Former ‘Bachelor’ Star Roxi Has Revealed Why Irena & Bella Actually Fell Out
They were two Bachelor besties who ended up in one of the biggest beefs the reality show has ever seen, and while winner Irena Srbinovska and runner-up Bella Varelis have since moved on from the 2020 season, questions still hover over what went wrong in their friendship.
Enter Roxi Kenny. Remember Roxi? She was an explosive character on Locky Gilbert’s season, most remembered for her long-running feud with Juliette Herrera. Maybe this will jog your memory…
Juliette: *breathes*
Roxi: #TheBachelorAU pic.twitter.com/nApIsUVdau
— Jerome Doraisamy (@JeromeDoraisamy) September 10, 2020
In a rather juicy interview on the So Dramatic! podcast, Roxi has shared what she thinks went wrong between Irena and Bella. From the viewer’s perspective, the two were firm friends in the first half of the show, then things took a turn during the time spent back home in lockdown when dates resumed virtually. After all the women returned to the mansion, Irena and Bella got into a heated argument and in the weeks following — including a very awkward finale — they were barely speaking.
“They obviously both had feelings for him and they were friends and it… got in the way, as men do,” Roxi told podcast host Megan Pustetto. “It just kind of turned bitter because it turned into almost a competition between the two of them.”
This makes sense. In the 2020 season, both Irena and Bella were the clear frontrunners. Locky even told both of them that he loved them in the finale… which is a super normal thing to do. Roxi said that the friends both pursuing Locky put a strain on their friendship. “I mean, it’s expected,” Roxi continued. “You want to feel good and happy for your friend but you’re also like, ‘Don’t take my man!’”
As for what triggered their big fight after lockdown, Roxi addressed a rumour that Irena may have spread around the mansion that Bella has previously body-shamed her, labelling it “messed up” and claiming it was a “fabrication” on Irena’s part. “I just can’t imagine anybody being that hateful towards someone or saying these disgusting things,” she told So Dramatic!. “[Bella’s] not confrontational. She’s very placid. It just seemed really outside of her nature to do something like that.”
Bella has addressed Irena’s claims in a previous interview. “She tried to tell a few of the girls that I had body-shamed her which literally never happened,” she told Life Uncut in 2020. “She actually has a great body, she’s a babe, and I would constantly tell her that.”
Unlike most Bachy couples who crash and burn, Irena and Locky are still a couple and currently living together in Perth.
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