Olivia Caridi is embarrassed having watched her The Bachelor stint on television, however she basically feels her portrayal was inaccurate.
ADVERTISEMENT
Caridi owned the fact she harped on Ben Higgins' every move on the show and read into his body language, but the blonde news anchor who received the his First Impression Rose feels "misunderstood."
"In that situation, you grab onto straws because you're like, 'He can't really tell me he likes me, so he looked at me, he touched my leg' -- but it's embarrassing, of course, to watch that. I look into everything. I'm an over-analyzer," Caridi, 23, told Us Weekly at The Women Tell All taping.
Caridi was disliked by most of her fellow bachelorettes for being overly aggressive and confident. And from a viewer's perspective, Caridi did engage in some odd behavior every now and then, like when she cried about her cankles and ugly toes to Higgins right after he learned two people close to him had died.
"I think my sarcasm and my dry humor was interpreted sometimes [as] 'I'm crazy' or something. And there were some situations that played out differently than they happened," Caridi explained. "But I just don't think I ever made it to air. Like, the real me."
ADVERTISEMENT
The Bachelor host Chris Harrison, on the other hand, argued during a recent conference call he thought Caridi's edit on the show was very fair.
"I don't think she was portrayed badly. I don't know. I don't think she was negatively impacted or, you know, shown to be mean, but I think she was very direct in how she went about [things]... She didn't do a great job probably, you know, blending in and trying to become friends with everybody, but that's not her job either. So I think it was a pretty accurate portrayal," Harrison told reporters.
During The Women Tell All, Caridi had a chance to talk things out with the other women. While she's thankful for that opportunity, she's also a little upset problems weren't discussed with her sooner.
"I wish things could have been brought up [during the season], and I'm glad that I got to see kind of their side, and I'm glad they got to see my side," Caridi said. "I think we are all past it. We've been past it for a while, but we have to hash it out, and I feel really good. I'm at peace."
Caridi fell in love with Higgins on The Bachelor and expressed those feelings right before he eliminated her on a two-on-one date with Emily Ferguson. So how does she feel about their relationship in hindsight?
ADVERTISEMENT
"I think if we had met outside of this sphere, we could have [been great together], but he was not the one for me. And that's okay," Caridi told Us.
"I watched [the season], and I was like, 'Yeah, okay, that wasn't right.' I was just so hyper-focused and so ready. But he's an amazing man, and on paper, whoa -- perfect for me. But he's obviously incredibly happy with his choice, so I'm thrilled for him. I'll find my man eventually -- it will happen!"
Despite being "so ready" to settle down with the man of her dreams, Caridi insisted she's "in no rush."
About The Author: Elizabeth Kwiatkowski