Zach Shallcross has been criticized through much of this season of “The Bachelor” for being boring. Now, though, he’s facing a very different criticism for how he’s been treating the women in recent episodes.
Former franchise lead Nick Viall, who knows a thing or 20 about juggling multiple women on a reality dating show, called out Zach over two recent incidents on the show, saying the 25 year old was a “total d—.”
After the latest episode, Viall jumped on Twitter to express his frustration with the direction the season has been going, and Zach’s behavior specifically.
In the episode, Jess Girod was spiraling over the fact that she was the only (non-Covid-infected) contestant to have not yet had a One-on-One. The other women tried to console her, but she was inconsolable, feeling that she was falling way behind everyone else in building her relationship.
While Jess was a lot about it, she wasn’t entirely wrong in her thinking. One-on-One dates allow a single contestant to spend an entire day and evening with Zach, incomparable time to open up and build a stronger connection.
Where things took an unexpected turn was when Jess expressed her fears and concerns about not getting a One-on-One to Zach and he dismissed her out of turn, almost getting frustrated with her for feeling this way.
Zach tried to argue that it’s not about the One-on-One but about spending quality time together when they do get that chance, but Jess wasn’t buying that … and neither was Nick.
“That’s 2 weeks in [a] row now Zach was a total d— to one of the wom[e]n,” he tweeted. “It’s literally all about the one on one. Zach knows that. He made Jess feel like she messed up for expressing a valid concern.”
After spiraling back and forth and making no progress in understanding one another’s points of view, Zach ultimately booted Jess altogether from the competition, walking her out. Jess was stunned in the limo, as she did not expect their conversation to end her journey, and later told Us Weekly she felt “blindsided.”
Talking to the outlet at the recent “Women Tell All” taping, Jess had nothing but praise for Zach, though, calling him “an amazing guy.” She chalked it up to them not understanding one another or communicating well.
“it doesn’t mean that I was in the right and he was in the wrong. Like, there was no right or wrong,” she said. “He was speaking his truth. I was speaking mine the best that we could, so I was not ever upset with him. It was more of just, like, I wish we could have understood each other.”
Nick, however, continued to lay into Zach on social media for the move. “Zach is acting like the guy who gets mad at his girlfriend for not letting him know she wanted validation on her birthday,” he tweeted.
The previous incident Nick referenced happened while Zach was in quarantine for Greer Blitzer. She was the aforementioned contestant who had Covid this past week and was able to continue in the competition despite not appearing at all.
Two weeks ago, though, it was Zach who was sick, isolating in his room. In an unprecedented decision, he and the producers decided to have a virtual Cocktail Party, where the women would come in one at a time and chat with Zach before a virtual elimination Rose Ceremony.
For her part, Greer attempted to empathize with Zach’s situation by comparing his frustration missing out at this key moment in his journey to her having had Covid previously at the end of a quarter, impacting her sales goals.
“I know how you feel missing out on things,” she told him. But he did not receive this comparison well at all, aggressively telling her, “I think me missing out on finding a wife is slightly more important,” he argued.
Like Jess, Greer attempted multiple times to express herself in a way to make it clear she wasn’t trying to minimize his experience or say it was equal to sales. She was just trying to relate to him and what he was going through, but they never got on the same page, either.
The cringe conversation quickly went viral, with Zach getting his first flack for something other than being boring. The noise was so much that Zach came out and addressed it himself in an interview with Variety.
“Watching it back, I completely empathize with her,” Zach conceded. “I think she was really just trying to connect and relate with me when I had Covid, and really I was just already frustrated with everything going on.”
“I definitely could have delivered my sentiment in a lot more of a respectful way, in a calmer way,” he continued. “It was just one of those conversations that just was off. No excuse, I should have responded better, so I totally, totally, 100 percent get where she’s coming from.”
Zach has not addressed the dismissal of Jess, but Greer appeared to allude to the controversy after the episode aired, sharing an Instagram post captioned, “Women who care about their careers are hot.”
“The Bachelor” is down to its Top 7 with new episodes airing every Monday at 8 p.m. ET on ABC.
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