The Bachelor star Grant Ellis has doubled down on his claim he was not to blame for the "the big miscommunication" between Rose Sombke, Carolina Sofia and himself.
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When Carolina confronted Grant about what she had heard, Grant called it "a lie" and viewed it as a "personal" attack on his character.
Grant, feeling shocked and appalled, eventually discovered that Rose had fed Carolina that information. Grant therefore confronted Rose, and Rose ultimately apologized.
"She owned it, and I think if I made a mistake, I would own it," Grant said during the Thursday, February 13 episode of the "Bachelor Happy Hour" podcast.
He added, "I knew I wasn't in the wrong."
During the R&B group-date afterparty that aired during Episode 2 of The Bachelor on February 3, Rose had voiced to Grant how she was "struggling" with the process.
"Well, I'm not going to sit here and lie -- you are somebody that I do think about, and I just want to make sure that you know that," Grant told Rose.
"Because I'm very interested in you. Even today, right, the whole dancing thing onstage and everything, I was thinking about you. I don't want you to feel like I'm not paying attention, because I am."
When looking back on how all the drama played out, Grant told Joe Amabile and Serena Pitt on their podcast, "There was a big miscommunication there."
Grant recalled of that group date, "We had several times when we danced. We danced in the beginning with the lady from the Pussycat Dolls and we were all onstage, and when Rose was there, she was right next to me, and she was somebody I had my eyes on."
Grant confirmed that he "noticed" Rose.
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"Even when we were practicing our dance before, I noticed her," Grant explained.
But when Grant was dancing with Carolina alone as her "prize" for winning the singing contest, Grant insisted he "was fully present in that moment."
"So somewhere through the grapevine, things got misconstrued," Grant explained, "and yeah, at that point, I had to defend myself a little bit."
Grant went on to explain, "I had come into this journey trying to be really intentional with my words and what I said, and when I did make mistakes, I owned them. So when that happened, I was really taken aback by it."
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The Bachelor star reiterated of his response to the whole ordeal, "I had to really defend myself, because I know that's something I wouldn't say."
"I just wanted to let the women know that I was focusing on each of them individually," he clarified, "and I don't know what got in the way there, but that was definitely a message I wasn't trying to put across."
When Grant sought Rose out for answers, she told him, "I thought that was something that I heard you say."
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"Okay, yeah," Rose conceded.
"That's disrespectful, and that looks bad on my character," Grant insisted.
"Right," Rose agreed.
"I wouldn't do that, you know?" Grant said.
Grant then continued to talk, seemingly getting even more defensive and suddenly also denying he was a "player" or "running game" even though Rose never appeared to make any such accusations.
"For me to belittle somebody else that I have a connection with, that's some player sh-t, and I'm not a player," he said. "I'm not. I'm not running game... and it makes it look like I'm not really here to find a wife."
Rose admitted she was "comparing notes" with Carolina when she had said that and she was kind of "spiraling" at the time.
"That wasn't a good moment for me, when we were talking about it," Rose explained to Grant.
"And honestly, I think we're both in the position where we both care about you and we both like you. I could've easily made that mistake where I really thought you said something like that and I was just wrong."
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Rose ultimately owned her words and apologized for her mistake, and she added, "I'm sorry it hurt your character. That was not what my intention was."
But Rose subsequently admitted in a confessional that she truly thought Grant had said what she initially thought she had heard.
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"I think everybody deserves a chance," Grant shared on the "Bachelor Happy Hour" podcast.
"Even though I was really hurt by the situation -- [because] I felt like people were questioning my character -- I feel like she at least deserved a chance to stay around. And maybe she really didn't hear what I said, or maybe she really misunderstood what I said."
Grant noted that while he doesn't believe he had done anything wrong, he "kind of took responsibility for" the misunderstanding at that time.
"[I] said, 'I've got to watch what I say,' because it's really difficult when you're dating multiple people. This is the first time I'm doing it. Things are going to get a little sticky, so there was some grace there," Grant concluded.
The he-said, she-said drama sparked a debate on social media in which fans began arguing about which person was really at fault and if Rose had really told Carolina "a lie," as Grant had claimed.
While Grant didn't flat out say he was thinking of Rose while he was dancing with Carolina during the group date, his vague "whole dancing thing onstage" compliment could have been taken to mean that, which would explain why Rose thought she was telling Carolina the truth during their private chat.
But instead of initially acknowledging that he may have spoken confusingly or that Rose may have misunderstood him, Grant became very defensive and accused Rose of telling "a lie" that slammed his character.
Many fans took Rose's side, saying that Grant was guilty and her memory of their exchange was accurate. Those fans therefore accused Grant of gaslighting Rose and not taking any accountability for his words.
But other Instagram users pointed out how Grant had made a general statement about how Rose was on his mind during the dancing portion of the group date in attempt to comfort and reassure her. This camp believes Rose took Grant's words the wrong way or intentionally tried to deceive Carolina.
RELATED LINK: 'THE BACHELOR' FRANCHISE COUPLES NOW: WHO IS STILL TOGETHER?? (PHOTOS)
Click here to read spoilers that reveal what happens on Grant's The Bachelor season, including his winner and runner-up.
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About The Author: Elizabeth Kwiatkowski
