The Bachelor alum Juliana Pasquarosa has claimed Grant Ellis' runner-up Litia Garr betrayed her by spoiling the ending of their season.
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"But me and Litia's relationship was pretty complicated from the first-ever FaceTime we had [post-show]."
RELATED LINK: 'THE BACHELOR' FRANCHISE COUPLES NOW: WHO IS STILL TOGETHER?? (PHOTOS)
Juliana and Grant got engaged in the Dominican Republic at the Final Rose Ceremony of The Bachelor's 29th season, which had shown Grant feeling torn between Juliana and Litia only minutes before proposing marriage.
According to Litia, Grant had repeatedly told her that he loved her and she was The One, which left her feeling blindsided and devastated following her elimination in second place.
When Juliana and Litia FaceTimed after filming The Bachelor finale in late 2024, Juliana said their pal and fellow The Bachelor 29 alum Sarafiena Watkins was also part of the conversation.
"I had spoken to the other girls and no one had, like, really confirmed or knew how it ended, and everyone was treading so lightly and cautiously with me, and I appreciate them all so much for that," Juliana recalled.
"And [Litia], I and Sarafiena were doing the same thing, just kind of catching up. And then she sprung it on me towards the end of the call that, you know, her producer had told her how everything ended."
Juliana admitted she was "totally caught off-guard" in that moment.
"I was like, 'Oh sh-t! I haven't told any of the girls!' I hadn't even told [my best friend from the show Alli Jo Hinkes]. I was just so anxious," Juliana said.
"And I walked her kind of through everything that happened in the best way, that was kind of the most polite, I felt. Because it's so uncomfortable and sad, but I knew she kind of wanted to know, and I wanted to give her maybe some closure with that."
Juliana said she had expressed to Litia that she was "really, really, really anxious" for the other bachelorettes to find out.
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"I didn't want [my engagement] to deter our friendships, and she promised me she wouldn't tell anybody. And she did," Juliana alleged.
"And she told multiple girls, and they called me and said, 'Litia told me the news!' And blah, blah, blah. You know, they were all so gracious about it, but it's not about the fact I didn't want them to know -- it was just I was in a fragile timeframe right then."
RELATED LINK: 'THE BACHELOR' COUPLES NOW: WHO DID 'THE BACHELOR' STARS AND THEIR BACHELORETTE PICKS ACTUALLY END UP MARRYING? (PHOTOS)
Juliana said she had been "trying to find the right words" to deliver the news herself.
"[I was] also trying to understand everything I had just been through," Juliana noted.
"And so I think, from there, I told my sister and then I called one of the producers, who was like, 'There is no way [Litia]'s producer said that.' And that's a he-said, she-said thing that I don't ever think I'll care to know the truth of it all."
But Juliana said the way in which the other women found out about The Bachelor ending "rubbed me the wrong way."
Juliana elaborated, "It made me upset and it made me a little bit wary of the friendship, and I try my best to put myself in her shoes, and I don't know if I would've done that, but I could understand the emotions driving those behaviors."
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Towards "the end of things," Juliana recalled texting Litia multiple times in March.
"I was texting her saying, 'You did great! This can't be easy. I wish you well.' And I texted her before the live [After the Final Rose] being like, 'At least we get to serve onstage together one last time! I know it's going to be really hard,'" Juliana claimed.
"And she didn't answer. I think that's when I started to sense I was unsure of the magnitude of her feelings about it all. And I wasn't going intrude myself in her feelings process or prevent her or make her feel like she couldn't speak her truth because we had a relationship."
As a result, Juliana said she thought it "would be best" to "withdraw" herself from that friendship.
"That's what I did!" Juliana concluded.
RELATED LINK: 'THE BACHELORETTE' COUPLES NOW: WHOM DID 'THE BACHELORETTE' STARS AND THEIR BACHELOR PICKS ULTIMATELY END UP WITH?! (PHOTOS)
Joe pointed out how Juliana's experience post-The Bachelor sounded pretty heavy, and she agreed.
"I'm not lying when [I say] I was a shell of a human for a little bit after the finale," Juliana said.
"And even throughout the show and watching it back, I disassociated and was like, 'I've just got to get through it! I've just got to get through it and then I can figure my sh-t out.'"
Juliana said once she and Grant returned home from filming, that's when "things started getting weird and uncomfortable."
"I was like, 'Can I opt out?! Can we just end the season early? I'm good! Don't show me on TV anymore,'" Juliana confessed.
"I appreciate all the love and support I got, because that was extremely overwhelming in the best way possible, but it doesn't really mean as much when you're internally fighting some hard battles. And I just felt like it was one thing after the other."
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Prior to announcing their breakup, Grant and Juliana had repeatedly denied there was trouble in paradise, and Grant had said in multiple interviews how he was still planning to move to Boston, where Juliana's close-knit family lives.
Grant later insisted that Juliana had brought up the breakup conversation, although their decision was ultimately mutual.
Grant previously cited "outside noise" and having "issues" as the cause of their split.
Juliana gave her side of the story about the breakup and shared where she and Grant currently stand on the "Bachelor Happy Hour" podcast.
RELATED LINK: 'THE BACHELOR' FRANCHISE COUPLES NOW: WHO IS STILL TOGETHER?? (PHOTOS)
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About The Author: Elizabeth Kwiatkowski
