Maria Georgas wants to set the record straight.
The former Bachelor suitor, who competed on Joey Graziadei’s season of the ABC franchise, was in the news this week after Jen Tran ended her stint as the Bachelorette.
In a soul-shattering way.
During Tuesday night’s After the Final Rose special, it was revealed that Tran proposed to Devin Strader several months ago, but the engagement was called off after Strader decided he’d made the wrong decision.
“He would be so bold and declare his love and then all of a sudden the next day it was like nothing happened and he denied ever being in love,” Tran explained to host Jesse Palmer on air, adding of her ex-fiancé:
“All the promises he made to me, all the love he wanted to give me, are gone now.”
In the same episode, Tran said she went out to a club in New York after Strider asked her out, and that Strider then followed Georgius on Instagram.
“I just got back from a peaceful trip,” Georgas wrote in a Sept. 4 Instagram Story in response to the drama. “I didn’t want to come home in these conditions but I have something to say and I’m not holding back this time.”
The next day, Maria dealt with everything.
“Last night was hard to watch and I feel bad for Jen,” Maria said on TikTok, referring to Strader’s alleged break-up with Tran over a 15-minute phone call – an allegation Devin denies. “I truly believe a lot of that conversation should have been off camera.”
Giorgas, who actually turned down an offer to be on “The Bachelorette,” continued.
“I understand Jen has to speak up. Speak your mind, girlfriend. I respect that. But I think without the whole context, people will believe a different narrative.”
What about Devin Strader’s infamous Instagram following?
“Guys, I don’t care who follows me or who doesn’t follow me. I have no idea about it. I didn’t know until someone told me, and by the time I found out, he had unfollowed me,” Maria said.
She later made her relationship (or lack thereof) with Strader as clear as possible, stating on social media:
“I want to be very clear: I have never met Devin, I have never been to a club with him, I have never followed him back, and I had nothing to do with the end of the relationship.”
Yes, Georgius confirmed, she went on a night out with a group of people, including Jeremy Simon, another suitor from Tran’s season.
Although she and Tran are not close at the moment, that doesn’t mean there’s any animosity between her and the heartbroken reality TV star.
“I’m tired of pitting women against each other,” Maria said. “I don’t want to create this weird narrative that Jen and I are at odds. Just because we’ve gone our separate ways and we’re not friends anymore doesn’t mean we hate each other.”
“If someone tries to insult her in front of me, it doesn’t mean I’m going to sit here and put up with it, because I won’t.”
Strader, meanwhile, claims that Tran tried to break up with him and that he wanted to end the relationship in person.
But he also takes responsibility for acting unfairly and inappropriately.
“When I left the show, I had a lot of doubts, but I suppressed those feelings in regret and sadness, and I’ve been honest with you about that,” he told Tran, later adding:
“I’ve disappointed you… I’m sorry I let you know so late.”
