The Bachelor’s Maria Georgas Says She’s ‘Not Innocent’ After Sydney Gordon Drama

The Bachelor’s Maria Georgas is taking responsibility for her part in this season’s cast drama.

“I just want to say, I’m not innocent in this,” Maria, 29, stated in a TikTok video shared on Sunday, February 18. “I like to say that I am a woman that speaks her mind and will defend herself at all costs. That’s just how I was raised.”

Maria has been at the center of this season’s drama ever since the show’s premiere last month. She sparked a feud with Sydney Gordon after Sydney, 28, accused her of downplaying Madina Alam’s insecurities about being the oldest contestant of the season. Although Maria clarified she did not mean to “age shame” Madina, 31, Sydney proceeded to accuse Maria of acting verbally abusive toward her and creating tension among the group.

“If I could go back, honestly, I would do things differently, especially when whatever you’re gonna say or do is just not gonna make the other person happy,” Maria noted on Sunday. “So, next time, I’m just gonna zip it.”

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Maria further clarified her feelings in text placed over the video. “When it comes to defending my character, I will stand up for myself every damn time,” she wrote.

The Canada native went on to note that navigating drama on The Bachelor is a “tricky” thing to do and that she is learning more of what her costars said about the drama while watching the season air.

“I can’t understand or explain or defend everyone’s actions and doings in the house, but I’m responsible for myself and I think that I could have done things better,” she continued. “So, I’ll leave it at that. But also, when I did say that things will be coming to light and will be spoken about, I stand by that. And being filmed 24/7, I knew that that would come in handy at some point.”

Maria wrapped up the discussion by telling fans that even though “you should always be nice to everyone you meet, to everyone around you,” people must earn your respect. “I don’t like to put myself in situations where I feel like I need to be on the attack. I don’t like to put myself in situations where I’m dealing with petty fights,” she explained. “I really don’t because there are things far worse that going on in people’s lives. And I just felt so lucky to be there.”

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Tensions between Maria and Sydney came to a head during a two-on-one date with Joey Graziadei on the show’s February 12 episode. Unable to figure out which woman was telling the truth about the drama, Joey ultimately sent Sydney home due to his stronger connection with Maria.

Following Sydney’s exit, contestant Lea Cayanan has continuously criticized Maria’s behavior and has expressed her disappointment that Maria has not been sent home.

Maria previously teased that fans will soon see her get to the bottom of the drama on the show. “We are all watching together at the same time,” she captioned a cast photo via her Instagram Story on February 13. “Things I’m seeing are new to me as well and are hard to watch but please during this time, don’t send hate to anyone. Things will come to light as soon as they can I promise you that so just remember PEACE LOVE AND POSITIVITY??.”

The Bachelor airs on ABC Mondays at 8 p.m. ET.