Bachelor in Paradise star Sean McLaughlin has revealed if he actually has receipts about Katherine "Kat" Izzo having a boyfriend back home and her alleged secret messages to him during filming.
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On Bachelor in Paradise's Season 10 finale, previously-eliminated cast members returned to vote for whom they thought deserved to win money, and Sean, feeling betrayed, threw Kat under the bus in front of the entire cast.
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"I was able to make some phone calls and get the real story... Kat, you denied that we were even friends. And fortunately, I'm mutual friends with your ex, so I gave him a call. He told me some things that were really enlightening," Sean announced.
He continued: "When we came to Bachelor in Paradise, Kat's plan was never to find love. She actually stashed a laptop and started texting him love letters. You said that this was going to be something for your career and you're here to stir up drama... and I have the receipts."
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After the finale aired last week on ABC, Kat -- who denied Sean's boyfriend allegation -- told Nick Viall on his "The Viall Files" podcast that she didn't think Sean ever had any receipts.
During the subsequent Bachelor in Paradise cast reunion, Kat challenged Sean to show his alleged receipts.
"I bet [my ex] didn't give them to you this morning, because there's nothing to give," Kat said during Part 2 of the reunion on the "Bachelor Happy Hour" podcast.
The reunion host, Wells Adams, later asked Sean, "You did say something on-camera that was pretty poignant. You said you had receipts. So are there receipts? Do you have a love letter?"
Sean replied, "Well I think there is -- the truth with the receipts is I think it's somewhere between us."
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"Was she texting her ex when we got to the resort? No," he admitted. "Do I think you were texting him when we were at the staging hotel in Costa Rica? Yes."
Sean reiterated how the truth is probably "somewhere in the middle" between his and Kat's different stories.
"Do I have the receipts? The guy, I won't mention his name, he doesn't want to be involved in any of this, which obviously I get," Sean explained.
"So I wasn't really hounding him at all, or all that much. I asked for them today -- not his text messages or love letters -- but more so just timestamps [to prove] I'm not lying about the iPad thing, whether or not there was a plan [for them to get back together] or love letters."
But Sean insisted that he definitely "had a conversation" with Kat's ex after when he and Allyshia self-eliminated from Paradise.
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"When I got my phone, I called my family and called my friends, and then I called the other guy," Sean recalled with a laugh.
"You couldn't get a camera on him for that, guys?!" Wells shouted at the producers.
"Yeah, come on now!" Sean joked.
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Kat and Sean had become friends when they both appeared on Bachelor in Paradise's ninth season in 2023, and due to their ties to Tampa, Fl, they also had mutual friends.
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In August, Allyshia told Nick Viall on "The Viall Files" podcast, "Sean's best friend who was [Kat]'s boyfriend at the time... He said [Kat] has been sending him love letters since Day 1 of Paradise."
(As Bachelor in Paradise viewers can recall, Kat and Dale had begun dating on Day 2 of Paradise.)
"I never said that you guys were in a relationship, so that's been misconstrued," Sean clarified at the reunion.
He added, "It was more so the plan to get back together after. That's the way that I said it, and that's what happened."
Wells asked Sean, "And that's what this ex said to you?"
Sean replied, "Yes, it was confirmed."
Sean elaborated, "I'm not 'the right reasons' police. Everyone has their own things going on. I think where I actually draw the line is the plan -- allegedly the plan to go on Paradise and get back together afterwards on top of, like, that type of stuff."
Kat asked Sean for clarification on whether her ex actually said they were in a relationship going into Paradise.
"No, that was the plan, and then you broke up," Sean alleged.
"Right, so then what [Allyshia] said actually wasn't valid. That's what I'm saying," Kat pointed out.
"Either way, it's not an ex if you're still in contact," Sean argued.
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Kat hyped up all the accusations to "word of mouth" and gossip.
And Andrew Spencer told Sean that it's okay for people to date before Paradise and Kat just so happened to find someone she liked more on Paradise.
"That's what happens," Andrew noted.
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Sean suggested that while it's fine for someone to date before Paradise, it's not okay to go on a reality show with the intention of reuniting with that love interest post-show.
Sean also acknowledged, "At the end of the day, that's where I draw the line, is sneaking something in and texting them when we're about to start filming."
Sean alleged that Kat's secret messages to her ex was "outside" of Paradise boundaries, but Kat denied ever sneaking in an electronic device and messaging her ex.
"That's not a fair assumption to make, that I was out there consistently texting this man. And I know for a fact that that is not what he said. And I know for a fact he did not say that we were in a relationship," Kat explained.
"I don't know what else was said as far as getting back together. I know that he confirmed that we were possibly seeing each other before, because yes, I was dating before Paradise. I'm allowed to do that; I'm going on a dating show."
She therefore concluded, "To say that I was in a relationship or that I was consistently talking to somebody is not true, period!"
"Well, I disagree," Sean noted. "It depends on how you context it."
Dale Moss defended Kat by saying what they had gone through in Paradise together was "real" and authentic.
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"All of this other stuff that people are talking about had happened before... I didn't care because I'm focused on what we went through and the time that we had," Dale said.
"There is some real sh-t people have to go through, and this is such a minor thing in the grand scheme of things!"
But Allyshia argued that she and Sean didn't "want people with bad intentions to win" what they thought at the time was going to be a $500,000 prize.
Allyshia, Sean, Kat and Dale, however, all agreed that they didn't feel hate towards anyone. Kat also apologized to Sean for hurting him when that was never her intent.
"I never meant, 'I'm not friends with Sean,' I just didn't agree with your behavior," Kat explained, referencing Sean's politicking and strategizing to get ahead and hopefully win the money.
Sean explained that when the cards were stacked against him, he thought Kat turned her back on him.
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"That's why I felt so betrayed... I spent two years, constantly, always coming to her defense," Sean explained.
Dale confirmed, however, that Kat had "spoken highly" of Sean when he first entered Paradise.
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