Axed 'Bachelorette' bachelor Juan Barbieri not buying "girlfriends" talk

Ousted The Bachelorette bachelor Juan Barbieri isn't buying the idea that some of the men competing for Jillian Harris' heart might secretly still have girlfriends back home.


"When that came out at that Rose Ceremony, I was shocked and I think a lot of the other guys were shocked because no one at any time had mentioned anything about having a girlfriend at any time," Juan told reporters during a Thursday media conference call that followed his elimination on Monday night's The Bachelorette broadcast.  "So when this whole thing came up we thought well, you know, is somebody making something up and what was going on. And we looked around the room and we asked, 'I mean did you say anything? Do you have a girlfriend?'"

"I can tell you when you live in a house with all these guys for, you know, three weeks at that point, you pretty much know a lot about people. And it would be very difficult to maintain a girlfriend when you are out of touch for three weeks. I mean you can say you're on a business trip. I don't know any business trip where you don't have access to a phone or Internet or text message or anything."

According to Juan, that includes Wes, the 32-year-old musician from Austin, TX that has been focus of the other men's girlfriend speculation.

"I don't think Wes has a girlfriend. I've talked to Wes. I know that he is friends with an old girlfriend from the past like most of us are. I have tons of girlfriends that I still talk to and have dinner with that, you know, that I dated a long time ago, but that's all it is," Juan told reporters.  "And I know Wes has someone like that, too, but he never insinuated or said anything about them, you know, being in a relationship or anything like that."


"I think they have some kind of a business arrangement about, you know, with whatever business that Wes does, but I don't think he has a girlfriend, I don't think anybody has a girlfriend."

The girlfriend controversy was only the first Rose Ceremony surprise for Juan, who found himself eliminated from The Bachelorette at the ceremony's conclusion.

"I was extremely surprised when she eliminated me that day up in Vancouver," he told reporters.  "I just didn't expect it, you know, I don't know if I necessarily expected to stay till the very end because I think it's clear that she had greater chemistry with some of the other guys and, you know, I was just being myself and doing the best I could under the circumstances which are difficult. And I think she and I kind of lacked chemistry for the lack of a better word."

"I was really surprised that I was sent home and some of the other guys, you know, were still there who I felt probably should have gone home before I did. But yes, it was very surprising."

Juan told reporters he doesn't believe the girlfriend allegations placed any role in Jillian's decision to not give him a rose and eliminate him from the show.


"I don't think it had to do with that," he said. "I didn't have a girlfriend, I didn't have anybody waiting for me back home. I didn't do anything for her to think I did, so I don't think that really played into her decision at all."

During the call, Juan also commented on his contentious relationship with David Good, who was also eliminated at the same Rose Ceremony as Juan.

"Dave was fine, Dave and I didn't really have any problems at first when we moved into the house, I kind of like him and we got along real well," he told reporters.  "But, you know, he himself said that he's kind of, you know, 'top dog' and 'alpha male' and I think he had some beef I think with a number of the guys, you know, not just myself. But he seemed to kind of focus his attention on me and it was difficult I mean I'm not going to lie, it wasn't something I really prepared for."

"Going into this, I kind of prepared, you know, to meet her and make some friends and go on some adventures and things like and then, when it all started happening, I didn't really, you know, expect it," he explained. "So, it was like an extra layer of things that I needed to deal with that a lot of the other guys didn't need to deal with. So, it wasn't easy and there was definitely tension. I mean there were probably a couple of days in the house where Dave and I really didn't speak. So, you know, anytime you live in a close quarters with someone like that, it's tense."

However Juan said he was initially unaware David had any issues with him or his "man code"-violating behavior.


"It's funny, I didn't even know that Dave and I had a problem until, you know, some of the guys came up to me and told me, you know, that Dave had a problem with me," he said.  "He gets very aggressive as everyone saw. Regarding the 'man code,' that was a bit silly."

Juan also clarified David's issue regarding Juan not drinking a liquor shot during a group date the two men had gone on with Jillian.  Although the show's second episode had seemed to show David insisting Juan had only pretended to drink his shot when the date's bachelors were having a toast during an poolside party at a hotel, Juan explained that David was actually objecting to earlier round of drinks that had happened while the men were preparing for the party.

"What you saw when we went to the hotel [and] sat down by the pool... I definitely drank that drink," Juan told reporters.  "I mean there's no where to dump it or get rid of it, we're all seated right next to each other and, you know, surrounded by the people, that drink was -- I definitely had it."

"What Dave was referring to something that happened a little bit earlier that evening and, off camera where we were, you know, getting ready for this date and we were drinking up in the hotel room, getting ready, getting dressed and we had been doing shots and beers up there," Juan explained.  "So we all had a shot up there but in my case I drank part of the shot, I drank half the shot and Dave made a big deal of it, you know, so that's what that was referring to but in terms of the 'man code' thing."

Juan said his desire to not be drunk during the date with Jillian was why he didn't complete the shot.


"I was trying to pace myself a little bit because this was kind of an opportunity to make a second impression with Jillian and, you know, you didn't want to come across, you know, sloppy or, you know, a little bit drunk and especially considering that there was going to be a lot more alcohol down by the pool," he said.  "I enjoy a beer, a glass of wine and a cocktail as much as anybody else. But, you know, there's a time and a place and there's an excess and especially when you're going to be on TV and you're representing yourself and your family, you know, you have to be careful."

Excess drinking seemed to be an problem with several other bachelors in addition to David, according to Juan.

"Dave's a drinker. I mean he was drinking probably about as much as some of those other guys,"Juan told reporters. "I'm familiar with the show, and I'm familiar, you know, that there was going to be plenty of alcohol and, you know, when you're sitting around when you don't have a lot to do -- there's no TV to watch a game or anything -- you know, a lot of people just drank because that's what they do."

"But I think some of these guys were just going crazy, you know. [I'm] 35-years old and I've kind of been there, done that, and some of these guys were 25, 26, 27 and it seemed like they hadn't been out of the house. I mean they were just kind of taking it really far. But, you know, good for them.  They were having a good time [and] they didn't have to drive anywhere or deal with anything."

However Juan said he wasn't the only bachelor who watched his alcohol while on the show.


"It's just that we're all different, you know, like Jake wasn't a big drinker and Kiptyn wasn't a big drinker and a lot of the other guys weren't big drinkers but no, you know, a fuss wasn't made about them," he said.  "So it's just kind of focused on me."

That "focus" eventually culminated in an incident in which David began verbally berating Juan during the cocktail party that proceeded the show's third Rose Ceremony and Juan initially seemed unsure how to handle the matter.

"You have to realize that nobody tells you what to say or what to do.  You're kind of on your own, and you're doing the best you can," Juan told reporters.  "So, you know, when we had that talk outside by the pool, I kind of saw that he was aggressive and he had been drinking and I thought that, you know, everybody else would see that and I didn't feel like I needed to really do anything, he was kind of making his own case for himself.  I didn't feel like I needed to add much to it. I think he kind of didn't have much credibility that evening at that time."

"But, you know, then later on you go to bed, and you think of ten other things you wish you could have said or, you know, things you could have done, you know, but you don't get that luxury.  It's real and you say what's on your mind and, you know, in my case, always realizing that you're on television. It's not like we're in a back alley where, you know, you can say different things and do different things."

However despite his behavior on the show, Juan said he has no issues with David now.

"Once we were both eliminated and actually prior to that, we kind of reconciled, you know.  We talked and we shared a couple of drinks together and we kind of worked things out," Juan told reporters.  "All that tension and anger that was there at the end of Episode 3 had kind of dissipated during the course of Episode 4 and now we're cool, you know, we're fine, he's a fine guy. I mean I come from LA, he's from Ohio we have a little bit different backgrounds and different interests but, you know, I'd have a beer with him. I don't have any problem with him at all."


Juan said he enjoyed his time with most of the rest of the season's bachelors despite their attempts to vote him out of the competition prior to the season's second Rose Ceremony.

"It was great at times, it was horrible at times," Juan told reporters.  "But I think for the most part that we got a long really well and it was fun."

"It was fun I hadn't ever really had an experience like that before. I never did a fraternity thing or lived in a house with so many guys, but it was fun. I definitely don't regret it and I'd do it again...  [it was] very much like summer camp."

In fact, Juan said he's even planning to reunite with several of the men.

"We all talked about it and I look forward to going to Denver and seeing Mark and going to Philly and seeing Reid and going to Chicago and seeing Ed and definitely hanging out with Jake, even Wes, you know, we talked about getting together," he told reporters.  "So I look forward to having the opportunity to fly around the country and hang out and see these people again really soon."

"Having people around the country... is always fun to me, and they all have me in LA, so they're all going to want to come to LA and experience it with me."






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