Katherine "Kat" Izzo has spoken out about Sean McLaughlin and Allyshia Gupta's allegations she had a boyfriend back home and was secretly messaging him while filming Bachelor in Paradise.
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"When it comes to being in a relationship, I did not come in with a boyfriend, but I definitely did leave with one," Kat told Nick Viall during a joint appearance with Dale Moss on the Wednesday, September 3 episode of "The Viall Files" podcast.
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Kat, who is now officially dating Dale, added, "So that's point, blank, period... [but] was I dating before Paradise? Of course."
Allyshia alleged on "The Viall Files" podcast last month that Kat was dating Sean's best friend when she left to film Bachelor in Paradise's tenth season.
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Allyshia also claimed that Kat had snuck her iPad into her hotel room and began sending her then-boyfriend love letters on Day 1 "to get him through" the process.
Nick, for his part, heard that Kat had written messages on her arm for her then-boyfriend to see once he watched Bachelor in Paradise unfold on TV.
"I did not have an iPad during filming. I did not have a laptop. No," Kat insisted to Nick.
"Guys, [the producers] have not been shy about showing people [being sneaky] during the season. I think if I had those devices or messages on my arm -- which are tattoos... I think they would've been shown. I don't think they were afraid of that."
"So no," she continued, "there was no communication with the outside world through any electronic advice. I'm not sure where [Sean and Allyshia] were coming from with that."
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Not only did Allyshia make these accusations on Nick's podcast, but Sean was shown putting Kat on blast during Bachelor in Paradise's Season 10 finale, which aired Tuesday, September 2 on ABC.
"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 told Kat on the season finale.
"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."
Allyshia then vented about how, despite having alleged proof, Kat was going to "deny, lie and cry" about the matter.
But Kat suggested to Nick that Sean and Allyshia were lying in that moment.
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"Based on what I've been told, there are no actual receipts," Kat said on "The Viall Files" podcast.
"So I'm not sure. I have receipts from my therapist, though. She said she'd release my clinical notes to prove that I didn't have a boyfriend! I said, 'Let me sign the patient release form!'"
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Kat admitted she's been dealing with "a lot" since those allegations were made public.
When asked if Sean and Allyshia's story was a complete fabrication, Kat explained that she had no idea she was going to do Bachelor in Paradise until the last minute and so she was "still seeing" her ex "a little bit" at that time.
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"But also, I was just not stopping my life. But that did not mean I was coming in with this idea that I was going to fake it and then leave," Kat clarified.
Kat explained how she was dating prior to Paradise because she "wasn't super hopeful" about finding true love in Costa Rica since her experience on Season 9 of Bachelor in Paradise had ended with a broken engagement to John Henry Spurlock in 2023.
"I was open to it, but I just didn't want to put that pressure on myself... and to be honest, I signed my contract at Stagecoach. I literally decided right before I left [to film]," Kat revealed.
"I didn't prepare for this, and that's where I was coming from. I just wanted to be very realistic with the situation and the experience. The last thing I expected was to meet a [man] and form a real relationship the way that [Dale and I] did."
Nick asked Kat if this pre-show relationship was serious enough for Kat to have a conversation with this man before leaving to film Bachelor in Paradise.
"I think that, no, I mean, no. I came into Paradise saying, 'This is going to help me figure out what it is that I need to do. That relationship, I have no ill will towards him at all, but it wasn't the healthiest. I think he can agree with that," Kat alleged.
"I think everyone can understand, maybe, what that feels like, and I really did want to use this experience to kind of help me see things more clear and kind of break away a little bit, which is exactly what it provided."
Kat elaborated, "So maybe, yes, there could've been a conversation, but not like an 'I'm breaking up with you' conversation, or like, 'Hey you're not my boyfriend anymore.' No. I think he can also agree [on] that."
But Kat admitted that she "had to" have a conversation with this man AFTER filming Bachelor in Paradise so she could clear up any miscommunication or misunderstandings.
"Because I didn't know what exactly was expressed to him from Sean and Allyshia. So I wanted to [set the record straight]," Kat noted.
Kat clarified that Sean and Allyshia had been the ones to call her ex-boyfriend and she would've appreciated the pair coming to her directly and handling their beef with her in private.
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"No one had a conversation with me prior [to making the accusations public]," Kat confirmed.
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Dale, for his part, was clearly blindsided by Sean's allegations in Paradise.
"In that moment, I saw Kat being attacked. I didn't take anything too deep or too personally," Dale told Nick on his podcast.
"I was just concerned about her well-being and making sure she felt safe, and obviously she had to take a moment to do her thing... But I'm 36-years-old. There is real sh-t that goes on in life."
While Dale was shown trying to protect Kat, he also didn't immediately dismiss Sean's claims.
"[I thought], 'If there's any truth to this and this is what we have to go through, this is nothing in the grand scheme of things,'" Dale said.
Dale recalled searching for context and having a conversation with Kat off-camera in which they spoke "openly and truthfully" with each other, when emotions were no longer high.
"It didn't affect me. I wasn't thinking about anything that happened before Paradise because all I was focused on [was being] in the moments," Dale explained.
"I also understood where we finished, and whatever there was before is something that could be worked through because it didn't really matter, at least not in that moment... And it takes a lot to get a rise out of me."
Dale said it takes "a lot" to get him "heated" and he also didn't want to fuel Sean's fire.
"Also, it's like, 'What's the point?'" Dale shared.
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"Ultimately I wasn't thinking about anyone else in that capacity or that deeply to where it could affect me, break me and tear me down. The only person that could affect me on the show was Kat like that."
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