Jef Holm has allegedly admitted reports of his August fight with Emily Maynard are "100 percent" true and Maynard is paying him -- at his request -- to fake their engagement to help preserve her good-girl reputation and cover-up the fact she cheated on him.
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According to Kaylee Shepherd -- a 21-year-old Utah college student who claims to have dated Holm for about nine months before he left her to go film The Bachelorette "for the experience" in March -- Holms revealed the truth about the current state of his relationship with Maynard during a September 16 hangout session in which he attempted to reunite with Shepherd and kissed her in a hotel room.
"Jef said their relationship isn't what it seems. It's all basically for TV," Shepherd told Us Weekly in an interview published in the magazine's new October 8 issue.
"He said, 'If I was happily engaged, I never would have texted you [to meet me],'" said Shepherd, adding that she asked Holm what went down with Maynard and reports their relationship was on the rocks.
"He said the story was 100 percent accurate," she told Us, referencing the magazine's prior report which that Holm and Maynard got into a blowout argument last month because Holm learned Maynard had been cheating on him after discovering explicit text messages to and from another man in her cell phone.
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"He said he had been suspicious because she had been texting all day. When she put her phone down, he picked it up and read through everything. Jef said, 'It was that pro football player.'"
Holm didn't reveal a name to Shepherd, but according to Us, Oakland Raiders' quarterback Matt Leinart was the man behind the messages, as has been rumored.
Holm then reportedly went on with his story, telling Shepherd he met Maynard the morning after their fight halfway between Pawleys Island, where he and his family had been vacationing with Maynard and her daughter Ricki, and Maynard's hometown of Charlotte, NC.
"Emily told him, 'I'm so sorry,' and he said, 'Well, we have two options: The first is I can go to the media and tell them the truth and let everyone know what you're really like. Or two, I will deny the whole thing, and you can give me half the money you made from The Bachelorette.' She picked option two," Shepherd told Us.
According to Shepherd, Holm let out a laugh after sharing the shocking details of his alleged blackmail to receive half of Maynard's reported $150,000 The Bachelorette compensation, and she was repulsed by his behavior.
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"I said, 'You're terrible.' He said, 'No, I'm not! She strung me along and was talking to another guy the whole time!' He said they went to counseling but it didn't work. I was like, 'I need to leave,'" she recalled.
After going to grab a bite at Burger King together, Shepherd reportedly dropped Holm back off at the Marriott MountainSide in Park City where he was staying and they made "tentative plans" to hangout the following day. However, Holm then reportedly steered away from rekindling his relationship with Shepherd after RadarOnline published a report the following morning that the pair had been seen at Burger King together.
Shepherd told Us that Holm "didn't say how long [he and Maynard] plan on keeping [their charade] up. It seemed like he'd be in it for awhile." Based upon the information Holm had given her, Shepherd insisted Maynard feared her reputation would be compromised following the cheating scandal, and therefore, Holm took advantage of an opportunity to collect some cash.
According to an Us source, Maynard "doesn't want to be the girl who has been engaged three times but it has never worked out," while Holm "has nothing better to do" since he runs a water company that can be operated from anywhere in the country via his computer.
Added the source, "He gets to hang out in Emily's sick house and sleep with this beautiful girl."
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In addition, Us also noted that the more media attention Holm receives, the more publicity and free media coverage his water company receives. The magazine also reported that another perk of the couple's public performance could be selling Maynard's $68,000 Neil Lane engagement ring down the road if Holm and his fiancee can convincingly stick out their relationship for about two years in adherence to their contract with ABC and The Bachelorette producers.
Regardless, Shepherd seems pleased she's done with Holm -- whom she claimed is simply fake.
"I constantly had friends telling me to be wary of him. Jef is not what he seems," she told Us.
About The Author: Elizabeth Kwiatkowski