Blakeley Shea: Courtney Robertson's comments were hypocritical

Blakeley Shea was eliminated instead of Rachel Truehart, a 27-year-old fashion sales representative from New York City, NY, during their two-on-one date with Ben Flajnik -- narrowing The Bachelor star's love search to six women during Monday night's broadcast of the ABC reality dating series' sixteenth season.


During a Thursday conference call with reporters, Blakeley, a 34-year-old VIP cocktail waitress from Charlotte, NC, talked about her The Bachelor experience -- including what her thoughts were about Courtney Robertson and her aggressive seductive behavior in choosing to take her top off and skinny dip, whether she believed she opened up to Ben a little too quickly and scared him off as a result, how much of a Bachelor fan she was before deciding to appear on the show, and whether she would be interested in competing on Bachelor Pad.

Below is the second portion of Blakeley's interview. Click here to read the first half.

Looking back, do you feel that you being so open and honest with Ben in showing him your notebook and stuff might have actually scared him off a little bit?

Blakeley Shea: Well, I think the whole purpose of the show is you have to get to know someone, so you have to really put yourself out there. I even asked him and he will reiterate that you really have to put yourself out there. And me being sentimental, that's just the kind of person I am, so if that's not who he was looking for, then I wasn't right for him.


But I don't regret giving it. I definitely was developing feelings for him and I was 100% percent open and honest with him, and I don't see anything wrong with that.

When we talked to Jennifer Fritsch, she said she loved Kacie Boguskie but thought she was just a little too young and immature relationship-wise for Ben. What are your thoughts on that and do you feel as if Ben was gravitating to the younger women for whatever reason? Do you think these younger women would be ready for marriage and kids like Ben anticipates?

Blakeley Shea: Well, you know, getting to know him and seeing him, I had to look at the experience like an outsider looking in even though he was going on dates with other girls and on groups dates, I'd have to see him interact with the other girls.

However, I saw things in him that I really liked and I was like, "Wow, he's caring, he's understanding, he's energetic, he's funny, he's goofy, he has a sense of humor." I saw all these things and I knew that's what I was always looking for. But it took me time to realize that.

I had to kiss a few frogs before I could get my prince, so to speak. I definitely think the girls that were younger, I can't really speak for them because I don't know where their heart was at that moment in time -- not saying that it wasn't there for Ben -- I'm just saying that I don't know their past experiences.


I don't know what they've gone through. But just be 34-years-old and seeing some things in my life and being with modeling and working in the night life industry and being an aesthetician, I just know that that's something that I've wanted and I've been looking for, but it's very difficult in my situation to find the one that wants the same thing that I do.

I think sometimes the girls that were younger, I don't know if they really know what it takes to be in a committed relationship and to really take that next step.

It's not just, "Oh we get together and there's an engagement and then we get married." It's not all sunshine and rainbows after that. There's going to be ups and downs and you really have to make sure that you can be a rock for that person in their time of need and vice versa.

Do you think that sex appeal and aggression are the key to winning Ben's heart like Courtney is doing?

Blakeley Shea: Well, I'm not Ben, but however, I don't necessarily think the sex appeal and the aggression in the sense of what most people think is going to win his heart.


However, I do think that you have to put yourself out there, put your best foot forward and make yourself noticeable in order for him to keep noticing you because there's so many pretty girls there where there's an attraction. So you definitely have to try to make yourself stand out.

Now that you've been watching the show, do you agree with Courtney's behavior or do you think she's wrong for going skinny dipping and taking her top off?

Blakeley Shea: Personally, I just wouldn't go skinny dipping in front of America. However, I don't see myself -- if I was in a committed relationship and I was with my boyfriend and I was in Puerto Rico and we were together and we were on a trip just the two of us, that's a different story.

But doing it in front of the cameras, that's just something else. That's something I definitely wouldn't do, and not to mention, she said some hurtful words to me that have been very contradictory to her doing some things.

Who were you closest with in the house and were there a lot of cliques?


Blakeley Shea: I was closest with Casey Shteamer in the house and I would say, I don't know if I would say cliques, it's just the smaller a group got, the more intimate we got together as friends and you really sort of got to know each other.

It depended on who was on a group date and who wasn't and who was hanging out and who got to talk a little more. I don't think there were necessarily cliques. However, I might have felt differently in the beginning just because I felt like no one liked me at all.

Were you surprised Casey S. went home?

Blakeley Shea: Yes. I was very surprised that Casey went home. When I saw it, I was completely taken back, because I did get to know her and I did become friends with her. She's an absolutely amazing person inside and out. Not only is she beautiful on the outside, but she's such a good person and she's such a good friend. I had no clue that she was even in this type of situation. I had no clue.

Why did you originally decide to go on The Bachelor and do you think that being on the show will open some doors for you especially in terms of your modeling career?


Blakeley Shea: I think that from doing the show, first and foremost, I went there to find a relationship and to see if I could fall in love. I honestly did go there for that reason and just being on the show, if doors were to open up and it's something that I would want to do or that would benefit me in some way, that's always great although it's not the reason why I went on there to begin with.

What's the biggest thing you learned about yourself while you were on the show?

Blakeley Shea: Well, the biggest thing I learned about myself was definitely to -- I'm very guarded in person. I'm very to-myself. And I think sometimes that may end up hurting me in some situations in becoming friends with people or getting the right person to get into a relationship with.

However, because I went on the show, I had a lot of time to reflect. I had a lot of time to get to know myself. I had a lot of time to really get to know other people on a different level than a normal friendship or normal relationship. So, just really figuring out that, you know, I am who I am and I don't need to try to get other people to -- I don't have to explain myself to anyone.

I just need to be myself and people really do come through and they'll love me for just being me. I just need to focus on that and my friendships and my family and stuff like that. So, that's the biggest thing that I learned about myself. 

Were you a fan of The Bachelor before appearing on the show and were you aware that Ben was going to be the Bachelor when you applied?


Blakeley Shea: Well, I've been a fan of the show before, yes. I've watched it, but not knowing who exactly it was going to be on, until the -- I guess it was the [After the Final Rose special] when Chris Harrison actually came out and actually announced that it was going to be him.

I was just kind of like, "Wow, this is going to be really interesting," because I didn't have a clue as to who it was going to be. And then when I found out it was going to be Ben, I was like, "Well, let's just give this a shot and let's see. You never know what can happen."

Would you ever consider going on Bachelor Pad if given the opportunity?

Blakeley Shea: Oh, absolutely. Everything that I've taken from this experience has just made me grow and I'm a much stronger person because of it. I made some really good friends and there's nothing like the experience. It's kind of like you are like a family with the people that you were close with. So, absolutely.

Did your opinion of Ben change after you saw him go skinny dipping with Courtney, and if you had discovered that happened while you were still on the show, would their behavior have impacted your decision to either stay or quit?

Blakeley Shea: Well, I'm not sure that any of the girls knew until we actually saw. I don't think anyone that was there, or that remained after I left, I don't think anyone was aware that she did this.


So, however, if I would have been the one in the end chosen and I would have seen this, I definitely think it would have hurt me if it was between her and myself or if it was between me and someone else and I was the one that he proposed to.

And then, that's the thing. I was kind of back and forth with myself like, "Do I really want to watch the show?" Because I did have genuine feelings for Ben, and so I was like, "Do I really want to see this? Is this going to bring back hurt? Is this going to bring back some uneasy feelings?"

But then I kind of want to see what happened when I wasn't around and so, it was like, "Eh, which way do you go?" So, I feel, me personally, if I ended up the one with Ben, seeing him do that -- I do think that it would have hurt me a little bit.

Did you think it was inappropriate for Ben to go skinny dipping with Courtney at this stage in the process, considering it's still somewhat early on?

Blakeley Shea: Well, I don't know if I would say inappropriate. I mean, he is a guy and he is dating us and he does have to put himself in each person's situation individually. So, if that's something that he would do, then that's awesome that he's very outgoing.

But it also would have helped if he would have kind of thought about how the repercussions of like afterwards -- like, "Wow, what's he really thinking about now? When he was saying goodbye to me, was he really thinking about me? Was it completely over before that with me and him?" I had no idea, so I don't know. That's a hard one!






About The Author: Elizabeth Kwiatkowski