Carolina Quixano is shedding light on alleged behind-the-scenes conversations she and runner-up Litia Garr had with lead Grant Ellis on The Bachelor.
“I thought it was gonna be Litia because I knew that he had said the most to me and Litia,” Carolina, 29, claimed on the Thursday, April 3, episode of the “Bachelor Happy Hour” podcast. “Litia’s story about how he had already said that it was her — what she mentioned — I had already heard that, too.”
She continued, “I was delusional enough to think the whole time it was either me or Litia because I knew that we had gotten the most reassurance, or from what I had heard. And when she got that other one-on-one, I thought it was gonna be her.”
Carolina admitted that part of her was “shocked” when Grant, 31, ultimately chose to give his final rose — and propose — to Juliana Pasquarosa over Litia, 31.
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“But part of me isn’t because Grant kept saying all these things to everyone, and he was reckless,” she said. “Both me and Litia at least — I don’t know if anyone else tried to bring this up to — but we asked him to tone it down, and he kept going and giving that reassurance. So, I don’t know. I don’t know what goes through that guy’s mind.”
During the season 29 finale of The Bachelor last month, Litia appeared blindsided by Grant’s decision to send her packing. As Grant broke up with her, Litia claimed that she would have “a lot of questions” if she were Juliana, 28, based on what he had promised her.
During the live portion of the finale, Litia alleged that Grant told her he could “stop the show” early because she was The One. Grant apologized to Litia, later exclusively telling Us Weekly that there were “a lot” of things that he “didn’t align with” based on what she said.
While reflecting on the season, Carolina claimed Grant broke his promises “over and over and over again” — despite her asking him to “stop making promises that you can’t keep.”
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“Clearly me and Litia both told him to please stop, and he kept doing it. He kept giving you reassurances. I don’t know if he just genuinely felt it in the moment,” she said. “I don’t think he’s a terrible person. Like I said before, I don’t typically believe in cancel culture. I’m not trying to say, like, ‘Screw him.’ But I just think he was really irresponsible. Like to be the Bachelor, you have to have a backbone and you have to stand your ground, and you have to one, not let yourself be easily influenced by other people and two, know that your words have meaning.”
Grant, who has maintained that he gave Juliana a heads-up about Litia’s reaction to their split, told Us that he let Litia “speak her truth and her piece” at the live portion of the final.
“I’m not gonna sit up there and argue with her on stage about what she thought I said. But I think that having a little more clarity — when you are the Bachelor, you do see your final two contestants as somebody that could be your wife. That’s where some confusion came into play. There’s room for interpretation when things are said, ‘off camera,’” he told Us. “At that point in time, I can’t really say much. I’m not gonna argue, I just have to accept whatever the conditions are and apologize and let her feel how she feels because she’s in a tough situation and she’s hurt. I understand.”
When asked about the comments Litia made about her, Juliana added, “I think the only reaction I have is that we are two different individuals and we have to go through this process very uniquely and very true to who we are. And I wish her well.”
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During Carolina’s interview, she did acknowledge that the format of the ABC reality show allows the Bachelor to explore connections with several suitors — and said “the right way” to lead the show would be to “keep an open mind.”
“So you shouldn’t really know until the end who it is, because who you like today might change tomorrow. If you were the Bachelor and you’re like, ‘I knew from day one that it was going to be her,’ then in my mind, you weren’t a good person. Because if I was in that position and I was so sure about someone so early, then I would just have to cut the show,” Carolina said. “I made a joke at our one-on-one when he was so reassuring, I was like, ‘Are we about to pull Clare Crawley here?’ Because he was so reassuring. Morally, ethically, that’s the only way that I could have ever done it.”
Clare, 44, cut her season 16 of The Bachelorette early when she met Dale Moss, whom she got engaged to less than two weeks after filming. The pair have since split.
“I think if you want to be the Bachelor, you need to be real with yourself and be like, ‘There’s no way that I know everything about this person in one day. I need to give it that time and let it all play out,’” Carolina said. “So then why are you making these promises? Leading people on for the sake of TV is, to me, insane and cruel and I could never do it, and I don’t respect people who can do that either. I think he has the right to change his mind as the Bachelor, and that’s fine. He just shouldn’t have said what he said.”
