The Bachelor star Grant Ellis says his "worst nightmare" happened while filming Season 29.
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Carolina -- who had won a solo dance with Grant onstage after each bachelorette competed to perform the best original song for The Bachelor star -- confronted Grant about what she had heard, and Grant appeared totally shocked and firmly denied ever saying that to anyone.
Grant told Carolina, "It's like I'm trying to spit game. I'm not here to do that. I'm here to find a wife... It seems kind of personal because that's a lie -- and it's a judge on my character."
Grant therefore went straight to the source and put Rose on the spot.
"In my life, I confront things right then and there. If you don't, you let it fester and then it turns into something way bigger," Grant explained during the Thursday, February 13 episode of the "Bachelor Happy Hour" podcast.
"I tried to go in there and do the best I could to not be a part of any drama, but it just so happened the drama involved me -- or something that somebody thought I said."
Grant continued, "So that was really surprising to me. That was a curveball, and that was probably my worst nightmare happening. And it happened."
Since Grant's "worst nightmare" came true, he said he had to approach the issue "right then and there."
The Bachelor star elaborated, "If I just ignored it, then, you know, the ladies would've really started to question my character. And that's the last thing I wanted, because I pride myself on that."
"So that, to me, was something that was a difficult situation, but I handled it the best way I could," he concluded.
When Grant approached Rose during the cocktail party preceding the third Rose Ceremony of the season, Rose claimed that she didn't lie to Carolina.
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"I thought that was something that I heard you say," Rose told Grant.
"Why would I say that?" Grant asked.
"Okay, yeah," Rose conceded.
"That's disrespectful, and that looks bad on my character," Grant insisted.
"Right," Rose agreed.
"I wouldn't do that, you know?" Grant said.
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Grant then continued to talk, seemingly getting even more defensive and suddenly also denying he was a "player" or "running game" even though Rose never appeared to make any such accusations.
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Rose admitted she was "comparing notes" with Carolina when she had said that and she was kind of "spiraling" at the time.
"That wasn't a good moment for me, when we were talking about it," Rose explained to Grant.
"And honestly, I think we're both in the position where we both care about you and we both like you. I could've easily made that mistake where I really thought you said something like that and I was just wrong."
Rose ultimately owned her words and apologized for her mistake, and she added, "I'm sorry it hurt your character. That was not what my intention was."
But Rose subsequently admitted in a confessional that she truly thought Grant had said what she initially thought she had heard.
The he-said, she-said drama sparked a debate on social media in which fans began arguing about which person was really at fault and if Rose had really told Carolina "a lie," as Grant had claimed.
During the R&B group-date afterparty that aired during Episode 2 of The Bachelor on February 3, Rose had voiced to Grant how she was "struggling" with the process.
"Well, I'm not going to sit here and lie -- you are somebody that I do think about, and I just want to make sure that you know that," Grant told Rose.
"Because I'm very interested in you. Even today, right, the whole dancing thing onstage and everything, I was thinking about you. I don't want you to feel like I'm not paying attention, because I am."
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While Grant didn't flat out say he was thinking of Rose while he was dancing with Carolina during the group date, his vague "whole dancing thing onstage" compliment could have been taken to mean that, which would explain why Rose thought she was telling Carolina the truth during their private chat.
But instead of acknowledging that he may have spoken confusingly or that Rose may have misunderstood him, Grant became very defensive and accused Rose of telling "a lie" that slammed his character.
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But other Instagram users pointed out how Grant had made a general statement about how Rose was on his mind during the dancing portion of the group date in attempt to comfort and reassure her. This camp believes Rose took Grant's words the wrong way or intentionally tried to deceive Carolina.
The Bachelor's third episode ended with Grant accepting Rose's apology, saying that everyone makes mistakes and he just wanted to move forward.
Carolina had already secured a rose from Grant during their one-on-one date in Las Vegas, and The Bachelor star ended up giving Rose a rose as well because he said they definitely had "a connection."
Grant ultimately eliminated Alli Jo Hinkes, Bailey Brown, and Chloie Costello. Beverly Ortega also had to leave The Bachelor due to illness.
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Click here to read spoilers that reveal what happens on Grant's The Bachelor season, including his winner and runner-up.
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About The Author: Elizabeth Kwiatkowski