'The Bachelor' Jake Pavelka: I'm the one who has to live with choice

Jake Pavelka is defending his The Bachelor finale decision before the episode even airs.


"I just hope that everybody understands the decision I made because I'm the one who has to live with it," he told People in a Monday report.

"The show will keep going, another season will get under way and the public will move on to being obsessed with another person's budding romance, but my life will keep going so I tried to make the best decision I could, the one that I could live with. I still feel like I made the right decision now a few months later. I'm happy because of that."

Vienna Girardi and Tenley Molzahn are the two bachelorettes left in the running for Pavelka's final rose, with Girardi widely rumored to have been the woman he selected when The Bachelor's finale was filmed last fall.

"Everyone says they're apples and oranges, but they really aren't. They are more like an orange and a tangerine. The way they express love is very different but when you get them down to their cores, they're exactly the same girl," explained Pavelka to People.


"I think people will probably see that by the end. That was comforting to me actually because it would be strange if I had fallen hard for two opposites. Both of the women are fun and have a ton of energy and big hearts. Vienna and I connected fiercely over conquering our fear of bungee jumping together. Tenley has been hurt before but has done a great job of being unguarded and showing me who she is like when she danced for me. They have the same family values. They just express them differently."

Pavelka added he feels that Girardi got a "raw deal" from the other bachelorettes, several of whom were vocal about their dislike for her when talking with Pavelka throughout the season.

"When other girls I knew cared about me were telling me that she was horrible, I gave it some thought. I wanted to know why but no one ever told me a valid reason to question her," he told People.

"Obviously I saw something. I finally said, 'We're worrying too much about what other people think and are wasting the time we could be getting to know each other better.'"

Pavelka said he's "happy" with his finale decision during last week's The Women Tell All special, and The Bachelor host Chris Harrison subsequently wrote in his weekly blog that Pavelka "is extremely happy and very much in love."


Still, Pavelka played coy when asked if there are marriage plans in the future for him and his selected bachelorette.

"Marriage in my future? Hopefully. I can't say whether it will come from someone I met on the show, but that is a life experience I don't want to miss out on," he told People.

"And I would like to have it soon. That's why I did the show in the first place."

Pavelka also discussed Rozlyn Papa -- who was removed from The Bachelor prior to the season's second Rose Ceremony after being confronted by Harrison about an alleged "inappropriate relationship" she had with producer Ryan Callahan, who was fired.

Papa has maintained her relationship with Callahan was not sexual nor even romantic and directly denied new accusations that she engaged in an inappropriate relationship with the former producer during last week's The Women Tell All special.


In addition, Papa butted heads with Harrison during the special -- and Pavelka said the confrontation showed Papa's "true colors."

"I can understand being a little bitter, but these are consequences of the decisions you made. I don't respect her trying to place blame on the show or calling them liars or acting inappropriately toward Chris Harrison who is happily married. I felt bad for his wife," Pavelka told People.

"It made for great TV, but it was very hard for me. I understand it as a storyline but people were shocked behind the scenes. She rid the show of a high-level producer in the process."

When asked if he was angry at Papa, Pavelka answered that "you can't help who you fall in love with."

"All I wanted was for her to be honest. Don't take roses that could be given to someone who is interested. Tell me what happened and get out of the way of my love life," he told People.


"I took a lot of crap when I said I got cheated on. But how had I not been cheated on? Had I gone for a staffer, I would have been labeled a cheater. She came to meet me and agreed to be one of the 25 women. I can't believe she couldn't keep her head in the game for six weeks. It is not a surprise that I am going to be dating multiple women. That is the premise of the show. Also the staffer was supposed to be helping me make my choices. But I have moved on. There's no ill will towards either of them."

Pavelka added that he "honestly" doesn't know if Papa and Callahan are still romantically involved.

"I really hope they are in love," he told People.






About The Author: Christopher Rocchio