The Bachelorette bachelor Hayden Markowitz has addressed his controversial "rough around the edges" remark to Gabby Windey after facing backlash for being rude, offensive and insensitive.
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During Monday night's episode of The Bachelorette's nineteenth season, Gabby was shown struggling to feel like she's deserving and worthy of being one of the show's leading ladies, and then three guys dumped her one after the next during a group-date afterparty.
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Hayden was one of them, and his explanation for wanting to pursue a relationship with only Rachel Recchia going forward came across harsh.
"What a night, with so many emotions going on I have to say I have an overwhelming amount of respect for Gabby and Rachel," Hayden, 29, wrote Monday night on Instagram in a statement.
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"Looking back I can definitely say I may not be the most eloquent with words at times but I aimed my heart in the direction of my intentions."
Hayden concluded, "Extremely glad Rachel saw me for who I am inside and allowed me to continue the journey with her. #idoacceptthisrose #twobachelorettes #findinglove."
When Hayden dumped Gabby at the group-date afterparty, he said, "Tonight gave me a lot of clarity. I looked at today and my own life and what my values line up with, and you know, I do have my intentions fully for Rachel."
"And I think you have the bubbly aspect to you, the goofy aspect and you're a little bit more, like, I don't want to say 'rough around the edges,' but y'all want people to be very direct with y'all and so I wanted to make sure that I express that to you," he said.
Gabby, who put on a good face at first and hugged Hayden, ended up crying to the cameras about how her biggest fear was being "too much for people" and not being understood.
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Gabby lamented in a confessional after Hayden broke up with her, "I've been freaking out all week that I'm not good enough to be the Bachelorette, and then Hayden tells me he feels his morals more align with Rachel. And being called 'rough around the edges,' like, definitely hurts."
Tyler Norris let the ICU nurse down gently and in a respectful manner, which Gabby appreciated, but Jacob Rapini also slammed Gabby in the process of telling her that he was more interested in the flight instructor.
"I think we can joke around and be funny and cause a ton of laughter. But I don't know if maybe we've had the connection that I think I wanted to have with you from the get go. Even if say, you were the only person here, I don't think I could have the heart to continue," Jacob explained.
"Because at the end of the day, we're trying to find someone to f-cking spend the rest of our lives. But obviously you're smokin [hot]."
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Gabby broke down into tears after three rejections in a row, saying that the men clearly didn't want to be with her just because she's "so different" from previous Bachelorettes.
"When it comes down to it, I want to be rough around the edges because I know who I am on the inside and I'm f-cking proud of it," Gabby cried.
The group date ended with Rachel giving a rose to Aven Jones, but Gabby announced how she had a difficult week and couldn't hand out a rose as a result.
Rachel, shocked by the news, immediately ran to Gabby in order to be a shoulder to lean on.
Rachel said she was willing to address the situation and scold the men -- who apparently thought they had the power and control considering there were two Bachelorettes -- but Gabby just wanted to give the bachelors "time to reflect on their sh-t."
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"I'm here to find a lifelong partner. I'm not here to teach dudes how to act," Gabby said.
At the end of the week, Gabby and Rachel decided to hand out individual roses at the third Rose Ceremony of the season to ensure they'd each have their own group of men going forward.
Rachel and Gabby wanted the assurance in knowing that the men they were dating only had eyes for them.
The decision temporarily backfired, however, because Rachel felt rejected at the Rose Ceremony when three suitors turned down a rose: Alec Garza, James "Meatball" Clarke, and Termayne Harper.
"When I first found out I was the Bachelorette, the first thing my parents said to me was, 'Can you handle this emotionally?'" Rachel lamented.
"When I said that, I was like, 'I am so strong; I can do this, of course.' But what if I'm really not strong enough to do it? Maybe they were right. Maybe I can't do this and maybe I shouldn't have done it."
Rachel thought the rejection made her look "stupid" to the men who had already accepted roses from her, and she hated how the humiliation was in front of everyone.
"This was supposed to be us taking the power back. We literally handed it right back to all of them by doing this," Rachel complained to Gabby before they finished the ceremony.
Alec, Meatball and Termayne were able to step back at the Rose Ceremony and wait for a potential rose from Gabby, but it turned out they were all eliminated, along with Jacob. The women finally felt in control again.
The episode's closing credits later showed that Meatball asked Rachel for a second chance because he didn't think they had much time to get to know each other. Fans will have to wait until the next episode to hear her answer on Monday, August 1 at 8PM ET/PT on ABC.
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Gabby now has nine bachelors left in the running for her heart while Rachel has eight men on The Bachelorette.
RELATED LINK: 'THE BACHELOR' FRANCHISE COUPLES NOW: WHO IS STILL TOGETHER?? (PHOTOS)
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