'The Bachelorette' 2013 Spoilers (July 8th Recap): Desiree Chooses Final 4, Eliminates Michael, & Sees Brooks at Finish Line

After last night's episode (July 8th) of ABC's "The Bachelorette," which was filmed on beautiful Madeira Island in Portugal, America is one week closer to finding out which eligible contender will ultimately win the competition for Desiree Hartsock's heart.

With Monday's rose ceremony resulting in the elimination of Michael G (the federal prosecutor), Des chose the final four men to continue on in the "race" during next week's "heat": the hometown dates. Before leaving broken-hearted Michael in the dust, the bachelorette confessed some major heart-felt spoilers to host Chris Harrison. She admitted that Brooks (the marketing analyst) is already "at the finish line" with her, but that doesn't mean that Drew, Chris, & Zak do not have a chance at catching up to the long-haired, leading man.

Here's a full recap of Monday (7/8) night's episode:

Leaving Barcelona and the James drama behind, Desiree and the 5 remaining bachelors (Drew Kenney, Zak Waddell, Brooks Forester, Chris Siegfried and Micheal Garofola) traveled to Portugal for their next romantic adventure. Before the "bachelorette" embarked upon her three "one-on-one" dates and one "two-on-one" date, ABC brought back some familiar faces from Sean Lowe's season of "The Bachelor" including Sean's bride-to-be Catherine Giudici, Lesley Murphy, and Jackie Parr.

Desiree summed up the five remaining guys for her friends by distributing some superlatives: "best eyes" went to Brooks, "most athletic" went to Chris, "best body" and "best kisser" both went to Drew, and "most adventurous" went to Zak. We should have caught the foreshadowing when Michael G was left out of the superlatives...

Once the brief cameo of the fellow "bachelor bffs" ended, Brooks was first up for the one-on-one dates. The two love birds drove up a mountainous road on Madeira Island until they were "above the clouds" and found a nice rock to picnic on. Amongst some cheesy "cloud 9" references, Des explained how she's falling in love with Brooks and can see him as her husband. While Des expresses that she's ready to sprint to the "finish line" with Brooks, the marketing analyst admits to the cameras that he's a bit behind in his "emotional process," but still appreciates her "honesty."

During their one-on-one, the pair both agree that they love how "natural" and "easy" their relationship is and proceed to have a makeout session while fireworks light up the sky. Naturally, Desiree reveals that she "feels fireworks" when she and Brooks kiss and that he could be "the one."

The second one-on-one date card of the episode was given to Chris (the mortgage broker/underground poet). The two shared a lovely day on a yacht which took them to a "deserted island." Upon arriving at the scenic destination, they exchanged poems and even wrote one together, put it in a bottle, and threw it out to sea. Before assembling the "message in a bottle," Des explained how strong of a physical attraction she has to Chris as he is a "great looking guy."

Later during the date, Chris nervously confesses to Desiree that he loves her through another poem that brings emotional tears to the bachelorette's eyes. "In every kiss, I truly mean that I love you," the romantic last line read.

"I wasn't expecting him to say those words... but it couldn't have been any better," Des told the camera afterwards. She also expressed that she could picture a life with him as Chris has all the qualities she is looking for.

The last one-on-one date went to Michael G (the federal prosecutor). The pair spent their date exploring town and tobogganing down the streets of Portugal. Michael finally became vulnerable later during dinner when he opened up about his estrangement with his father, his battle with Type I diabetes, and his struggle with discovering his long-term girlfriend was cheating on him. Despite talking about his hurtful past relationship, Michael admitted that he was still feeling hopeful and is "feeling these feelings again" as he is falling in love with Des. She responds by revealing that he is "one of the greatest guys she's ever met."

Desiree's last date was the two-on-one with Drew (the digital marketing analyst/model) and Zak (the drilling fluid engineer) where she would distribute a rose to one of the men guaranteeing him a hometown date next week. The race was on (literally) as Desiree took the boys to a go-kart race track to duke it out. Zak came ahead of Drew on the course, but Drew took the lead in the romance department when he made a better impression on the bachelorette during their one-on-one time, thus earning him the rose and a date to meet his family.

Although Zak made a nice gesture by creating an illustrated flipbook that recapped all of his and Desiree's special moments from the beginning of their "Bachelorette" journey together, he decided to hold back his feelings that he is "100% in love with her." Drew, on the other hand, admitted to a smitten Desiree that he has never had these feelings for anyone before and that he has "fallen for her." His words likely won him to rose and secured him a spot in the final four. Zak was shocked and disappointed.

After the four dates with the five remaining bachelors, Desiree had her usual pre-rose ceremony pep talk with Chris Harrison, where, as previously mentioned, she gloated about her feelings for Brooks. Blushing, she revealed (with tears in her eyes) how she's no longer "running but already at the finish line" with him, despite the fact that he has yet to say that he loves her. Des's confession may lead viewers to believe that Brooks has already won the competition, but the bachelorette still claimed that she'd be  keeping "an open mind and heart" throughout the rest of the process. She also mentioned that she is falling in love with Chris as well.

During the rose ceremony, where Drew already had a rose in his possession and viewers already predicted that Brooks and Chris were also both guaranteed roses, the final two men left in question were Zak and Micheal. Explaining that the other four relationships were "growing differently," Desiree eliminated Michael. He exited graciously, but extremely heart-broken.

Will Brooks really be the man at the finish line with Des? Tune in to ABC next Monday and watch Desiree meet the bachelors' families...