The Bachelorette‘s shocking finale had Bachelor Nation in uproar. Not only did they reveal that Jenn Tran and Devin Strader had already broken up before the engagement was shown, but the show also got into the nitty-gritty of what went down between Jenn and Devin. One of the shocking details revealed is that the day after Devin ended things with Jenn over a 15-minute phone call, he followed a bunch of girls on Instagram.
Jenn specifically called him out for following The Bachelor alum Maria Georgas. On After the Final Rose, Jenn slammed Devin for following Maria. She said, “It completely invalidated our entire relationship, everything that I had felt for you, everything that we’d felt for each other.”
Although none of this is in Maria’s hands, the social media star decided to speak up. A day after the finale, Maria took to Instagram to break her silence on the situation. She posted, “Just got back from a peaceful trip. This was not something I wanted to come home to but I have some things to say and this time I will not be holding back.” Maria deleted the Instagram Story, but she stayed true to her word about speaking out.
“Last night was hard to watch, and my heart goes out to Jenn,” Maria began her TikTok video. “Going through something like that is one thing, but then having to like rewatch and relive everything is a whole different ballgame.”
@georgasisboredPut it to REST.♬ original sound – Maria Georgas
She added, “I understand that Jenn having to speak up about it. Say your peace, girlfriend. I respect it. I just think that like, without the full context, it leads people to believe a whole different narrative. Yes, Devin followed me on Instagram. Guys, I don’t pay attention to who follows me and who doesn’t. I had no clue about that until people brought it to my attention. I didn’t know. And by that time, when I found out, he had unfollowed.”
Maria quickly cleared the air about Devin. “I’ve never met Devin before. I never went clubbing out with him. I understand he did his own thing,” she said. The Canadian native acknowledged she went out with Jenn’s eliminated suitor Jeremy Simon, but Devin was not there.
She declared, “I will never follow that man, and people knew that.” The Bachelor Nation alum went on to say that she had “nothing to do with the ending of their relationship.”
The 30-year-old continued, “My name being brought up was a shock. I know it was brought up before on the show, and I heard about it. This is why I cannot be Bachelorette. This is why I could not do what Jenn did in her position. The moment a man was gonna bring up another girl’s name to my face, [I] would be [like], there’s the f**king door. I hate that that happened to her.”
Maria wished she had not been “dragged” into Jenn and Devin’s breakup drama. “Just because we separated our ways and we’re no longer friends doesn’t mean we hate each other and doesn’t mean that if someone’s gonna disrespect her in my face, then I’m gonna sit here and stand for it,” she said.
Maria and Jenn first met while vying for Joey Graziadei‘s love on The Bachelor Season 28. Both women were fan favorites, and at some point, it was rumored that Maria would be the next Bachelorette. The Canadian beauty even confirmed this when she revealed to Alex Cooper on Call Her Daddy that she turned down the opportunity.
Devin’s Instagram follow might have hurt even more as Sam McKinney, another one of Jenn’s suitors, candidly admitted to thinking either Maria or Daisy Kent would be the Bachelorette when he signed up for the show, before adding that the Miami resident isn’t even his type. Therefore, it makes sense that Devin following Maria on Instagram cut Jenn deep.
What did you think of Maria’s statement? Do you think Jenn was right to call out Devin for following Maria? Let us know your thoughts in the comments below.