Victoria Fuller and her boyfriend Greg Grippo have shared all the alleged details of what their relationship was before Victoria left to film Bachelor in Paradise's eighth season.
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Victoria said she and Greg had been friends for about a year after meeting at Governors Ball Music Festival in 2021. She said they only hung out in group settings, such as watching the Super Bowl, and even those events were rare.
In April 2022, when Bachelor in Paradise was casting for Season 8, Victoria admitted she had reached out to Greg and asked him if he was going to film the show.
Rather than having Greg on her mind as a potential love interest, Victoria claimed her intention at the time was "just trying to figure out who was going at that point."
"But yeah, there was definitely interest as we got to know each other, for sure. But it was very platonic. We were friends and there was never anything [going on]," Victoria claimed.
After Victoria discovered Greg would not be appearing on Paradise, she said they didn't hang out "at all" afterwards. There were just "a few texts here or there" about Bachelor in Paradise in general.
And Victoria told Nick that she had talked to Johnny DePhillipo about her pre-Paradise friendship with Greg while on the beach in Mexico.
"It got brought up. [Andrew Spencer] and [Justin Glaze] were down there, and those are two of Greg's best friends... Bachelor Nation is a small world and we all hang out," Victoria said.
"Johnny asked me about it and I said, 'Yeah, Greg and I were friends. We did communicate. We did have an interest in one another prior to going, but he wasn't going on the show and I wanted to go on the show still. And that was really it. We had brief communication.'"
But Greg confessed he "was always attracted to" Victoria, although nothing serious supposedly ever happened between them prior to her leaving Nashville for her stint on Paradise.
"I was in a relationship. I was in and out of it with somebody overseas," Greg explained.
RELATED LINK: 'THE BACHELOR' FRANCHISE COUPLES NOW"So that was a confusing time for me. And I knew Paradise wasn't going to be for me this year. I just had so much more growing to do, and me being in that relationship, I had to figure that out for myself."
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While Victoria filmed Bachelor in Paradise in June, Greg revealed that his relationship with the woman overseas ended.
"In the back of my mind, I was like, 'Sh-t, I hope she comes home single,'" Greg admitted of Victoria.
When Nick asked Greg if he had Victoria on his mind in the summer, Greg blurted out, "God yeah! Yeah. Yeah."
"But I didn't know how to go about it. I was waiting. I was like, 'You know what? Sh-t. I'm going to maybe text her.' [I'll] be like, 'Hey, drink is on me when you get back [from Paradise],'" Greg recalled.
"But of course, Andrew got back... and he hangs out with me for Fourth of July weekend, and he's like, 'She's engaged.' And I was just, like, deflated! And there was no communication after that."
Greg said he wasn't going to contact Victoria when she was engaged to another man.
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"Being in that relationship held back something special... But as messy as all of this may seem, I'm really grateful how it happened because our relationship, I think, is really based on the timing of it all," Greg explained.
"I wasn't ready to be in a relationship with her because I was seeing someone else, and we weren't able to explore that at all. And she also wanted to go on Paradise, and I didn't want to do that. So we both had to go through our own sh-t."
Victoria said once she and Johnny were engaged, she actually asked her fiance if she could reach out to Greg and "clear the air" given they'd be hanging out in the same social circle. (Victoria said Andrew had become close to Johnny in Paradise and so she didn't want there to be any weirdness with Greg).
"[I told Johnny that Greg] and I talked prior and did have an interest in one another, so I just wanted to reach out to Greg and say, 'Hey, this is what went down, and I hope we can all still be in the same room and it be cool. And I hope you're happy. I don't know where you stand in your current relationship, but I'm happy for you either way,'" Victoria said, adding how Greg was simply her friend at the time.
RELATED LINK: 'THE BACHELOR' COUPLES NOW: WHO DID 'THE BACHELOR' STARS AND THEIR BACHELORETTE PICKS ACTUALLY END UP MARRYING? (PHOTOS)
Victoria revealed that Johnny had no issue with her contacting Greg "to tie up loose ends" and resolve any "lingering" feelings she may have had for the Season 17 The Bachelorette alum.
"He was like, 'Go for it,'" Victoria recalled. "And so I called Greg and we had this conversation, and it was great."
And Greg, although he secretly wanted to be Victoria's fiance, said he showed "nothing but support" for Victoria and her new relationship with Johnny.
"I was genuinely happy that she was happy," Greg insisted.
"[I said], 'That's what you went on there for, so good for you -- you found somebody.' I had no say in it. What was I going to say?... I was supportive of her being in, in my opinion, a happy engagement after [the show]."
Victoria told Nick that she and Greg "didn't speak after that," adding, "And that was it. That was the end of that."
Victoria therefore shared, "The only issue I have is I feel like people are going to be like, 'There was definitely something with them before..."
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And Victoria agreed, "There really wasn't anything before. It was like, 'Hey, are you going to Paradise?' And he was like, 'No.'"
"It's literally what everyone f-cking does on the show," Greg complained. "Everyone figures out who's going."
Bachelor in Paradise's reunion taped on November 4 and aired five months after Johnny proposed marriage to Victoria on the finale.
At the reunion special, Victoria was already in a new relationship with Greg, and so Johnny addressed cheating rumors considering Victoria had seemingly moved on from their broken engagement very quickly.
According to Victoria, she and Johnny ended their engagement a few weeks after Johnny's proposal because their relationship was "toxic" and he had called her demeaning names.
Johnny -- who admitted he and Victoria fought a lot but denied ever questioning her womanhood or calling her "a c-nt" -- said in post-show press that he and Victoria didn't officially break up until mid-September.
Johnny also claimed the pair was still in communication and attended therapy up until Victoria's trip to Italy in late October with Greg.
Greg claimed Italy was his first official date with Victoria and he asked her to be his girlfriend on Halloween.
And Victoria insisted last week there was "no crossover" between relationships and that she and Greg want the same things out of life -- including marriage and children in the near future -- and are on the same page.
Victoria has since introduced Greg to her family and they spent Thanksgiving together, and Johnny told BachelorNation.com he is working on himself and moving forward after receiving closure at the reunion.
RELATED LINK: 'THE BACHELOR' FRANCHISE COUPLES NOW: WHO IS STILL TOGETHER?? (PHOTOS)
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About The Author: Elizabeth Kwiatkowski
