Zoe McGrady has defended stealing Grant Ellis' time on The Bachelor, insisting she had done nothing wrong.

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On Episode 2 of The Bachelor's 29th season, Zoe interrupted the basketball group date by asking Grant to leave the court with her to have a conversation, and Zoe's aggressive dating approach rubbed the other bachelorettes the wrong way.

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"In my brain, and the way I think, it's like, 'There's no rules there,' you know what I mean? So I knew it would rub people the wrong way, but I didn't think it would anger them," Zoe told co-hosts Joe Amabile and Serena Pitt on the Thursday, February 6 episode of the "Bachelor Happy Hour" podcast.

"I thought it was going to be something like, 'Oh dang, she did what I wanted to do, and I'm going to take notes for next time,' not like, 'Oh my god, she's this evil, mean woman trying to steal Grant from all of us."

Although Zoe had crafted out her own one-on-one time with The Bachelor star on the group date, she still sought out more time with Grant at the afterparty.

Zoe didn't even hesitate to interrupt Juliana Pasquarosa and Alli Jo Hinkes' conversations with Grant.

Alli Jo and Juliana therefore deemed Zoe "disrespectful," but Zoe clapped back and noted, "I think all is fair in love and war, and the [Date] Card said, 'Shoot your shot,' and so I shot my shot."

But Alli Jo yelled at Zoe that she had stepped on everyone's toes, adding, "You've talked to him multiple times, so what is your problem with me that you needed to interrupt me -- or you need that much attention because you're that insecure?"

Zoe pointed out how "there are ways to be rude in this environment" but she didn't think her behavior fit the bill.

"If I had a rose and knew I was safe, or if I had a one-on-one that week, or there was something [that allowed us] to establish a really strong connection, and then I was just stealing [Grant] to steal him, yes, I would get you being upset," Zoe explained.

"But it was Day 1 and we had been playing basketball for hours. I had the opportunity to have some extra time, and I need to see, also, if I like this guy!"

Zoe, a self-declared "competitive" bachelorette who's also "a rule follower," explained that she wasn't sure during the basketball group date if only half of the women would be invited to the afterparty that evening.

"I didn't know if who wins the basketball game would be the only people to go to [the afterparty], so I gave it my all. My basketball team was really good, and the other team, all of a sudden there was a shift when they just all got so angry," Zoe alleged.

"As you saw, I was literally pushed on the ground. And to me, that's not basketball. I'm a wrestler... but like, 'Are we being for real right now?!'"

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Zoe said she thought the other bachelorettes were actually being the "way too aggressive" ones.

"And then there were whispers that [my] team was being way too aggressive," Zoe recalled.

"It was like, 'Zoe was being aggressive.' And during the basketball game, once we were up by so much, I started telling my team, 'Stop going full court. We need to pull back.' I was the one trying to be like, 'You guys, we need to do less, because these girls are getting pissed.'"

Zoe claimed she was the person who was actually "trying to de-escalate the situation," adding, "I got no credit for that!"

"It was just a really weird thing," Zoe continued. "And when I got pushed to the ground, I didn't retaliate. I was just like, 'This is a really weird vibe.'"

Zoe went on to share with Joe and Serena that she didn't even know how angry the other bachelorettes were at her until they all reunited at the group-date afterparty.

"They were sitting there talking behind my back and really hyping each other up to be angry at me instead of trying to talk to me, like, 'Hey, you did that thing. It kind of sucked; we wanted more time with him. Maybe tonight, don't do anything crazy,'" Zoe said.

"I would've been like, 'Cool, no problem.' But they came in an attack and they came as a group. And I was like, 'I'm not about to be bulldozed into trying to lessen myself, like, I didn't do anything wrong!'"

Zoe explained how she wasn't going to apologize for something anyone else in her shoes would've done.

"The two that were the loudest, and specifically we know the girl who pushed me, Alli Jo, not only is she screaming at me for stealing time with him -- which is not stealing, we're all entitled and you can steal him at any point -- but that flipped a switch with me because no one stood up for me," Zoe said.

But Zoe insisted if any other woman had stolen Grant away, she "would not have been angry at them."

Zoe said, "I would've been like, 'Cool, so the next group date, I'm allowed to take him away.' That's what I think, and that's the way that my brain works. So it was a bit interesting."

Zoe claimed that since her "time is valuable" and so is Grant's, her effort to steal him away was to see if they had a connection and there was nothing more to it than that.

Zoe revealed she had watched only one or two seasons of The Bachelor franchise in the last 10 years and so she "really did not know what" she was getting herself into.

"During the evening, not a single person stood up for me, and at that point, I'm in tears because what is literally going on right now? That was just a really crazy experience to be in because I have not been in anything like that before," Zoe said.

Zoe, on the other hand, claimed she'd "never gang up on or attack someone" for any reason.

"Like I said, 'All is fair in love and war,' and if we had all talked about this, like, 'Hey, tonight, we're all going to talk to him one time,' and we agree to that, and then I go steal him five times, then I'm doing something wrong," Zoe acknowledged.

"But if we have not said that... then it is all fair. And I'm also not going to operate in a way that's not authentic to me. I do bold things throughout my life; that is who I am and it's who I'm always going to be."

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Zoe told Joe and Serena of her personality, "It's not bold because I need attention and it's not bold because I'm insecure; it's bold because I like to do things a little different. That's just how I work, and you're allowed to do whatever you want to do."

Click here to read spoilers and find out how Grant's The Bachelor season ended, including his winner and runner-up.

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About The Author: Elizabeth Kwiatkowski

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