Olivia Caridi got an earful when she faced her competitors on ABC’s Women Tell All special, but The Bachelor alum still feels the body shaming that occurred on the show was way out of line. In an interview with People , Caridi said she took offense to comments about her “bad breath” and her “fat toes.” But she also went into more detail about the bullying she endured as a child.
In the interview, Olivia said that while she knows she didn’t make many friends while she competed for Ben Higgins’ heart on The Bachelor , she didn’t expect to make enemies. Caridi said after she watched the show, she was especially stunned to see her ex-castmate Emily Ferguson talking about her having “bad breath” and fellow contestant Amber James making fun of her “fat toes.”
“I knew people were talking about me, but I didn’t anticipate the body shaming or the weirdness that came from that… The comments about my breath] hit the hardest. That was pretty embarrassing. That was pretty mean. I don’t think you need to resort to body-shaming to make a point. That was really brutal and hurtful to watch.”
Caridi also elaborated on her WTA comment that she was “severely bullied” as a child. While she didn’t go into a lot of detail about her childhood experiences during the Women Tell All show, she told People the bullying came because she was an overweight child.
“In elementary and middle school, I was severely overweight, I ate in the bathroom alone, people wouldn’t sit next to me on the bus. I’ve lived this. So to live it again, it’s brutal.”
Indeed, this season of The Bachelor could have been called Mean Girls , and Caridi wasn’t an innocent bystander, either. The 23-year-old TV news journalist doled out her own share of digs throughout the season. One of the most memorable things that came from Olivia’s often gaping mouth was a comment that being on the show with 25-year-old single mom Amanda Stanton was like watching an episode of Teen Mom .
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— The Bachelor (@BachelorABC) February 2, 2016
Olivia Caridi’s remark got the attention of Teen Mom OG star Farrah Abraham, who told Us Weekly that maybe Olivia should worry about supporting other women instead of bringing them down.
“I am older than most of these women on Bachelor , with my life together and organized. Maybe as women we can all agree — no matter how old, how many difficulties life throws at us, as parents or not — to support one another and hope for the best.”
During the WTA special, Olivia Caridi said she did take ownership of her sometimes snarky comments and apologized to Stanton as well as the other cast members that she offended. However, she was disappointed that she didn’t get similar apologies back for some of the hurtful things that were said about her.
Now that Olivia Caridi has told the story of her childhood struggles, some of her behavior on the show makes a little more sense. She made no bones about taking Ben Higgins for alone time as much as she could, which alienated her from the other contestants. But fans should also remember that the point of the show is to find love, not a new bestie.
Olivia Caridi has also spoken out to say she won’t be making a return to The Bachelor franchise. When asked if she’d consider a cameo on the summertime spinoff Bachelor in Paradise , she made her feelings clear, “No!”
Watch the video below to what Olivia Caridi has to say to her haters.
[Image via Olivia Caridi Twitter]
