceled by Clayton all because of Shanae starting an unnecessary beef over shrimp with Elizabeth, and complaining about being victimized. Even though Elizabeth was indeed in the hot tub, Shanae getting picked was the ultimate example of “evil wins” for the seething women, who never got alone time with Clayton thanks to the shrimp situation.
A quick review of The Bachelor episode 3 reveals that Elizabeth was the fishy one, as she lied about not being in the hot tub when Shanae was serving her shrimp. While Sarah was on her one-on-one with Clayton, Elizabeth decided to become a good Samaritan and made some garlic butter shrimp for everyone. “My mouth just watered,” Shanae exclaimed, and then announced that the shrimp was “nice” and the "only good" thing Elizabeth had done in two weeks. A shrimp counter on the screen kept tracking Shanae wiping the pan clean, and Elizabeth threw shade by adding, “I don’t know what the shrimp portions are like in Ohio but this isn’t a roadside buffet.” Elizabeth made quite a prediction about The Bachelor episode 4 when she said, “Obviously here’s two things that Shanae can’t keep out of her mouth, that’s my name and shrimp.”
When The Bachelor star Shanae stuffed her face with Elizabeth's shrimp, she also saw the real estate advisor getting all the attention from the other contestants. So, she decided to make some seafood herself. “You want a piece of shrimp?” Shanae kept yelling, but no one replied. Shanae walked towards Elizabeth (who was seated in the hot tub) and offered the shrimp to her. Obviously, someone else took the plate, and Elizabeth didn’t “acknowledge” Shanae, which later became the point of contention. Interestingly, Elizabeth was graciously passing the shrimp platter around, and it was soon empty since the girls in the hot tub did end up eating it, unbeknownst to chef Shanae.
Eventually, Bachelor Clayton did make the right decision by showing Elizabeth the door, since she did lie about not being in the hot tub, to make Shanae looks like a worse person than she is to The Bachelor viewers. On the flip side, it might have been Elizabeth’s ADHD that distracted her when Shanae walked in with the shellfish snack. Regardless, Jill Chin echoed the thoughts of thousands of fans (who now hope to leave the crustacean chaos behind for good) when she said, “I lost brain cells because I listened to shrimp gate.” With all of the attention that she’s directed towards herself, “It's the Shanae Show, not The Bachelor," as the Sycamore resident has declared.