The Bachelor star Matt James has explained why he wasn't willing to give Victoria Larson or Anna Redman a second chance after learning they had essentially led an attack against the new bachelorettes who arrived mid-season.
ADVERTISEMENT
Monday night's The Bachelor episode featured Matt eliminating Victoria and Anna -- who were dubbed "mean girls" by several women in the cast due to their "toxic" behavior -- in order to create a safe and comfortable environment for the rest of his bachelorettes going forward.
RELATED LINK: 'THE BACHELOR' SEASON 25 BACHELORETTES ANNOUNCED! MEET ALL OF MATT JAMES' LADIES! (PHOTOS)
"This opportunity doesn't really allow for second chances. You're on a crunch of time," Matt explained during a Tuesday appearance on Good Morning America.
"When I see that my connection with you is starting to wither and I see signs that are not what I'm looking for in my wife at that time, then I've got to act on it and focus my energy and efforts on the women whom I'm forming those strong connections with."
ADVERTISEMENT
Matt discovered that Victoria had called professional dancer Ryan Claytor "a ho" and that Anna had accused Brittany Galvin of being "an escort" and sleeping with wealthy men in the Chicago area.
The new arrivals who met Matt after the third Rose Ceremony also complained about being ostracized from the original group of ladies, many of whom referred to themselves as the "Varsity squad."
Victoria and Anna were shown apologizing -- arguably insincerely -- to the women they had offended after realizing Matt was upset and disappointed with them.
Anna even cried to Matt that she had made a "horrible" mistake by starting a nasty rumor about Brittany, but Matt chose to send them both packing anyway.
"When you break it down, any type of name-calling [is not okay]. I think people try to pass it off as just playing around, but it's really not playing around to the people on the receiving end of it," Matt explained on GMA.
ADVERTISEMENT
RELATED LINK: 'THE BACHELOR' COUPLES NOW: WHO DID 'THE BACHELOR' STARS AND THEIR BACHELORETTE PICKS ACTUALLY END UP MARRYING? (PHOTOS)
Matt elaborated, "I can't fault any of these women for getting emotional, but when the name-calling and the persistent making the environment uncomfortable for the other women in the house, that's when... it's brought to my attention and I've got to act on it."
Matt told his group of women on the show that if a person needs to belittle someone else to shine, that's not a quality he's looking for in his future wife.
Matt said on GMA that he hopes the new arrivals weren't brought onto the show just to cause drama and he did his best with the situation in trying to treat every woman equally.
"[My] frustration comes from having a limited amount of time to spend with the women, and so I want to be spending that time getting to know them," Matt said.
ADVERTISEMENT
"When you're having to address things like [bullying claims], though they're important, it takes away from time [I could use to] get to know these women better."
Matt, however, apparently doesn't believe his cast of bachelorettes had a few bad apples in it. Instead, Matt said the women's bad behavior seemed to derive from "a combination of high emotions and being in a stressful environment" that is The Bachelor, a competitive reality dating show.
"You are dating one person with a lot of other women, so I can't imagine what it's like to be on that side of the rose," Matt shared.
RELATED LINK: 'THE BACHELORETTE' COUPLES NOW: WHOM DID 'THE BACHELORETTE' STARS AND THEIR BACHELOR PICKS ULTIMATELY END UP WITH?! (PHOTOS)
When asked whether he would have made different decisions had he been privy to some of the nasty comments, rumors or gossip earlier, Matt replied, "I'm a firm believer in everything happens for a reason."
ADVERTISEMENT
"All you can do is act on the information you have available to you, and I don't have any regrets," Matt explained on GMA.
"When things come up, you've got to handle them, and I think that's what I did [on Monday night's show]. And I think going forward, we're going to have a little smooth sailing."
Anna and Victoria had very different reactions to their ousters on Monday night's The Bachelor episode.
Anna cried with regret and said she was "really disappointed" in herself and how she had acted. Anna told the cameras she understood why Matt wouldn't want to pick someone like her.
"Anna had said something that is out of character," Matt said in a confessional, "but the damage has been done. I've seen how words can affect people, and I owe it to these women to create a safe space for them."
But Victoria completely denied ever being a bully or harassing any of the other women. She insisted her words were just "playful" and never malicious.
"I'm upset because I know I didn't do anything wrong. I was invested and I cared about him. So I think he made a huge mistake," Victoria said in her final words.
Before leaving, Victoria walked up to Matt with her arms crossed and said, "I honestly feel so sorry for you that you would listen to hearsay and not all of the facts behind the situation."
Matt just stood there in silence and then Victoria complained to the cameras, "He is not my king and I am still a queen. Matt is a jester... Whatever, Matt is not the guy for me. I am not dating another Matt as long as I live -- ever. I hate that name now!"
Also during Matt's GMA interview, he appeared to accidentally spill that he's engaged.
Click here to read spoilers on Matt's The Bachelor season and find out which bachelorette he picked and ended up with at the end of his journey to find love on TV.
ADVERTISEMENT
RELATED LINK: 'THE BACHELOR' FRANCHISE COUPLES NOW: WHO IS STILL TOGETHER?? (PHOTOS)
Interested in more The Bachelor news? Join our The Bachelor Facebook Group!