Strap in: The Bachelor Australia 2020’s newly eliminated contestant Izzy Sharman-Firth has weighed in on Bella and Irena’s ‘fight’ since leaving the show, and we’re honestly more confused than ever.
Following her departure hometowns episode, the 29-year-old contestant gave an interview to Pedestrian.TV, where she revealed that it’s been “frustrating” to watch the season (can relate) because the producers have seemingly omitted a lot of things from the show, most notably in relation to Bella and Irena’s fall-out.
“We saw the relationship break down when we came back to the mansion [after Love in Lockdown],” Izzy told the outlet.
“In reality, there was so much that happened. Some of it was in lockdown – when we were filming – some of it happened just as soon as we left the mansion.”
Izzy, who up until that point apparently didn’t like Bella very much, noted that she began to “question” what she’d heard about the final two contestant during lockdown.
“I had heard things about her, I heard that she was strategic and just there for social media,” Izzy shared. “But during lockdown, I started to realise that a lot of that stuff had come from Irena. So I started to question it.”
According to her, we didn’t get the complete picture of what had transpired.
And here’s where it gets… confusing.
“There were a lot of things that were said to us and to Locky [about Bella] by Irena, and that got revealed during lockdown. What we saw when we came back from the mansion is just Bella’s reaction to it,” Izzy explained.
“Bella had thought that she and Irena were best friends and it did feel like a complete betrayal to learn that the person she was closest to and had been closest with had been, I guess, doing and saying things that affected how other people thought of her.
“When someone’s best friend is saying subtle things – and I think Irena is very good at saying subtle things in a way that doesn’t seem like an attack – that cast doubt in Locky’s mind about Bella’s intentions and it caused a lot of issues in their relationship.”
She also added that she does not think Irena is necessarily the ‘villain’ in this scenario.
“I’m not trying to say that Irena is the baddie, or she’s completely in the wrong,” Izzy said.
“I just think there are two sides in it and people have had the opportunity to make judgements based on seeing really only half of it.”
It’s not the first time Izzy has spoken somewhat in defence of Bella. Earlier in September, she responded to an Instagram user who insinuated that Bella’s “insecurities” are ruining her chances with Locky Gilbert in a since-deleted comment, writing:
“Or maybe you’re just not seeing the full story.”
Fellow contestant Steph Harper has also defended Bella. In conversation with Now To Love following her elimination, she told the publication that “so much happened” that we didnt’ see.
“There’s a lot of stuff that you don’t see between Bella and Irena — so much happened,” Steph said.
“I do think Bella was justified [in calling out Irena]. She had a reaction to something, and yes, she might have gone a bit OTT, but in the mansion, who doesn’t? I know I had my moments there.”
