When it comes to the drama involving this season of The Bachelor Australia, the hits just keep on coming.
And today’s daily dose of drama is about that fight between BFFs Irena and Bella, two of the top three women vying for Locky’s heart.
According to the So Dramatic podcast, the context behind the fight was completely different to what we witnessed on-screen.
In the episode, the fight between the best friends was seemingly centred around how much time each of them were spending with Locky.
But according to podcast host Megan Pustetto, while Bachelor producers did not show the full story, one reason behind it was the “obvious underlying jealousy” from Bella after she noticed Irena and Locky’s close connection, and that she couldn’t remain friends with her biggest competition.
However, the main reason why the pair began their feud was allegedly due to a “body-shaming incident” that took place off screen and since the incident, “they are no longer friends”.
According to the podcast, Irena told Steph that Bella had “body-shamed” her, from there Steph confronted Bella who denied the accusation. Bella then supposedly recruited a “mean girl clique” which included Bella, Izzy, Madi and Steph.
From there, the group devised a plan to reveal Irena’s supposed manipulative nature to Locky. And apparently said group only backed Bella’s plans in order to be in her good books which could lead to increased screen time for them.
According to Pustetto, the feud is said to continue all the way up until the end of the season, with none of the other girls wanting to be around either Bella or Irena for fear that someone would get thrown under the bus.
Whether the rumours are true or not, as women, we should be supporting one another and body shaming is never the answer. No matter if it’s a friend or a celebrity on a television show, holding unfair and unrealistic expectations of women and their bodies is damaging and completely unnecessary.
Reminding us about said fact is ex-Bachelor contestant Abbie Chatfield. Speaking out against the criticism she’s faced over her body, Chatfield recently clapped back at hurtful comments calling out her beautiful figure.
“It gets exhausting and I just want it to stop. I want it to stop for me, but also for people who read these comments and think it’s the norm,” she said. “Speaking about women as objects, analysing their weight and saying you would ‘take them for a ride’ is especially repugnant.”
She concluded: “Saying all I need to do is stay the ‘correct’ weight is… f**ked? It implies that to have worth I need to stay thin, and that my value exists only when I fit into a standard of beauty that is not realistic.”
