Spilling the behind-the-scenes tea! Kaitlyn Bristowe just revealed some alleged “big, insider scoop” about The Bachelor on the Thursday, February 23, episode of her “Off the Vine” podcast.
The Monday, February 20, episode of the ABC reality dating series saw Bachelor Zach Shallcross and his group of women take a trip across the pond to London. But things took a turn for the worse after Zach, 26, tested positive for the coronavirus mid-trip. Though Zach held the show’s first-ever virtual rose ceremony from his hotel room, Kaitlyn, 37, is claiming that not all of the footage of him being sick was shot in the U.K.
“When they show B-roll of Zach, and he really doesn’t look like he’s doing too bad despite the dramatic footage of him blowing his nose — you remember him?” the former Bachelorette star stated on her podcast. “He’s, like, in his hotel room, in the bed, blowing his nose, he’s got a little fake cup of tea. That’s a hotel in L.A.”
Kaitlyn Bristowe and Zach Shallcross. Shutterstock (2)
According to Kaitlyn, “It’s the hotel they always put all of their people in when we do, like, [After the] Final Rose or the Women Tell All, Men Tell All. That’s where they stay, in this, like, very specific bed that has writing on the back.”
She even went on to explain why she thinks producers made the decision to film the extra shots. “They must have had to be like, ‘Oh s–t, we need some B-roll of Zach looking sick,’” she continued. “And so, then, he’s back in L.A., and they’re like, ‘Can we just get you blowing your nose and, like, holding a cup of tea in the hotel room?’”
Kaitlyn joked that she finds the whole location switch-up “funny,” and even admitted that she was slightly jealous of the time off Zach’s sickness allotted him. “I actually thought in that moment, I was like, ‘Damn, I could have used five days off with some tea in bed during my season,’” she said.
Kaitlyn made her Bachelor Nation debut on season 19 of The Bachelor in 2015. Later that year, she led season 11 of The Bachelorette and walked away engaged to contestant Shawn Booth. The two called it quits in 2018, and she later began dating her fiancé Jason Tartick in 2019. Tartick, 34, popped the question in 2021.
Following Monday’s episode, contestant Greer Blitzer seemingly shaded Zach on social media after their rough virtual cocktail party conversation. After Greer, 24, attempted to relate to Zach’s situation by recalling how getting COVID-19 previously threw off her work life, he responded, “I think me missing out on finding a wife is slightly more important than [a sales quarter].”
Greer captioned her Instagram selfie on Tuesday, February 21, “Women who care about their careers are hot.”
Though the interaction made Greer speculate about her chances of staying another week, her place on the show was secured after Zach gave her a rose during the rose ceremony.
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The Bachelor airs on ABC Mondays at 8 p.m. ET.