'Bachelor Pad's Jaclyn Swartz: Chris Bukowski's "love square" going to blow up

Jaclyn Swartz decided to give the third season of Bachelor Pad a shot after failing to win the heart of Ben Flajnik during The Bachelor's sixteenth season.


Jaclyn got paired up with former bachelor Ed Swiderski by default the very first night and wasn't too pleased with her fate considering Ed's first impression on the cast was getting completely wasted and joking around nonstop. However, Jaclyn and Ed both got increasingly more serious about the competition and about each other -- as a friendship bloomed and then the couple hooked up one night.

Once Reid Rosenthal let Jaclyn in on his plan to blindside Ed and get him voted out of the mansion, Jaclyn, a 27-year-old account manager from Newton, MA, defended Ed to the ground and rallied up her alliance to get Reid out of the game instead. She let her fellow bachelor and bachelorettes, along with the viewing audience, know that she didn't appreciate nor respect dishonest gameplay especially when close friends were the ones backstabbing each other.

During a Thursday conference call with reporters, Jaclyn talked to Reality TV World about her Bachelor Pad experience thus far and hinted at what's to come this season -- including how convinced she was that she'd be able to remove Reid from the game despite the bachelor's apparent confidence, whether she thought Reid seeking revenge was the only reason behind his motive to vote Ed off, and what she had to say about the Chris Bukowski, Blakeley Shea and Jamie Otis messy love triangle. 

Reality TV World: Were you surprised that Reid was still that bitter over the situation with Jillian Harris and Ed during their Bachelorette season together?  Like do you think that Reid's strategic gameplay to get rid of Ed was solely based upon their past together or do you think there were more factors involved?


Jaclyn Swartz: I would hate to think that Reid is still not over the Jillian thing because it was a long time ago and that just would be kind of funny to think about. 

But at the same time, I do think that maybe it has a little bit of something to do with it, in terms of the fact that maybe it would feel a little liberating for him to see Ed go before he goes, you know, as opposed to last time where he tries to come back and ultimately failed.

I think, yes. I guess it does have something to do with it.  I mean, it is a funny little play on that, you know, past vendetta. But I could see Reid being happy seeing Ed leave before him. Ed loves to say he's never a lost a rose before, so maybe Reid just wanted to see him lose a rose.

Reality TV World: Going into this week's Rose Ceremony, were you convinced that Reid was going to be the one going home after talking with your alliance or did you have doubts about anyone's loyalty to you or the fact someone could potentially change his or her mind at the last minute or something like that?

Jaclyn Swartz: Every single Rose Ceremony that we've gone into, I've sat there thinking that, "It's in the books, this is so easy.  This is a floater week."  You know, "We're getting rid of the fans and then we'll worry about getting rid of other people later."  And then, someone throws a wrench into the mix and it gets all screwed up and everyone's freaking out and running around like chickens with their heads cut off. 


And so, honestly, I did not put anything past the fact that, you know, Ed could be going home. And I'm never confident because it's Bachelor.  I mean you can never be confident in anything. There's always changes, there's always twists and turns.  And I was sitting there in that Rose Ceremony freaking out. 

I absolutely was -- I actually had a conversation with [Rachel Truehart] on the side, where I was like, "If Ed goes home what do I do?  Like, do I stay, do I go?"  Because you get so invested in your partner that it's hard to imagine being in the game without them.  So, yes, I mean, I was mentally prepared for Ed to be eliminated.

Reality TV World: Just to clarify, if Reid ended up staying in the game, were you concerned or worried at all that you would have a huge target on your back going forward? Did that cross your mind?

Jaclyn Swartz: If Reid stayed in the game and his plan went the way that he wanted it to go, I would be next to go, for sure.  Because people were saying that I was part of the power alliance, which in my opinion, I was at the time.  And I knew that people were gunning for me.

And [David Mallet] was telling me since day one before he even knew me that I was in a power alliance with Blakeley and [Erica Rose].  And I'm like, "David, what are you talking about?"  He wasn't even right, but I think that just because I have such a strong personality, that people automatically assume I'm leading the pack.


Reality TV World: What's your opinion of the whole Chris, Blakeley and Jamie love triangle?  Did Chris' behavior surprise you or rub you the wrong way while you were on the show?

Jaclyn Swartz: Chris and his love triangle are -- it's something that I definitely steered clear off.  I mean, I was shocked to see the way that things were panning out behind the scenes, and I had no idea that he was giving Jamie that much of an impression that he liked her.

And I had no idea that him and Blakeley had kissed.  So, this was all news to me.  And to be honest, you're going to see another girl enter into this love triangle and it's going to become a love square.  So, I think that Chris is in like the year of Chris and he is just going for it.

And I can never see myself as being part of it, but hey, I kind of respect him.  I mean, he's like juggling these girls and they're still coming back for more.  But you'll see partnerships and couplings and all that are going to change.  It's not going to stay the same, you know, like I said before, one-on-one dates are coming up.

If you would rather watch paint dry on a one-on-one date with some of these girls, you're going to have to make some serious decisions on who you want your partner to be in the end, because ultimately that put -- surprise, surprises are deep.


So, I think that right now, it's been a little bit of musical chairs and like I've said before, we've seen a lot of people just randomly coupling up in challenges.  And I think that soon it's going to be, you know, it's going to be game time where people are going to have to make some tough decisions and girls are going to be offended and people are going to be shocked. And that all starts on Monday's episode.

Reality TV World: So while you were on the show, did you think that Chris was actually going to get away with juggling these girls or did you kind of think it was just going to blow up in his face eventually? What were your thoughts on that at the time?

Jaclyn Swartz: Well, this all comes to a head on Monday and I'm actually really excited to see it play out, because decisions are going to have to be made on Monday.  And I knew that no matter what Chris did, especially another girl entering in his little love square, you know, two out of the three girls are going to be hurt.

And when you think about these decisions that need to be made and girls who are really sensitive and girls who are voting off the guys, you know, it's going to affect Chris' game.  I was really eager to see how it all played out, and I mean, you'll see things completely blow up and you'll see people get angry and upset. And I was just so happy to not be a part of that and to just be a bystander.

Because let's face it, it's pretty entertaining.  You know, Jamie is in this love square and she's not my favorite person.  And as we saw on the teasers, she's, you know, talking about how I'm fake and because she's being damn honest, I think is what she said.


And it's just so funny to me that she's saying those things within an interview room as opposed to my face, because I was nice to her the entire time I was there.  I was telling her how happy I was that she was there.  And then, you'll see during this challenge in these controversial questionnaires, that Jamie just goes off on me.

It's pretty interesting how it all plays out, and we're blindsided at the Week 3 Rose Ceremony with these questionnaires for the next day's challenge.  I think that that's something that's really important to remember. As you're watching this next episode, that during this game show when the questions are being read aloud, these answers were given six hours prior.

So, if you say something bad about somebody, you can't be like, "Oh, you know, well, my feelings have changed since the first week. I really like you now, you've proven that you're different."  So, it's kind of like if you say something horrible about someone in this game show, you know what, you said it about me a few hours ago and that's that.

I mean, okay, you know? Noted. So, this week is definitely a pretty climactic week where things changed, people's feelings are exposed and partnerships will change.  It's just crazy, and I think this is going to be one of the best so far.

Reality TV World: What were your thoughts on Rachel and Michael Stagliano's relationship while you were there?  Did you see it having the potential to last and be a real relationship down the road or did you think it would just most likely a fling that was going to happen during the show?

Jaclyn Swartz: I was shocked to see them together in the first place, because we were all friends.  Rachel and I had met Michael at our Women Tell All week when we were in California, and we were all -- we all [stayed] like, you know, buddy-buddy.  So, when they started hooking up, I was a little shocked.


But they got close pretty quickly and Michael was very vocal about having -- I think he used to say, "I'm crushing hard on Rachel."  And, you know, he was. I mean, just affectionate with her.  I saw them hitting it off.  I don't know if I really understood it, but hey. You know, Rachel is my best friend and she seems happy, so I was onboard with it.

But I don't know, I think that when you form relationships in the house, the way that they can translate into the real world is a gamble.  So, yes, I mean at this point, I see them being serious.  But I think that down the road things might change.

Reality TV World: Did you compete on Bachelor Pad to find love, money or hopefully, both?

Jaclyn Swartz: I went into this game wanting to win money.  And never in a million years I would think that it's a game for love.  My main focus was just winning the money.

Also in the call, Jaclyn told reporters whom she hoped to partner up with right off the bat instead of Ed, whether there is any love or crushing going on in her relationship with Ed, and whether she was concerned hooking up with him would ruin their strong partnership and ability to win the game down the road.

Which former bachelor or bachelorette surprised you the most on Bachelor Pad?


Jaclyn Swartz: The answer is definitely easy for me. I think that Blakeley definitely has surprised me thus far in the game. I mean, you guys all obviously saw my reaction to her being in the house and my reaction to what I thought of her as a friend.

And to be honest, coming into the house, I really just thought that we would completely butt heads and that I would want her out of the house immediately. And as I got to learn more and more about Blakeley as the game progressed, up through Week 3, I saw a side to her that I never saw before.

This game is pretty conniving and you have to lie a lot. You have to be able to trust certain people, and Blakeley led me to believe that she's trustworthy. So, our friendship definitely took a turn for the better.

Can you talk a little bit about your relationship with Ed? What was it all about and is there more to it than what viewers are seeing?

Jaclyn Swartz: So Ed and I were partners from Day 1, and the way that it happened was pretty funny. It was clearly a default partnership. It was like we were having fun and not really thinking about the next day's challenge, and then it ended up being just kind of the two of us brought together, and it was like, "Oh yay, I guess we're partners."

But you know, as the weeks went on, we just clicked. Our personalities just worked really well together. And in last week's challenge, we were going to be partnered again but we had to switch. So, as you've seen, Week 1-3, we really just stuck together whereas a lot of other people are sort of kind of randomly pairing up. I think that you saw us get a little closer last episode and we'll see where that goes from here.


I mean, one-on-one dates start this week, and I think that there's a huge difference between group hang[out]s in the house and three-on-one dates and one-on-one dates, because you don't want to spend an entire day with someone that you don't click with. So I think you'll see a lot of relationships change and some stay. It's just kind of that time will tell.

Were you upset at all that Ed was spending time with Sarah Newlon when he was partnered up with you?

Jaclyn Swartz: That was a really interesting situation because as far as I was concerned, Ed and I were just partners in the game. I was drawn to Ed because I thought he was fun and cute. His personality is just like -- What did I say? He's got personality for days or something like that? I wasn't kidding!

But it's tough to see your partner hook up with somebody else, because at this point in the game, we don't know if that's going to be your partner in the end. But eventually, if you're thinking long-term, you want your partner to be somebody you want to go on dates with.

So, if your partner is hooking up with somebody else, you're not going to want to take them on a date if you win, and that's a problem. So, it was definitely a concern in the back of my mind, but Ed and I had a talk about it after they hooked up and I was pretty clear that it wasn't going to be happening again.

I was eager to just see how it played out and I was a little bummed that Sarah made those comments about me after Ed and I hooked up. That was pretty unfortunate considering I never once bad-mouthed her after she hooked up with Ed.


But again, it's like, we gotta see how it plays out and then maybe we can see how Sarah would react to that down the road. Could it change? I don't know. Maybe she's over Ed, maybe she's not. As you guys are seeing her say these things about me behind my back, so am I.

Sarah and I actually spoke after her and Ed hooked up and we were always great. We were always on great terms, and we had the same talk after Ed and I hooked up. So, that was a shock for me to hear.

On the first day, was there anyone else you kind of wish you would've gone after and partnered up with right away instead of just ending up with Ed by default?

Jaclyn Swartz: Yes. I think that I went into this game with 100% percent confidence that I was going to win.  I definitely -- I've had friends that have been on Survivor and like, I've definitely gotten great advice from them.  You know, just being like, "If you go into this game thinking you're going to win, you have a better chance of winning than if you go in thinking that you might not."

So, I was playing the game from the minute that I walked into the house and I definitely spotted [Kalon McMahon] and Chris first. And I had a little side conversation with them but, you know, then it's funny because I think Kalon may be my partner in the end.

And then, I see by watching these episodes that he was also telling seven other players that he was their partner too.  So, I feel like I had some backup plans that maybe weren't shown.  But, you know, Ed actually toughed it out in that first challenge.  And I was the one who [fell out of the heart first] and he could have stayed in there all day, like despite, you know his antics on the first night.


That gave me more reason to believe that I could stick with him and that he might be good at these physical challenges.  I happened to luck out with Chris as my partner on hot sludge funday, but so far, it's still good. So, there is no reason for me to change, and at this point, I already am starting to trust Ed a lot.  And if you trust your partner, then you seriously should not make a move to leave them.

Were the loud noises Ed made while hooking up with girls an intentional joke or serious?

Jaclyn Swartz: I mean, Ed noises are pretty epic.  And I think that it definitely caught a lot of people's attention.  I don't recall hearing those that night but, you know, as you could see I might -- neither of us maybe would have remembered that. No, I don't know. Maybe it happened, maybe it didn't. But honestly, I saw that and I could not stop laughing. I was purely entertained probably as much as you guys were.

Did those noises actually happen or were scenes edited just to look like he was sounding like that?

Jaclyn Swartz: I mean, yes, that happened.  But I mean, the sounds, I don't necessarily remember. But I don't doubt that they are actually his voice. So, who the hell knows.

Were you concerned at all that casually hook up with Ed might screw up your partnership in terms of winning down the road?


Jaclyn Swartz: I didn't really think that us hooking up would ruin anything.  I mean, at this point, we worked really well as partners and we were having fun in the house.  We were doing our thing.  You know, so far it's just like us having some casual fun, if you will.

And you know, where it leads to next, I guess is in the cards somewhere.  And I think I would be happy either way, you know.  I wouldn't have made a decision to hook up with my partner if I thought it was going to go somewhere really sour.  And, you know, I was thinking about every move at all times.

And if I saw that would jeopardize something, then no, I wouldn't have gone there.  And I don't think that he would have necessarily gone there either because we were partners.  It's not like him and Sarah hooking up, that's a different situation because they weren't partners at that point.

So, I'm sure she thought about it too.  And, you know, it was just casual fun and we were so normal and cool afterwards.  I mean, we live in the same house with each other and it's just like, he makes jokes of it. It's like, you know, you can't really escape the person.

So, I think that everyone really needs to think about their every move.  And I think that that's where we see Chris making some decisions with, you know, Jamie and Blakeley.  I mean, you're stuck in a house with these people, so if you get your feet wet with somebody and then, you're like, "Oh, you know, I shouldn't have done that," you're absolutely screwed.

You got very upset about the Reid situation, even to the point of saying something at the Rose Ceremony. I mean, was that really that upsetting to you? You have to understand too that it's also a game where everybody is lying to each other and conniving, right? So was it more personal to you than just an "everybody is lying to everybody" kind of thing?


Jaclyn Swartz: I was really upset by Reid and his actions and his decisions and the way that he was playing the game.  And I've been called a hypocrite this week because everyone is like, "Oh, well, isn't that the same thing that you did to Blakeley?"  And, no, it wasn't in my opinion, because I'm not trying to vote Blakeley out.

I actually was working with Blakeley. Our relationship had changed since the first day.  And, you know, it's one of those things where Reid and Ed came into it and they were great friends.  You know, they've known each other for years and as far as I was concerned, and as far as Ed was concerned, Reid was on our side.

And then, throughout the week, I would catch Reid in things, these really weird things that kind of weren't in line with what we were doing.  And he would say stuff that was pretty cryptic like, "Oh, Jaclyn, you're fine this week."  And then, I would talk to him later and he was like, "But I never said Ed was fine this week."

So, it's just -- I started catching on a little bit and, you know, Reid pulled me aside to talk to me at the cocktail party and I hadn't voted yet.  And I said to Reid, I was like, "What are you doing?  I haven't voted yet."  I even like tried to give him a warning. and I just, I don't know. That's the whole way that he went about it. It was very sneaky.

When you think that someone is working with you and really, they're working against you, I think it's pretty -- it is hurtful regardless of the fact that it's a game.  And I think it was more sad to see because Ed is clearly -- he's sensitive, I mean, he was going to leave.

He just doesn't like lying.  I don't think he signed up for this game thinking it was going to be like this.  And I just think that the way that whole thing went down was pretty shocking. 


The game just didn't do good things for Reid, and if Reid had just thought and relax and not try to pull these moves and shake up alliances, then he would have been smooth sailing. There was no way that I would have voted him off in a million years, because I actually like Reid.  And to see what the game did to Reid, it was pretty unfortunate.

Besides the partnership, is there anything going on with you and Ed?

Jaclyn Swartz: Ed and I are best friends, and I think that we will be in each other's lives for a long time and that's that.

Have you or what have you, if anything, learned about yourself from watching the show?

Jaclyn Swartz: I have learned a lot, and I think that I'm really funny.  I think that, you know, this whole experience has really opened my eyes with so many things because I hate talking about trust and the feelings and this and that.  And I also don't like opening myself up to people who I probably wouldn't come in contact with in my day to day life.

It's just the way that I am. I have my friends. I don't necessarily need to make new friends.  And I think that living in this house has seriously opened up my eyes to a lot of people and a lot of new things.  And like, for instance, Blakeley, she and I are just so different.


But we ended up being so close from just living in this house and getting to learn so much more about each other than we knew of each other before we walked in.  I am quick to judge and, you know, that's just me.  And I'm not going to sit here and apologize for it, I'm not going to change. But at least I've learned and I think matured from this entire experience.






About The Author: Elizabeth Kwiatkowski