by Gina Scarpa

 

It was tough enough to come into Bachelor Pad as a fan but David definitely made a mistake when he drew a line in the sand between the fans and the veterans, and then told Erica Rose everyone was voting for her. Though some welcomed him with open arms, his alliance took a major hit when Paige and Swat were sent home at the first rose ceremony and now, he has a lot of damage control to do. Today, David talked to RealityWanted and reporters in a press conference call about his strategy, whether or not the fans really stuck together, and who would be the best person to take to the end.

 

Q. Gina, RealityWanted: In Michael Stagliano's blog, he said the guys accepted you and liked you. Why did you go after the veterans, given that?
A. David: When we first got there, it did seem like the guys were more willing to accept us. The guys were very up front. Right off the bat, you could see that the girls would say something to the new girl fans and then go say something else to each other. I got the impression that we were the outsiders.

 

Q. Gina, RealityWanted: Do you think going the route of new players versus veterans was a bad move?
A. David: It was absolutely putting myself in a risky position. We had two guy newbies on the show and three girls. Even though me and the twins were safe and had one vote against Erica, that means nothing. We needed veterans to vote with us to get a veteran out of the house. Everyone gave us that sense that we were going first. I looked to the challenge and went to Rachel, Reid, and Kalon because they paired up with new people. I thought they would be more accepting about having us as part of the game. Erica Rose puts a bad taste in people's mouths. I was hoping they would come to me and say they were not a fan of her and were willing to come with us.

 

Q. Why did you choose to pair up with the twins?
A. David: We were on the couch and Chris Harrison announced we were going to start teaming up. The twins were next to me. The two people on each side of us paired up with each other. We looked at each other and I said, "Let's join up as a team and if we can find a pair of veterans, because that's a smarter play, we'll find someone to split with us." We tried other groups and no one would go for it.

 

Q. What made you decide to tell your plan to everyone publicly?
A. David: The one thing was... when we were sitting around and everyone was talking, at that point, I had already gone up to people individually. People I had told my plan to, the people with Erica, went right back and told her. When she came over and asked me that question, she had already known what my plan was and I wasn't going to lie to her face. I thought she might respect the fact that I was honest. If you notice later in the episode, she does say, "At least he was honest with me." I was throwing myself out there because I was safe after winning the challenge. I didn't ask anyone else to take that risk or throw the plan out there. But then Swat took it upon himself to go to the kitchen and tell Erica he was going to go with my plan.

 

Q. It seems weird that Swat decided to vote for Paige. Why do you think he voted for her? Do you think it was revenge?
A. David: Paige certainly did not need to get that vote against her. We're all kind of in this together as fans and facing the same pressure. I wish we would've stuck together. I don't think he realized how close he was to staying. The veterans we talked to... I believed them. They knew by going with us, that we could take out the final eight alliance. I think I should've spent more times on the fans. I'm not sure that the fans voted the way they said they were going to. The fact that everyone was starstruck, they were more likely to believe them when they told them something.

 

Q. Do you think Swat ruined your game?
A. David: Yeah, I think Paige would've stayed if he voted the way we talked about voting. He was clearly upset and he said, "Well David's plan screwed me over so now I'm not going to follow the plan." It blows my mind to think anyone would vote any other way. There were some people in the house that I never had a direct conversation with, unless I pulled them aside. It was made clear that we were not welcome.

 

Q. After your choice to confront Erica directly about your plan, you must have a bit of a target on your back now. Erica, love her or hate her, she's good at playing the game. Were you worried?
A. David: Before the first challenge, we had all already spent the first night together. We already knew me and Swat were going home first and second, and the girls were going home the first three rose ceremonies. Walking in, I knew we didn't have the numbers but at least with the votes against them, we had a one up to take the lead in the house. I knew if we didn't get that vote, it was over anyway. I know Erica from being a fan and watching her. I knew that she was the last person in the entire house that you wanna upset. If you upset her, you're gonna hear it and she's gonna come after you.

 

Q. Erica Rose threatened to make your life hell if she was voted off. She wasn't, so can you tell us what she does?
A. David: Obviously, I can't tell you what she does. I can tell you that she does hold a grudge and all my hope was, after hearing that, just to kill her with kindness and keep bringing up the fact that I'm a fan. Her and Michael were the two I was most excited to see. That strategy is the only way I see to play this.

 

Q. Who do you think has the best chance to win?
A. David: Well, it's tough because everyone does like Michael. He's a great guy. I think that it's smart to try to take him to the final because he's already won and no matter how great of a guy he is, no one is going to pick him twice to win unless they hate the other team in the final. If you can bring Michael as the other guy, I think you have a great chance of winning the money in the end.

 

Bachelor Paid airs Mondays at 8/7c on ABC.

 

(Image courtesy of ABC)

 

Follow Gina @ginascarpa