Bachelor in Paradise alum Jessenia Cruz has claimed she definitely apologized to Alana Milne after their love-triangle drama with Chris Conran went down last summer.
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Jessenia's friends Joe Amabile and Riley Christian led an attack on Chris on the beach in which they scolded him for wanting "clout" and being "dishonorable," and so he was essentially forced out of Paradise, with Jessenia telling him to "get the f-ck out."
And when Alana asked the group if anyone wanted to hear her thoughts on the situation, Jessenia, Joe and Riley clapped back, "No!" Due to the toxic environment, Alana decided to leave Bachelor in Paradise as well, single.
Chris and Alana claimed they had felt bullied and no one ever apologized to them during a recent appearance on Us Weekly's "Here for the Right Reasons" podcast, but Jessenia has insisted that's not the case.
"I did, in fact, apologize to Alana," Jessenia told Us during a May episode of the "Here for the Right Reasons" podcast.
"I gave it a couple days [after the episodes aired] and I reached out to her and I said, you know, 'I wanted to give you some space, but I wanted to come to you and tell you that, genuinely, I'm so sorry for how things ended up in Paradise. And then when I think about what I would do differently, I wouldn't have cut you off' -- because I cut her off."
Jessenia continued, "And I told her, 'Honestly, I'm so embarrassed by that specifically because you deserve to speak.' And I think I was so clouded with my emotions -- which [are] hard to deal with when you feel hurt, when you feel lied to -- that I just allow that to control me versus trying to be as centered as possible."
Jessenia insisted that Alana "acknowledged the apology" at the time.
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"The conversation went on and I started to put the pieces together that we had very different recollections of San Diego and it started to even become a concern because I felt as though I was being made to feel as though I should question my reality," Jessenia said, basically accusing Alana of gaslighting her.
"And that's when things really started becoming a problem for me to the point where I even reached out to, you know, a member of production to help me navigate this. And they just told me don't interact and that's exactly what I did."
RELATED LINK: 'THE BACHELOR' FRANCHISE COUPLES NOWJessenia noted she had blocked Alana and Chris on social as well as their phone numbers as a result.
In regards to having "different recollections of San Diego," Jessenia was referring to a time when Jessenia, Chris and Alana attended a group Bachelor gathering weeks before Bachelor in Paradise's seventh season began filming.
Jessenia told the Bachelor in Paradise cameras that Alana had once "thrown herself" on Chris in San Diego, which "wasn't a good look."
But Chris and Alana previously said nothing had happened between them during that California trip, which served as one of their arguments on the beach in Mexico as to why they weren't dating or involved pre-Paradise.
"I know for a fact that I saw Alana sitting in the jacuzzi with Chris on her lap," Jessenia said.
Once Jessenia heard Chris and Alana's April interview on Us' podcast, she said she unblocked Alana and sent her a screenshot of her prior apology, which "definitely delivered."
"So I think she blocked me after I texted her. I just left it at that. I never waited for a response for her either," Jessenia noted.
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"It's done and I get if you're hurt, that's fair, but don't drag my name around the dirt along with it," Jessenia griped.
"I don't understand why this is what you're choosing to do, but at least be honest about this. All I asked was honesty from Chris' part, which he never gave me, so at least be honest about whether or not you received an apology."
Chris, however, publicly apologized for hurting Jessenia in a lengthy Instagram post after the unflattering footage aired.
"I take complete accountability for my blatant disrespect towards Jessenia, and handling the situation poorly," Chris wrote in early September 2021, adding, "My past behavior is not a reflection of who I am or who I want to be, and it was never my intention to maliciously or purposefully hurt anyone on the show."
Chris also repeated how he was "by no means in a relationship" with Alana prior to filming the ABC spinoff and asked people to stop harassing him and sending hateful messages to Alana.
Following Bachelor in Paradise's seventh-season finale in October 2021, Alana and Chris announced on social media they're dating and had already been together for several months.
Chris and Alana then moved in together in Salt Lake City, UT, in Fall 2021, and they're currently still an item.
It appears Jessenia was especially hurt by Chris' betrayal because the pair had allegedly gone on a date before Bachelor in Paradise taped.
And according to the Texas native, she actually questioned Chris about whether he was waiting for Alana to join the Paradise cast before she decided to move forward with their romance.
"He said no. [He said], like, 'I came here for you and I really just wanted to spend some time with you here in Paradise.' Well, the way [Chris] said it was more like, 'I wanna spend time here in Paradise.' And then everything about me kind of came after that," Jessenia quipped on the podcast.
"I was, like, that's a second priority. I'm coming at this whole [situation] as lightly as I can because I've personally moved on from the whole situation, but I think it's been very difficult to look away when you have two people who are constantly kind of like continuing this narrative, that just isn't true."
Prior to their time on Bachelor in Paradise, both Jessenia and Alana competed on Season 25 of The Bachelor starring Matt James, which aired in 2021, and Chris was a suitor on Clare Crawley and Tayshia Adams' season of The Bachelorette in 2020.
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About The Author: Elizabeth Kwiatkowski
