Bachelor in Paradise bachelorette Kate Gallivan has defended her controversial remarks about Logan Palmer's financial situation.
ADVERTISEMENT
Kate, a 32-year-old real estate agent from Lake Hollywood, CA, has faced criticism for trashing Logan, a 26-year-old videographer from San Diego, CA, behind his back on Bachelor in Paradise's eighth season in regards to how he didn't seem to have a lot of money.
RELATED LINK: 'THE BACHELOR' FRANCHISE COUPLES NOW: WHO IS STILL TOGETHER?? (PHOTOS)
"Can we just be real for a second? I am tired of having that conversation being so taboo and demonized," Kate told Entertainment Tonight following the reunion taping on November 4.
"Money's not something that we should be afraid of. It is a factor in life."
ADVERTISEMENT
Logan and Kate met during Bachelor in Paradise's "The Split" twist, and although they had been involved with each other's friends -- Sarah Hamrick and Jacob Rapini, respectively -- they said they couldn't deny the strong connection they felt towards each other.
Kate therefore asked Logan out on a date in Paradise, and the pair hit it off to the point where Logan gushed about how Kate had hit him "like a hurricane" and their chemistry was "groundbreaking." He almost immediately decided that he didn't want to date anyone else on the show, including his former flame Shanae Ankney.
Logan, however, didn't ask Kate to be exclusive, nor did he confirm how much he liked her and wanted to be with her, and so Kate agreed to go on a date with newcomer Hayden Markowitz.
Although Kate and Hayden had a bit of an awkward date with Kate saying she had to carry the whole thing on her shoulders, she said she felt torn between the two men after learning Hayden had a successful business as a leisure executive from Tampa, FL.
"I can't build a life just on 'you're hot.' Maybe I am old fashioned and I want a man to have provider energy," Kate lamented in a confessional on the show.
ADVERTISEMENT
Hayden, for instance, claimed he had spent $100,000 to pay for his dog Rambo's surgery that would only help the dog to live another year or two. Kate therefore gathered Hayden is rich and very established in his career.
"Listen, I mean, I think we all understand that it's a TV show. There are elements that are shown and not shown," Kate told ET.
RELATED LINK: 'THE BACHELORETTE' COUPLES NOW: WHOM DID 'THE BACHELORETTE' STARS AND THEIR BACHELOR PICKS ULTIMATELY END UP WITH?! (PHOTOS)
Kate and Logan talked about their relationship once she returned from her date with Hayden, and the pair kissed in the rain and agreed to only focus on each other going forward.
Kate therefore gave Logan a rose at the fourth Rose Ceremony of the season, sending Hayden home, but she essentially asked Logan to step it up and prove he was worthy of her.
ADVERTISEMENT
"I always knew it was Logan. I wanted to be open-minded, give everybody kind of a fair shot, but it was always going to be Logan," Kate explained.
However, Kate began to question her decision to give Logan a rose the very next morning.
Kate worried about her age difference from Logan and whether they were at completely different stages in their lives.
Kate was shown complaining to her girlfriends about how Logan couldn't afford an Equinox gym membership and also wouldn't be able to take her on expensive romantic trips. Kate also didn't like how Logan had two roommates and couldn't afford a place of his own.
But Kate assured ET that "obviously" money is "not everything" since she had decided to give Logan her rose, although "it is a factor" when she's looking for a man with whom to spend the rest of her life.
ADVERTISEMENT
"I was willing to be open and honest about that. I'm open to the feedback, the criticism, whatever, but, at the end of the day, I was being real," Kate explained.
She added, "These are the things you talk about with your girlfriends, like, sipping martinis behind closed doors. Of course it's a factor."
Kate also suggested the tense and tiring atmosphere that is Bachelor in Paradise played a role in her blunt delivery of her thoughts and opinions while filming the show.
"When you're in the public eye, when you're on a show and you're making decisions under duress, with lack of sleep, with alcohol, of course things can be misconstrued," Kate said.
"But, at the end of the day, what I said was something that I stand by, and I think a lot of other people can relate to that."
RELATED LINK: 'THE BACHELOR' COUPLES NOW: WHO DID 'THE BACHELOR' STARS AND THEIR BACHELORETTE PICKS ACTUALLY END UP MARRYING? (PHOTOS)
Kate ultimately doesn't regret what she had said about Logan, but she clarified that Logan is "a great guy" no matter what.
"There's nothing wrong with where he is in life. I think those comments were just indicative of not so much the material facts, it's just more so about where he is in life versus where I am," Kate shared. "I hope that's what translates. That's what I meant."
When Logan accepted Kate's rose, he didn't feel well liked by the bachelorette, and he wasn't sure at the time that Kate was disappointed with his lifestyle.
Logan said he was willing to fight for Kate and show his care and affection for her, but he also wanted to get to the bottom of Kate's issue with him.
Prior to their stint on Bachelor in Paradise, Kate was eliminated during Week 2 of The Bachelor's 26th season starring Clayton Echard, and Logan was ousted from Rachel Recchia and Gabby Windey's The Bachelorette season after he dumped Rachel to pursue a romance with Gabby mid-season.
ADVERTISEMENT
Click here to read spoilers on Kate and Logan's Bachelor in Paradise fate and what happened between them on the show.
RELATED LINK: 'THE BACHELOR' FRANCHISE COUPLES NOW: WHO IS STILL TOGETHER?? (PHOTOS)
Interested in more The Bachelor news? Join our The Bachelor Facebook Group!