Justin Rego: I'd wanted off 'Bachelorette' but wasn't allowed to leave

Justin Rego claims he wanted to voluntarily leave The Bachelorette but wasn't allowed to before Ali Fedotowsky did the honors for him after learning that he allegedly had two girlfriends back home.


"The one thing that people should know is, realistically, at that point I already wanted off the show," Rego told ET Canada in a Tuesday interview released on its website.

"I didn't want to continue being on there. I honestly wanted to leave. Unfortunately I wasn't able to."

The 26-year-old entertainment wrestler from Toronto, Ontario was eliminated by Fedotowsky during Monday night's The Bachelorette broadcast after Jessica Spillas told her over the phone that the two were dating.

While he admits sending Spillas text messages stating he wanted to marry her and she meant "the world" to him shortly before leaving for the show, Rego has denied that he and Spillas were still together when The Bachelorette was filmed earlier this year.


"The thing with Jessica and I, we had a long past of ups and downs -- especially when the two weeks prior to me going on the show, she helped me out a lot in regards to my [broken] foot and she basically painted a picture of literally what I would want in a perfect wife and exactly what I wanted," explained Rego to ET Canada.

"She put all these emotions into me before I left. It really kind of confused me. I still believed in the process with The Bachelorette."

However Rego said he began to doubt he could find love with Fedotowsky after surviving a two-on-one date in Iceland.

"When I went on the show, I felt I had 100% of my heart into it -- that I can give Ali 100% of my heart and see where it goes. But as it kind of went on, I realized that I don't. I'm still not over my ex, over Jessica," he told ET Canada.

"I was like, 'You know what? Ali's not for me. The girl that I have back home -- the person that I know there -- that's who I want to be with. The person I spent those last two weeks with, that's the person I want to be with."


Rego said that's when he decided to secretly contact Spillas and leave several additional voicemails -- which were broadcast on Monday night's The Bachelorette episode -- in which he repeatedly professed his love for her.

"That's where those voicemails came in," he told ET Canada. "I wanted off the show. Unfortunately I was told I can't at the time."

"What do you mean, 'I can't?' Did producers tell you, 'No.' Did they have all this information in their back pocket?" asked ET Canada anchor Cheryl Hickey.

"The only people that would know or have that true answer would be them," replied Rego. "I wouldn't be surprised."

"But they knew you wanted to get off the show?" asked Hickey.


"They did," answered Rego.

"I definitely did bring that to their attention. It's funny because a lot of people ask me, 'Why did you kind of get up right away? Why didn't you explain yourself?' Because from my understanding, that morning, I was supposed to speak to Ali privately and tell her exactly what's going on and tell her that, 'I don't want to be here anymore. There's other guys here that have stronger feelings for you than I do. They deserve to be here.'"

However that's not what happened, as Fedotowsky instead ousted Rego after confronting him in front of the six other remaining bachelors -- causing Rego to initially walk away and decline to discuss the allegations.

Rego said he thinks things would have been "completely different" if he could have spoken to Fedotowsky privately about his desire to leave rather than being confronted with accusations he had an at-home girlfriend.

"I wish I had that opportunity to actually speak to Ali and get my side out there," he told ET Canada.


As for the voicemails, Rego said he understands that they're "pretty incriminating" and admitted that he did leave them -- however he said it still "hurt" to hear them played during Monday night's broadcast.

"I guess it's The Bachelorette syndrome. Having this happen and seeing those voicemails, it bothered me a lot because I was opening up. I was like, 'I don't want to do this anymore. I want to go back to Toronto with my normal life and if you are the person that I spent the last two weeks with, I will marry you,'" he explained to Hickey.

"I was shocked [Monday night] when I actually saw that. I was blown away. I honestly feel like I was completely back-stabbed and betrayed. I'm hurt from seeing that. At one of my most sensitive moments, I was taken advantage of."

Rego was asked how producers obtained the voicemails he left for Spillas.

"The only answer I have for that is Jessica gave it to them," he replied.


Since he claims he and Spillas weren't actually together when she made the call to Fedotowsky, he's suspicious of her motives.

"I truthfully believe that she did that for her own personal gain. I just find it really coincidental that, like I mentioned before, Jessica left me for another guy last summer. Once she found out that I was auditioning for the show she popped up magically. All of a sudden, it was, 'You're in love with me again.' She wanted to work things out," he told ET Canada.

"Now in hindsight, looking back at the total picture, that's where I honestly believe she did this for herself. Why all of a sudden would she come back into the picture and say, 'I miss you. I want to be with you. I want to continue something with you.' Looking back at everything, I truthfully believe that she did that for her."

Rego also said he was "upset" by what was written about him by Fedotowsky in her People blog and The Bachelorette host Chris Harrison in his Entertainment Weekly blog, however he had a hard time expressing what exactly his frustrations were.

"It's hard to put into words. There's a lot of things that are said there that are protecting themselves," he told ET Canada.

"I know Chris Harrison decided to post something in regards to details of me making the phone calls -- the location, that I tried to cover it up with the phone records. I know Ali went ahead and spoke about how she did this for all women all across the world and she's trying to justify the fact that she was saying, 'You're going to regret this.' I just find it shocking that now they're trying to backtrack."


While he feels like he's been vilified for the show, Rego said his family has been "very supportive," especially his mother -- who he claimed to have also contacted during The Bachelorette's production and suggested gave him advance warning of Spillas' contact with the show's producers. 

"I know my mom's really mad because Jessica contacted her when the producers originally contacted her. She informed my mom of everything, and that's how my mom, when I called her in Iceland, she was like, 'You should really call Jessica. There's some stuff going on. You should really talk to her.'" he explained to ET Canada.

"She's really upset because she knows the complete truth. She was the one giving advice to Jessica. Ironically, she wasn't even being biased about it. She wasn't even trying to protect me. She was trying to help out Jessica because she cared about her. She's really upset and feels very betrayed."

In addition Rego reiterated his previous claim that he's no longer interested in a career on television.

"I've been scarred from the industry," he told ET Canada.

"I actually want to become a police officer in Toronto. I've actually already been looking into that and getting involved in that. So hopefully within the next year, I can start getting to the police station."


Abstaining from the industry apparently includes an appearance on The Bachelorette's The Men Tell All special, which he said he will "absolutely not" participate in.

"I'm disgusted with the way I was portrayed on the show. I'm not happy at all. I've seen what they did with [former The Bachelorette fifth-season suitor Wes Hayden]," he said.

"They're not telling the truth. I was betrayed in a way that was unfair. Now, for ratings, I was sacrificed for that -- for this great scandal that people are going to be talking about for a little while. Due to that reason, I'm not going."






About The Author: Christopher Rocchio