After thoughtlessly describing The Bachelorette co-lead Gabby Windey as being “rough around the edges” (to her face!), contestant Hayden Markowitz is now trying to backtrack on his hurtful words, claiming he misspoke.
“What a night, with so many emotions going on I have to say I have an overwhelming amount of respect for Gabby and Rachel [Recchia],” Hayden wrote on his Instagram, as reported in Page Six.
Hayden admitted he “may not be the most eloquent with words at times . . . But I aimed my heart in the direction of my intentions.” Too bad his mouth wasn’t a little kinder while expressing those intentions.
He finished his post, “Extremely glad Rachel saw me for who I am inside and allowed me to continue the journey with her.” I thought it was kind of a slap in the face to her friend Gabby, since Rachel was fully aware of what he’d said to her. But then maybe she was tired of being rejected and knew that Hayden would be a sure thing, as he’d already told Gabby that he preferred Rachel.
During Monday’s episode, Hayden told Gabby that he was hoping to pursue co-Bachelorette Rachel rather than her, but Bachelor Nation was quick to express outrage for the way he told her.
“Hayden tells me he feels his morals [are] more aligned with Rachel, and being called ‘rough around the edges,’ like, definitely hurts,” a tearful Gabby said in an on-camera confessional.
“When it comes down to it, I want to be rough around the edges ’cause I know who I am on the inside, and I’m f—king proud of it.”
Hayden was not the only one who harshly told Gabby that he preferred Rachel. Fellow contestant Jacob Rapini told the ICU nurse that if she were the only lead, he would not stay on the show. Ouch!
In Jacob‘s ABC bio, it says he’s “picky” about the women he dates. That’s fine, but he doesn’t have to be mean about it.
In the end, it was decided that Rachel and Gabby would each hand out roses individually, allowing the men the option to accept or reject the rose based on whether or not they wanted to persue the woman offering it.
This time it was Rachel‘s turn to feel rejected, when three of the men turned down her offered rose, because they preferred Gabby. At least none of them told her she was “rough around the edges” or her morals weren’t good enough.
And Jacob, the Scottsdale mortgage broker with the surfer hair, who was so mean to Gabby, wasn’t offered a rose by anyone.
At this point, Gabby has nine suitors left on her journey to find love, while Rachel has eight. At least now that we know which men are there to date which woman, we shouldn’t expect any more insensitive comments about how they prefer the other woman. Ugh.
Who came up with this horrible idea of having two Bachelorettes anyway? Whoever it was didn’t think it all the way through. Or maybe they did. The producers of this show do love to instigate chaos and controversy.
TELL US- DO YOU THINK THE PRODUCERS INTENDED THIS SHOW TO BE A COMPETITION BETWEEN GABBY AND RACHEL? DO YOU THINK WHAT HAYDEN SAID TO GABBY WAS OKAY?
[Photo Credit: ABC/Gizelle Hernandez]