It’s been two weeks since we were all traumatized by the Bachelor finale on March 27, 2023. But runner-up Gabi Elnicki is suffering the most, after having to relive her breakup with Zach Shallcross on live television.
Appearing as Kaitlyn Bristowe’s guest on her Off the Vine podcast on April 6, Gabi claimed not to be holding any “grudge” or “resentment” against Zach. But according to Us Weekly, she’s still having a tough time moving past his making public on national TV that they had sex in the Fantasy Suite.
In case you’ve blocked it from your memory, Zach and Gabi had consensual sex on their overnight date. The tech exec promised Gabi at the time that it would remain “just between us . . . our secret.” But then his guilt ate at him, so he decided to make an on-camera confession to both host Jesse Palmer and his other girlfriend Kaity Biggar.
“Do I think I’m going to be, like, pals with Zach?” Gabi asked Kaitlyn. “No. Am I still angry and hurt? Absolutely.”
“But he is going to hopefully marry one of my close friends, and I plan to stay in Kaity’s life,” she added. “I’m hoping I can let that [anger and resentment] go at some point. But I do think that, at this point, I still feel violated. And I’m still getting over all of it.”
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Despite all the drama and hurt feelings, Kaity believes that the two of them can remain friends. And even though Gabi agrees, she admitted to Kaitlyn that their friendship is “awkward” at the moment. I can’t imagine why. It’s not awkward at all that Gabi had sex with Kaity’s boyfriend before she did. And Gabi got dumped, while Kaity got the ring.
“It’s difficult because I only want what’s best for Kaity,” Gabi told the Season 11 Bachelorette. “I don’t think that Zach is a bad person. I don’t think that he is a vindictive, mean person.”
She continued, “I don’t think he meant to hurt me. I think he just did because he wanted to save his relationship with Kaity.”
The Vermont native said, “I can’t fault him for that. I’m upset and I’m disappointed and I have a lot of emotions, and some of them don’t necessarily have words, but I want the best for [Kaity]. Gabi added, “So if [Zach] makes her happy and he respects her, and he shows her, you know, love and he protects her, then I’m happy for them.”
“And if I ever see that not happening,” the senior account exec continued, “I’ll be like, ‘Kaity, you need to walk away,’ just like I would do with any [of my other] friends. I’m trying to separate myself and my experience from judging their relationship from this point forward. It’s gonna take time.”
When Kaitlyn asked Gabi if she was “over” Zach, who’s currently planning to move in with Kaity in Austin, Texas, Gabi couldn’t give a definitive answer. “I thought I was over him,” she said. “But when you leave the bubble, you are saying goodbye for good, right? You can’t call them, you can’t text them. I’m not hitting him up on Instagram. He’s with, you know, one of my best friends.”
“But then watching it back was definitely more difficult,” Gabi admitted. “I saw it from all points of view. And I also was like, ‘Wait, what is [this]? What is true? What is not true?’” Ah, the magic of film editing to create a story.
Gabi suggested that some events — or even their order — might have been changed in the editing process. Really? This show would lie to us? Shocking! “Because I knew my truth,” she continued. “And it’s like, you know, ‘Is any of this fabricated?’” Gabi explained that “so many questions” came up while watching it back.
“I don’t think I’m over how violated I felt by the end of the show and how hurt I felt,” she finally admitted. “But I’m over Zach . . . maybe I’m not over him, and I’m just saying that.” She definitely still has some feelings and probably will for a while. Nick Viall and I do, too.
TELL US – ARE YOU SURPRISED TO HEAR THAT GABI STILL FEELS “VIOLATED” BY ZACH? DO YOU THINK SHE AND KAITY CAN REMAIN FRIENDS?
[Photo Credit: ABC/Ricky Middlesworth]
