Maria Georgas Reveals She's 'Not Going' on Bachelor in Paradise
The Bachelor alum Maria Georgas confirmed that she is “not going” on Bachelor in Paradise after she said she turned down The Bachelorette role for season 21.
After Jenn Tran claimed that ex Devin Strader followed Maria, 30, on Instagram following their split, the Canada native weighed in on the drama in a TikTok video shared on Thursday, September 5. She acknowledged that Jenn, 26, accused Devin, 28, of “clubbing” with fellow contestant Jeremy Simons shortly after they called off their engagement, though clarified that she wasn’t involved in that particular outing.
“I never went clubbing out with him,” Maria said about Devin. “He did his own thing. Did I go out with Jeremy – a night with friends, a bunch of us together? Yes, I did.”
After noting that Jenn and Jeremy, 29, split on good terms, Maria went on to compare the way she was mingling to other Bachelor Nation stars going on Bachelor in Paradise to find love. “What do you think Paradise is? It’s everyone’s exes – girls and guys – on a beach trying to mix and mingle. But I’m not going on Paradise, so I’m doing this s–t in real life,” the former reality star continued.
She then explained that she was “meeting people through friends” and argued it’s a “very normal” way to go about meeting potential dates. Maria added that she would not “apologize” for trying to meet other Bachelor Nation stars.
As for Jenn’s claims that Devin followed Maria on Instagram, she insisted that she wasn’t aware Devin followed her until the New Jersey native made the claims public during The Bachelorette finale on Tuesday, September 3. However, Maria said she understood why Jenn called Devin out on the drama.
“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. By the time I found out, he had unfollowed,” she explained, adding that she has never met Devin and didn’t follow him back on Instagram.
Maria and Jenn have a long history, which began when they both starred on season 28 of The Bachelor. They were also both contenders to become the lead for The Bachelorette, while Maria claimed during a May appearance on the “Call Her Daddy” podcast that the role was hers and she opted to step away after becoming overwhelmed.
One month later, Jenn slammed Maria’s claims during her own appearance on “Call Her Daddy” and argued that the “narrative” surrounding her casting on the show wasn’t true. “This show has been going on for years and years – 21 years of this show specifically – and every season there are multiple people in contention for the role,” she said at the time. “Multiple people are doing interviews or doing fittings or filming intro packages. And it’s never really you until it’s you. That’s why I was a little disappointed. The narratives out there aren’t exactly true.”
Maria reportedly unfollowed Jenn on social media after the interview, which sparked feud rumors.