Olivia Caridi has gotten a lot of flak for her chaotic behavior on Ben Higgins' season of The Bachelor, so she's decided to set the record straight.
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During The Bachelor season, the blonde news anchor was criticized for being on the show for the wrong reasons -- to further her career in broadcasting -- and judged for being overly aggressive with Higgins and confident in their relationship. Caridi quickly became a villain but seemed to thrive off the attention.
In Caridi's personal blog, she insisted she went on the show with the best of intentions.
"I have watched The Bachelor for many years. I love the show and I am a hopeful romantic. Meeting Ben Higgins was a 'limited time offer' and I wanted to try to have it all. The opportunity to meet Ben was now or never," Caridi wrote.
"I went on this season because I genuinely hoped to have a connection with Ben. The Bachelor franchise does a thorough investigation of our intentions and we would not be cast unless we genuinely hoped to find love."
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Even though she didn't end up with Higgins in the end, Caridi doesn't think it was a bad idea to leave her job to find love on a reality TV show.
"I gave up my job to be on the show, but I did not give up my career," she said. "I am confident that I will get another job in broadcast news to continue my career in the television news industry. In TV news, we move often in the early stages of our careers. Leaving for a new station or a new opportunity after a year or two is quite common."
Caridi was also accused of breaking up with a serious boyfriend just to compete on The Bachelor.
"No. Before I became a contestant on The Bachelor I dated a great guy named Josh. However, he lived 200 miles away from me and we only saw each other occasionally. We did not see each other enough to be in the position to be 'serious' and we agreed to stop dating before I was ever actually cast on the show," she explained.
"On a related note, my only serious boyfriend was when I was in college. I thought he was 'The One' and I loved him very much. We talked about our future together, careers, moving in together, marriage and even kids, before he unexpectedly broke up with me. It was very difficult for me and I have not been in a relationship on that level since."
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Caridi also confirmed she is definitely not an atheist. Tabloids claimed she was duping Higgins by insisting they shared the same faith when she basically believed in nothing.
"I am a Christian. My faith is very personal to me, though I don't talk about it much publicly. My parents told me a long time ago it was not a good idea to discuss my personal beliefs about either politics or religion. What I will say is that I am not sure where the atheist comments have come from," she said.
"I'm a Christian. I found religion later in my life, specifically in college at Texas Christian University, where I earned my journalism degree, and I continue to explore and grow in my faith."
The bachelorettes on the show also gossiped about how Caridi, who always looked beautiful on the show, spent $40,000 on clothing for The Bachelor.
"I don't have $40,000 to spend on clothing. I am a journalist who is just starting a career, and my checking account reflects that. What I did do is spend time with Christian Ramirez, one of my best friends who happens to be a stylist (Instagram Christian_RamirezTV). So kudos to him for helping me LOOK like I spent forty grand on clothes!" she wrote in her blog.
About The Author: Elizabeth Kwiatkowski