'Bachelor Pad's Kalon McMahon: I could talk all day about Lindzi Cox

Bachelor Pad contestant Kalon McMahon and his partner Lindzi Cox were eliminated during Monday night's sixth episode of the third season in which 15 former bachelor and bachelorettes and five "Super Fans" have been competing for a $250,000 cash prize.


Kalon, a 27-year-old luxury brand consultant from Houston, TX, who previously competed on The Bachelorette's eighth season, and Lindzi, a 27-year-old development manager from Bellevue, WA, who previously competed on The Bachelor's sixteenth season, were eliminated based on votes cast by Bachelor Pad's 10 remaining third-season cast members after host Chris Harrison announced a new format in which they'd be competing and voting as couples rather than male and female individuals.

Kalon and Lindzi, who both admitted they had fallen in love with each other during their time on the show, happened to be at the bottom of the house's main alliance and therefore were eliminated -- especially since Chris Bukowski and Sarah Newlon, the currently-remaining contestants' first and most obvious targets, received immunity roses for winning the week's Spelling Bee challenge.

During a conference call with reporters on Thursday, Kalon talked to Reality TV World about his Bachelor Pad experience and relationship with Lindzi -- including why he fell for Lindzi so quickly but had to "force" things with Emily Maynard, whether he believes he would've ended up with Lindzi had she been The Bachelorette star within that show's extremely different environment, how confident he was going into this week's Rose Ceremony that he and his partner were going to stick around longer, and what the status of his relationship is now with controversial bachelorette Erica Rose.

Below is the first portion of Kalon's call. Check back with Reality TV World on Friday for the concluding portion.


Reality TV World: You tried very hard to rally votes in your favor before the Rose Ceremony in which you and Lindzi got eliminated. How confident were you going into that ceremony that you were going to stick around longer and did it surprise you that any couple in particular chose Rachel Truehart and Nick Peterson over you two?

Kalon McMahon: No, to be completely honest, Lindzi and I were pretty much aware that we were going home that day. We basically prepared ourselves. Lindzi -- we were kind of -- well, we were okay with it.

As much as we wanted to be there and win the money, we saw how kind of ugly the game was starting to get, and we both promised each other that we weren't going to be that emotional couple running around the house throwing ourselves at people [for votes].

Because we knew once we left the house, as frustrating as it might be, that was going to be kind of the start of our real relationship. We were the first people to acknowledge that. Your relationship in the house is going to be very different from your relationship in the real world and we had grown so close to each other in the house, that we were honestly kind of ready to take that next step.

We realized that the chances of us actually winning the money in the end were probably slim. We were very upfront and honest with everyone the entire time. So we kind of knew the dynamic that was forming -- that they were ready for us to get out of the house. Because I think everyone realized that if we did end up in the finals with them, that we were so well-liked in the house, that no one was going to win against us.


So I think they kind of collaboratively determined that they preferred to get us out of the house and that we weren't necessarily going to be devastated by it, because I would say, "You know what? We get to go back to the real world and see if our relationship is going to work." And so, we were absolutely okay with that.

Reality TV World: You seemed to click with Lindzi pretty much right off the bat and you two apparently spent most of your time on the show together. So would you mind talking about how Lindzi and Emily differed in your eyes? Why did you have to, as you once said, "force it" with Emily but your relationship was able to develop so naturally and quickly with Lindzi?

Kalon McMahon: Well, I could talk all day about that one, but I'll try to keep it brief for you guys. They are obviously very, very different people. I think we are all very, very different people. When you're put in a situation to meet a stranger and see if you could develop a relationship with them, that can be very awkward unless you already do have a lot in common.

And unfortunately, Emily and I did not have a lot in common. But given the circumstance, I was absolutely willing to make a genuine effort to see if anything could happen. Lindzi on the other hand, it was just natural.

If Lindzi was that girl that I would've just ran into in real life at a bar or at a friend's house or whatever I might be, that we would absolutely be kind of drawn to each other, strike up a conversation and something would probably organically form.


Emily, on the other hand, I probably wouldn't go out of my way to pursue in real life, but given the circumstance, you're put in the situation where you kind of have to see if there's anything there.

Being with Lindzi was literally just effortless. We kind of started hanging out and talking, and before we knew it, we looked around and realized, "Wow, we're kind of a couple. This is awesome," and I wouldn't change it for anything.

Reality TV World: Did the environment of Bachelor Pad have anything to do with that? In other words, considering the very different formats of both The Bachelorette and Bachelor Pad, do you think had Lindzi been the Bachelorette, you would've experienced the same outcome relationship-wise or probably not?

Kalon McMahon: I don't know. It's hard to say. I mean, obviously I would hope it would've gone better, because I was very, very attracted to Lindzi in many, many ways. But it's so funny. ABC sets out to form these couples and let people fall in love, but as crazy as it may seem, Bachelor Pad is actually a much, much healthier environment for that.

I know it's hard to believe considering what goes on there, but you know, you actually get to spend time with that person that you're interested in everyday, all day long. You're not spending incremental time with them for just 15 minutes here, 20 minutes there, and then going back to a house full of crazy people who are all competing for the same person.


That is not at all how you form a healthy relationship unfortunately. So I think getting to spend that much time with someone, that's really how you get to know them. So it was obviously much, much easier for us to kind of form and develop a healthy relationship in that environment, believe it or not.

Reality TV World: It was apparent you and Erica went on Bachelor Pad with a pre-existing love/hate relationship. Could you talk about how you felt about Erica once you entered the house and then how your friendship, or lack there of, with her developed over the course of the game? Because when we talked to Erica, she basically said she thought you two were friends, but after watching the footage back, she claimed you called her fat a couple times and stuff. So apparently, she doesn't feel that way anymore.

Kalon McMahon: Well yeah, unfortunately for Erica, she always believes a lot of things. But just because we are from the same city and we had similar friends, that doesn't mean we are friends. I, for many, many years now have made a deliberate effort to distance myself from Erica because I simply didn't agree with the way she presents herself in real life and on TV.

I just don't find her to be a classy, interesting girl. I really just didn't want to be kind of guilty by association simply because we were on the same television show. She went on some website or blog or whatever saying, "Oh, Kalon and I are friends and he's like the male version of me!"

And then she does this classless, classless act, where she went and sold some story to Star Magazine about my ex-girlfriend and I, whom she was actually in law school with at the time -- claiming to be best friends with. And then she was the first to admit that's the only reason they put her on Bachelor Pad, was because she instigated some tabloid drama with me.


I'm a civil person, and I think Emily said it best when she's like, "Oh, you should be a politician." Yeah, I'm never going to be rude to someone's face. I'm never going to be rude to someone's face, but after she went out of her way to do that, then I could no longer bite my tongue.

So the first day, when I walked into the house, I think she probably did it for shock factor. Unfortunately for Erica, Erica really does believe that any publicity is good publicity. I'm the first person to tell you that that's not the case.

And unfortunately once we got in the house and we got past that drama, I think Erica realized her place in the house would be in a much better position if she was just nice to people and kind of happy to go along.

And then you saw that footage where she was being mean to the fans and calling [David Mallet] ugly, stupid and -- just a girl in her position, should be trying to make friends, not alienate people. I don't have a lot of respect for her as a person by the way she conducts herself in real life and on a television show.

Reality TV World: Based on prior seasons, it seems like pre-existing relationships that developed before contestants went on Bachelor Pad played a big role in how successful they were sticking around in the game. So it seems pretty unusual that you, Chris and Tony Pieper all managed to go on the show not knowing anybody and ended up making it to the Top 10. Why do you think this season was different and what are your thoughts on that?

Kalon McMahon: Yeah, there were certainly a lot of different dynamics going on. A lot of them, I was not necessarily aware of the first week or two because I didn't actually know who everyone was. I wasn't aware that Rachel and [Jaclyn Swartz] were such good friends. I had no idea that Erica and Sarah were such good friends.


As the weeks kind of progressed, we were realizing they were kind of all dictating each other's votes. And me, being kind of one of the outsiders initially, I was completely unaware of that dynamic. Fortunately, I lasted long enough to kind of figure that out before I fell victim to it.

And yeah, when we did walk into the house the first night, obviously Chris, Tony and I were like, "Hey, okay, if we stick together, we kind of do have a strong force here -- not the majority, but at least enough to kind of guide some votes to get us somewhat down the road."

But then you saw that that was abandoned pretty quickly, because one of the first weeks, Chris came to me, saying, "Hey, let's vote off Tony," because Tony and Lindzi were initially partners.

And he was like, "Hey, let's vote off Tony so you can be partners with Lindzi." And I said, "Hey man, we don't need to do that. Tony already came to me and said, 'If you want to be partners with Lindzi, that's fine.' We need to maintain the alliance we've got going."

And then as the weeks progressed, Chris just kind of became a wild card. You saw him target Tony, you saw him target me, and then again, you saw him -- when he had the opportunity to -- you'll see it progress. Who you think are best friends and alliances and will stay with each other definitely kind of pans out towards the end.

Reality TV World: Do you think the "Super Fans" addition to the show played a role in helping you, Chris and Tony to remain in the game longer because they were the newbies instead of you guys in a way?


Kalon McMahon: Yeah, they probably took the target off our backs initially for those first few weeks. At the same time, I'll go back to what I said about Erica and some other people, I really didn't approve of or appreciate how they targeted them as people just because they were new. I mean, that's fine, target them from a strategic standpoint and say you want to vote them off.

That's one thing. But to say, "Oh, you don't deserve to be here." I never, for one second, believed that because we participated in the show, that a lot of these people consider us celebrities now or whatever, but that's not the case at all. We couldn't have even had the opportunity to make the show if it wasn't for people like [Chris "SWAT" Bain] and David.

I think that's why you saw in the second episode, I went out of my way to say -- I was really kind of on their team initially -- I went out of my way to say, "Hey, we're not voting off David. He's a really, really nice guy." I saw how much it meant to him to be there and he hadn't done anything wrong. He was just trying to be pro-active in keeping himself there, and there's nothing wrong with having a game player do that.

So I kind of saw a window where I could keep him around and get rid of someone who wasn't really contributing to our dynamic. So I said, "Let's do that" seeing how much of a loyal guy he was and knowing that when it came down the road, he'd have our backs. I thought it was fun and interesting to have fans participate in the show. They were obviously so appreciative.

The only ones I didn't particularly care for were the twins [Brittany Taltos and Erica Taltos]. They were absolutely unbearable to live with in the house, and I had no tolerance for drunk people that scream and cry and are emotional. I've just got no tolerance for that. So they were the only ones that I didn't appreciate being around.

Reality TV World: Rachel was completely distraught once Michael Stagliano left the house and she even threatened to quit a couple times. What did you think about their relationship? Because when we talked to Erica, she thought it was more a relationship for strategy purposes rather than one based on true feelings and a connection.


Kalon McMahon: Yeah, I was genuinely kind of -- I thought it was absolutely real. Michael was one of my closest friends in the house. He was the nicest, most genuine, funny person that I've met in this whole franchise and I've hung out with him a few times since. He's an awesome, awesome guy.

And he was certainly kind of the coach or leader in the house, whatever you want to call it. I was made aware of his story from last year and what happened with his fiancee and her marrying some other guy -- I mean, I genuinely had a spot in my heart for him and wanted nothing but the best for him.

So when I saw this kind of relationship developing between him and Rachel, Rachel is an awesome girl as well. So we got along really well. So, I was really hoping it was genuine and real, and then I kind of realized when they left that he's going to be in California and she's in New York.

So, I know how hard a long-distance relationship is, because I'm doing that with Lindzi right now. So I think those emotions you saw were absolutely real. I mean, when you're in that house sharing it with someone you care about all day, everyday, and then you're all of a sudden ripped apart from each other -- I think what made that so frustrating is it wasn't really anything they had control over.

Their relationship was being ended by a third party, Erica, who was supposed to be a friend of Michael's. And that's what was so frustrating about that. And then the words that Erica had for Michael after her departure, again, it goes back to showing her true character.

She demonstrated zero class, zero empathy. But when she gets upset when someone says something about her, it's a bit hypocritical, because she runs around running her mouth. I've just got no tolerance for that.


So, I was really sad to see them end the way they did, and I was the first one to admit when everyone was saying, "Oh we're trying to send Lindzi home," I had that same [feeling] of, "If she leaves, then am I going to leave? Because honestly, what's the point in being here if you're not together?"

So I absolutely sympathize with that struggle that they had and I wish them the best, because they're both awesome, awesome people.

Reality TV World: While you were on the show, what did you think about Blakeley Shea and Tony's relationship? What about Jaclyn and Ed Swiderski's?

Kalon McMahon: Blakeley and Tony's relationship is kind of something that no one saw coming because they are kind of polar opposites in their demeanors. Blakeley has a very, very strong overwhelming demeanor and Tony is kind of one of the nicest, most genuine, soft-spoken guys I've been around. So, it's an interesting demeanor, but like I said, I never once judged someone on their relationship.

For some reason, everyone says, "Oh, I can't believe Kalon and Lindzi ended up together! They're so different." And I don't get that from a third outside perspective, because I look at Lindzi and I, and I think we're actually really, really similar people. So I guess that just shows that people don't know us that well. So I wish them nothing but the best and I certainly can see a real relationship kind of thriving there.

And then Ed and Jaclyn's relationship was a little bit different. They kind of remind me of that college, summer-fling relationship, where you know, whatever happens, happens -- literally, every day it's different, and you kind of wake up in the morning and go, "Wow, what happened yesterday!?"


But Ed is a hysterical character, so I can't imagine what it would be like to try to maintain a relationship with him from Jaclyn's standpoint. But they do a good job of keeping it together for the show and for the challenges and stuff, so there must be some sort of trust and confidence there.

Above is the first portion of Kalon's call. Check back with Reality TV World on Friday for the concluding portion.






About The Author: Elizabeth Kwiatkowski