by Gina Scarpa

 

If there's one lesson Bachelor Pad fan favorite Michael Stagliano learned last week on Bachelor Pad, it was "Never cross Erica Rose." After a twist was announced that the female voted out could take any guy without a rose home with her, he devised a plan to make her think that Chris was out to get her. During voting at the last minute, Chris brought Erica into the voting room to show her his loyalty and when she was sent home, she made sure Michael was heading out in the other limo. Late last week, Erica talked to RealityWanted and reporters about her elimination, her friendships with some, and her feelings on the rest of the mansion dwellers this season on Bachelor Pad.

 

Q. Gina, RealityWanted: Who would you say was your closest ally in the game?
A. Erica: My closest friend in the house is definitely Sarah Newlon because we were like really good friends going into the show and we're still, you know, and the whole thing has made us even closer even though we had to deal, you know, arguments and whatever. But actually in terms of being an ally, I would say, Nick was, you know, my closest ally and just because we would vote consistently together every single week. And we had agreed on, you know, what girl or what guy to vote for and we'd always do it. And you know, and we were going to be partners had I have not been eliminated because Rachel was going to be with Michael and I was going to be with Nick. So, he was probably and like the only person who would tell me, "This is who I'm voting for." And he would always do that every single week and, you know, when I watch and I saw that he was always true to his word and I was always true to mine.

 

Q. Gina, RealityWanted: When you left Bachelor Pad, you definitely had some harsh words for Michael. Did you feel bad about what you said afterwards or did you feel like he deserved it based on his actions towards you?
A. Erica: That's like the weird thing about it is, you know, I really spoke my mind in that and everything that I was thinking at the moment came out. And I still agree with the things I said but maybe you don't always to say whatever you're thinking, you know what I mean? And in that moment, I was thinking hearing, "Oh, my gosh, this was a mean thing to say to him." Do I think Holly made the right decision with Blake? Of course, 100 percent and they couldn't be happier. And I do think that Blake is a more genuine and honest person than Michael as I've gotten to know them both very well. And while Michael can be friendly and fun and, you know, a good time he hasn't proved to me that he is an honest, genuine person and that's - I meant that. You know, so it's hard for me to know on whether or not I should apologize because I do think the things I said are true. But I'm sure people always think certain things and they just don't say them. So, I'm not going to apologize for thinking them but I guess I could apologize for saying them.

 

 

Q. When did you suspect that Michael was lying to you and had you trusted him up to that point?
A. Erica: Well, first of all, when he told me that Chris voted for me and then Chris came up and he was like, "I haven't voted yet and I'll take you into the voting room right now to show you that I'm not voting for you." I was like, "Okay, Michael is probably lying." And then when I came out to the voting room with Chris, I could tell Michael was really upset about it. I knew something was up because, you know, if you hadn't voted for me and you didn't want me to leave then he wouldn't care that Chris took me in the voting room.

 

Q. Do you accept that you have to lie on The Bachelor Pad? And if so, why were you so upset at Michael for lying to you?
A. Erica: I can understand that you might have to tell some lies but the reason I was so upset with Michael, in particular, lying to me is because like he even said, you know, and he's like, "Well, I'm going to try to get rid of my dear friend, Erica Rose." We really were good friends or so I thought going into this because we are both on Bachelor Pad 2 together. And aside from that, we hang out a lot over this past year. And you know, we go out a lot on concerts and we're just doing different things that friends do. If it was someone that I have just met, you know, at this season and who lied to me, like Ed or someone like that, I don't take it as personally but because of my friendship with Michael and that's why I felt so betrayed.

 

Q. Did you ever worry that Michael was actually telling you the truth the entire time and that Chris just decided last minute to show you that he was voting for Lindzi and kind of a last ditch effort to save himself in the game?
A. Erica: I definitely thought that that could be a possibility that if Lindzi was leaving, she'd take him with her. He was taking a huge gamble but I don't know. If you watch it, Michael was really the one orchestrating it. And at that point, Chris didn't have that much influence over the house. He wasn't in the main alliance as Michael said. Michael is the one that could persuade Jaclyn, Ed, Rachel, Tony, Blakeley, Kalon, and Lindzi. And he's the one that controls the entire house and masterminded that scheme.

 

Q. The show presented it like Chris deliberately decided to take you into the voting booth, but in an interview he did this week, Chris Harrison suggested, Chris only mentioned it to you as a joke and it kind of snowballed from there. Can you clarify that?
A. Erica: I think he mentioned it to Kalon jokingly based on the conversation and Kalon said, "Yes, you should totally do it." And then, as I was talking to Michael, he came up to me and he's like, "Look, I'll prove to you that I have not voted for you yet, so Michael's lying and I'll vote for Lindzi." And so, the fact that Michael would say that when Chris hadn't voted yet was my first red flag that Michael was lying.

 

Q. At the start of the show you mentioned that you didn't get along with Kalon already. Did your opinion of him change?
A. Erica: I thought we did get along well in Bachelor Pad and I thought that we were friends. But then, when I watched it back, he said some pretty rude things about me. Whether or not he was trying to be funny or whatever it's like, in two different episodes, he basically called me "fat." And that was what our whole fight was about in the beginning, years ago. I just don't understand why he has such a fixation on my appearance. Yes, I know and I'm not a size zero like Lindzi and that's his type and that's fine but I'm a size six and the average American woman is a size like 10 or something. So, no, I don't consider him a friend at this point, definitely not.

 

Q. We've been starting to see some relationships developing on the show. Do you think they're genuine or are they're just strategic?
A. Erica: I think a lot of them were strategic. Like for example with Michael and Rachel, I personally definitely believe that that was strategic. And I do think that when Blakeley and Tony first partnered up, it was a strategic thing. But now, I think their relationship is definitely genuine. And then, Kalon and Lindzi, I know are still kind of seeing each other too. And so, that will be interesting to see if that blossoms.

 

Q. Now that you've seen the episodes airing, is there anything that you kind of regret doing or saying?
A. Erica: I do regret trusting Michael so much because if I would have caught on earlier on to the fact that he was lying to me, I could have said, "And you know what Michael? If you eliminate I'm going to take you out with me." If I had told him that, he would have like scrambled his little alliance together and not voted for me. The only thing I regret is just really and honestly trusting Michael because he was one of the few people in the house who I did think that I could trust.

 

 

 

 

 

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

 

(Image courtesy of ABC)

 

 

Follow Gina @ginascarpa