Greg Grippo has finally explained his acting background and whether he's truly pursuing a career as an actor after Katie Thurston accused him of going on The Bachelorette for "experience and exposure."
|
ADVERTISEMENT
|
RELATED LINK: GREG GRIPPO IS ALLEGEDLY A "SCHEMER" AND FAME-SEEKER WHO TRIED TO GET ON 'THE BACHELORETTE' FOR "YEARS"
Greg -- who apparently never mentioned his acting past on the show -- awkwardly laughed at Katie's "acting" dig on After the Final Rose and insisted, "Listen, I hate to break it to you, as much as I was wish I was [acting], I'm not Meryl Streep."
During a Tuesday appearance on "The Viall Files" podcast, former The Bachelor star Nick Viall gave Greg an opportunity to set the record straight on the extensiveness of his acting career.
"Awesome! Finally!" Greg replied with relief.
"First off, I played basketball my entire life and didn't really do anything else. And then right out of college, I got a life insurance job out in Boston for Bay State Financial and I was miserable."
Greg said he was at the job for less than six months and wondered, "What the hell am I doing?"
"I said, 'Let me just do something more creative.' I felt like there was a lot more to me," Greg shared.
"And I didn't know where to go in life. I really didn't. I just knew I wanted more. I wanted to take a chance on myself and acting is always something that I wanted to see if it was for me."
Greg said he found an "amazing school," the William Esper Studio, and going there "broke down a lot of walls and a lot of insecurities" he had.
RELATED LINK: GREG GRIPPO ALLEGEDLY A "PHONY," SOURCE CLAIMS 'THE BACHELORETTE' FRONTRUNNER'S "NICE-BOY ACT IS NAUSEATING AND SAD FOR WOMEN"
"You go up there and these people are incredible. They were just incredible actors and here I am, like, first time stepping into this unbelievable studio, and I'm just like a deer in headlights," Greg explained.
RELATED LINK: 'THE BACHELORETTE' COUPLES NOW"But my dad actually got sick four months into my schooling there and I ended up missing so much."
Greg confirmed he did two years of acting school there and the first year didn't provide him with any scripts.
"It was all just trying to be present in the moment. It was kind of life-building methods and being able to just be really present in moments with people, and that's what I really appreciated about it. But the second year, it got down to really serious sh-t."
Greg said the second year required him to read Shakespeare, for example.
"I missed so much time. Everyone is married and has two or three kids now in my family, and I was the one who really had to step up and help my mom and my dad. I missed a ton of time and I just didn't love it," Greg said.
Greg added, "I haven't been to an audition in my life."
"So when this came out [in the news], I was like, 'Whatever. I have [a picture of me in front of the studio] on my Instagram page and I'm not hiding it. It is what it is, I haven't been on an audition in my life.' I didn't think it was going to blow up like this," Greg told Nick.
Greg revealed that he "really wanted to reach out" to Katie while all of this was coming out.
ADVERTISEMENT
"But I didn't want to step on [Blake Moynes]' toes at all. I figured that they were engaged in that moment and Blake's an awesome guy and I didn't want to cross any boundaries," Greg noted.
A source told The Sun earlier this summer that Greg was "lying" about his career as a marketing sales representative and is actually a passionate "actor" with "a big ego" who is "seeking fame" and pursuing an "on-camera career."
And according to a claim, Greg had his acting school listed on LinkedIn and deleted it prior to his The Bachelorette stint.
Greg laughed and said, "This is embarrassing because I don't even use LinkedIn. I mean, no, I never put it on LinkedIn to begin with. I read that, and I was like, 'Guys, you don't put your acting school on LinkedIn. You just don't do that."
Greg said he "thought it was funny" when he read that online because "the last thing you do is put your acting school on LinkedIn."
The Sun also reported earlier this summer how Greg is not the shy or nice guy he led viewers to believe he is on The Bachelorette and he's "beyond phony."
"The way the world is believing this nice-boy act is incredibly nauseating and sad for women," a source claiming to be Greg's friend for "years" told The Sun in a shocking interview.
The insider alleged Greg is "quite the opposite" of the humble and awkward guy he seemed to be on television and that he always had everything handed to him and has a history of manipulating women and breaking their hearts.
RELATED LINK: 'THE BACHELORETTE' COUPLES NOW: WHOM DID 'THE BACHELORETTE' STARS AND THEIR BACHELOR PICKS ULTIMATELY END UP WITH?! (PHOTOS)
"[Greg] gets away with bad behavior, and leaves girls either heartbroken and questioning themselves, or both," the insider claimed.
"Then he discards them and starts fresh with a new girl with the same exact innocent boy act. He has zero sense of accountability... He grew up with people telling him how 'hot and great' he was. He knows it and he uses it."
Nick also asked Greg on his podcast to set the record straight on who the real Greg Grippo is.
ADVERTISEMENT
"It's funny because all of my good friends, especially the ones in acting school, texted me throughout this and were like, 'This is incredible.' They were happy and proud that I was just being myself," Greg said.
"But I kind of came into this knowing everybody's going to have their opinion no matter what. For me, yeah, at times I can be confident. But you know what? At times I definitely sit there like a deer in headlights."
Greg insisted he was actually "scared out of my mind" going into the After the Final Rose taping.
"And on that first night [of filming], you walk out of that limo and boom! Cameras everywhere and the Bachelorette is there. I was scared out of my mind," Greg said.
"But just like everyone, everyone has a lot of layers to them. I couldn't help it that I was scared in certain moments. I really couldn't. I just wanted to be myself during this and I felt like I gave it my all."
At the end of After the Final Rose, both Katie and Greg wished each other "nothing but the best," and Katie proceeded to gush how she is so happy and in love with her The Bachelorette winner and new fiance Blake.
Click here to read Greg finally expressing regret as to how he had treated Katie during their breakup conversation on the show after his hometown date.
RELATED LINK: 'THE BACHELOR' FRANCHISE COUPLES NOW: WHO IS STILL TOGETHER?? (PHOTOS)
Interested in more The Bachelor news? Join our The Bachelor Facebook Group!
About The Author: Elizabeth Kwiatkowski
