Gabi Elnicki has sent a message to her fans after the world watched her get crushed by Zach Shallcross on The Bachelor's three-hour finale event that aired Monday night on ABC.
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"Thank you to everyone who has reached out to me, I am so beyond grateful for the love and support I've received," Gabi wrote.
"Every message does not go unnoticed, and I am trying my best to respond," she added.
Zach had set a no-sex rule for himself going into Fantasy Suites on The Bachelor's 27th season with his Final 3 bachelorettes -- Gabi, Kaity Biggar and Ariel Frenkel -- but he slept with Gabi and then bashed himself for being a failure and going back on his word.
Zach then told Kaity about his sexual encounter with Gabi, who felt ashamed, as if she had a "Scarlet Letter" on her chest. She felt "blindsided" by Zach, and he had to win back her trust towards the end of the process.
Gabi, however, still fell in love with Zach, especially after meeting his family. She had her heart set on a future with the Bachelor, but then Zach selected Kaity and proposed marriage to her at the Final Rose Ceremony in Thailand.
Gabi cried on After the Final Rose about how she felt "strung along" on The Bachelor as well as "violated" and "humiliated" by Zach.
"I think we were feeling in love, and that's... a part of me that I'll never get back that I shared with him, and it's extremely violating that the entire nation knows everything," Gabi told The Bachelor host Jesse Palmer.
Gabi recalled how Zach had been supportive and made her feel protected during The Bachelor season, and so she was "disappointed" by how he "aired" everything about their Fantasy Suite.
RELATED LINK: 'THE BACHELORETTE' COUPLES NOW: WHOM DID 'THE BACHELORETTE' STARS AND THEIR BACHELOR PICKS ULTIMATELY END UP WITH?! (PHOTOS)
"We decided it was going to be between us," Gabi claimed of her sexual encounter with Zach.
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Gabi confronted Zach about his betrayal on AFR and recalled, "We decided that it was going to be between us. We said that that night. And I remember I was brushing my teeth that night and you came up behind me and you kissed me on the back of my head and you said, 'This is just between us.' And I said, 'Yes, this is just between us.'"
Gabi said she didn't know Zach had told everyone -- Kaity, Jesse and the world -- about their intimate relationship until she watched the Fantasy Suites episode on TV.
"And so for me to see that -- and it was beyond a TV show for me. I feel ashamed from a moment that felt like love to me, and it's very painful," she lamented.
Gabi told Zach, "I wish you just would've sent me home and saved me all the pain that just went on and on. I'm reliving it all over again, but way worse than it was when I left Thailand... I thought it was love. I thought it was more than a TV show."
Gabi expressed how Zach dumping her at the Final Rose Ceremony, in sort of a grand spectacle, was especially hurtful and painful.
RELATED LINK: 'THE BACHELOR' COUPLES NOW: WHO DID 'THE BACHELOR' STARS AND THEIR BACHELORETTE PICKS ACTUALLY END UP MARRYING? (PHOTOS)
"I never thought a man who said he was falling in love with me would make me go through that," Gabi explained, suggesting that Zach could have broken up with her before the Final Rose Ceremony in a more private and refined manner.
"I remember having the thought in the back of my head, 'Zach would never make you go through this.' So even though I had that gut feeling [I was the runner-up], I didn't think somebody who cared about me would make me go up there and go through all of that stress and anxiety."
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Zach attempted to explain on After the Final Rose that while there's no excuse for his behavior, he thought honestly was the best policy while filming The Bachelor.
"From the bottom of my heart, I'm very sorry, and I hope you know that our relationship that we shared, that's something I will never forget, and that doesn't discredit what we shared," Zach concluded.
Zach is still happily engaged to Kaity. The pair plan to move in together in Austin, TX, this summer, and they anticipate having a 2025 wedding.
RELATED LINK: 'THE BACHELOR' FRANCHISE COUPLES NOW: WHO IS STILL TOGETHER?? (PHOTOS)
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About The Author: Elizabeth Kwiatkowski
