Ashley Elmore: Rozlyn Papa 'The Bachelor' relationship was romantic

Ousted The Bachelor: On the Wings of Love bachelorette Ashley Elmore disagrees with Rozlyn Papa's claim that there was nothing romantic about her "inappropriate relationship" with one of the ABC reality dating series' producers during the show's filming.


"I do," said Elmore when asked by Reality TV World during a Thursday conference call if she believes Papa had a romantic, physical relationship with the producer, which new reports have allegedly identified as Ryan Callahan.

"But I wasn't there to witness the extent of it. I just heard what the other girls had said. In my opinion, I think it was something that was obviously taken so seriously that a staffer was removed and she was removed from the show. I don't think that would be something that would happen for something that was totally innocent."

Specifically, Elmore claimed that bachelorettes Elizabeth, Vienna and Gia had all "witnessed cuddling and leg touching" between Papa and the producer prior to the Rose Ceremony in Monday night's broadcast -- which saw Papa get eliminated from the competition after being confronted about the allegations by host Chris Harrison.

Harrison has since stated Papa is "definitely not telling the truth" in denying the allegations.


"There was a conversation between a group of us, and we were all discussing the flirtation and the incident that occurred. Elizabeth stated that she definitely saw some snuggling up on the couch. Vienna continued to agree with that and was speaking about how Rozlyn was laying on this staffer and kind of had her hand around his thigh area. Gia also had concurred about this. I was just simply sitting on the couch while this conversation was occurring," Elmore told Reality TV World.

"I did see some of the flirting, but the other girls were really upset about what they had seen and definitely felt the need to verbalize it. I don't know if one of them had went and told the producers or what, but there was definitely a lot of chit-chat around the house regarding this."

Elmore added she was not one of the bachelorettes who approached The Bachelor's other producers about the allegations.

"I was not one of the girls who had done that, but I was there when some of the chit-chat was going on about some of the cuddling and snuggling," Elmore told reporters during the conference call.

"Despite that, I don't think that anyone actually thought that a sexual affair was occurring. We didn't really know the details of it or the extent of it. Even though there were some red flags that went up, the girls were still quite surprised when Chris Harrison spoke to us and informed us what had happened."


Prior to her own elimination, Monday night's episode had also shown Elmore stating that Papa was making all of these "wonderful comments" about The Bachelor star Jake Pavelka "yet three hours prior was getting it on with somebody else."

When asked about the comment on Thursday, Elmore said she was "inventing" the timeframe she referenced during the episode.

"I don't even know where that timing came from," she told Reality TV World with a laugh.

"I think I was just assuming that she had gotten off the date and something had occurred with the staffer when she got home. That was maybe me being a little harsh, feeling a little shock."

Elmore reiterated she doesn't "actually know" if Papa and the producer were "getting it on" three hours prior to the Rose Ceremony.


"That was just kind of me venting and talking and maybe making assumptions about something that I didn't necessarily know," she told Reality TV World. "That was one thing, looking back on it, I'm like, 'What was I talking about?'"

After Harrison explained to the other bachelorettes what had happened with Papa, Elmore said the "tone of the house completely changed."

"It was just like this bomb went off. All of the girls became very emotional, very upset, stressed out. It was just a whole realm of emotions that occurred," she told reporters.

"Girls were upset and they saw Jake upset -- and a lot of girls really care for him and didn't want to see him hurting, didn't want to see him upset. I also feel like the girls felt the element of betrayal, that maybe Rozlyn had possibly been lying to them. It was just really overwhelming for everybody involved and really unfortunate."

In addition, Elmore said different girls in the house reacted to the news different.


"Some of the girls just immediately jumped to Rozlyn's defense, whereas other girls did not," she explained.

"There was a little bit of bickering back and forth there. Some of the girls just became very upset and were crying and sort of went off on their own. There was a little bit of coming together and also some tearing apart occurring. I think just because the situation was so tense, all these emotions came out that caused some bonding but also some tribulations."

Elmore said the incident involving Papa also taught her a personal lesson.

"I know the situation has caused some severe damage to her reputation that may not be repairable," Elmore told reporters.

"It's just scary to me as a professional and a teacher that you can make one mistake in life and it can have these very grave repercussions. That's one thing I will remember after this."






About The Author: Christopher Rocchio