The Bachelor alum Kaity Biggar has set the record straight on what really happened in her Fantasy Suite with Zach Shallcross.
As The Bachelor fans probably recall, Zach admitted to Kaity before they got engaged that he had slept with Gabi Elnicki during Fantasy Suite Week.
Gabi was eliminated from The Bachelor's 27th season in second place, and she left the show feeling devastated, humiliated and "extremely violated."
Gabi apparently didn't want Zach talking about their sex life to other bachelorettes, and she wasn't prepared for the whole world to find out about their off-camera sexual encounter.
Given the drama that was surrounding Gabi and Zach after Fantasy Suites, Kaity's overnight date with The Bachelor star didn't receive much attention.
But according to Kaity -- who just married Zach in May -- she never had sex with Zach while filming The Bachelor.
"Let's just clear the air while we are here... we never slept together," Kaity told fans during a recent Instagram Q&A session.
Kaity insisted she didn't sleep with Zach during their first one-on-one date, when they had slept in a tent together overnight, "or at all during the show."
During a March appearance on "The Ben & Ashley I: Almost Famous Podcast" co-hosted by Ben Higgins and Ashley Iaconetti, Gabi thanked God that she didn't end up with Zach on the show.
Gabi said what helped her realize Zach wasn't her person is that "he didn't protect me at all" during and after The Bachelor Fantasy Suites.
Not only did Zach choose to break Gabi's heart as part of a grand spectacle for TV during the Final Rose Ceremony in Thailand, but he also publicly spilled their oh-so-personal secret that they had sex in the Fantasy Suite, which made Gabi feel betrayed.
"This isn't just a TV show, so what you say actually impacts people in their real lives. And unfortunately, I got really attacked for that one," Gabi complained.
"But it's okay. I've grown up and I'm stronger for having gone through that. But I knew in that moment someone who will be a real partner to me would choose to protect me in that moment."
Gabi pointed out how Zach could've told Kaity about their sexual encounter in private and off-camera.
Since Zach had announced before Fantasy Suites that he wasn't going to be intimate with anyone in order to not cloud his judgement, Gabi received a lot of backlash from fans once Zach let the public know that he did, in fact, have sex with Gabi during their overnight date.
"My privacy was not a concern to him knowing that people can take this and use it however they want on the Internet," Gabi vented.
"People are going to come for me, and I think that was really telling, 'This person isn't my partner,' because I didn't feel like I was protected by him in any capacity."
Gabi acknowledged that Zach was "trying to be protective" of Kaity, which made sense since they loved each other and ended up together. But Gabi pointed out how Zach "could've been a little more mindful of me."
After The Bachelor aired, Gabi claimed Zach had lied to her about the moment in which he selected Kaity as his winner and that he should've dumped her sooner and in a less dramatic fashion.
(Zach had told Gabi that he'd made his final decision the night before the Final Rose Ceremony, but Zach later told The Bachelor host Jesse Palmer that he knew earlier in the process Kaity was his match).
But the Vermont native explained on the "Off the Vine with Kaitlyn Bristowe" podcast in April 2023 that she had no regrets about her stint on The Bachelor, even though it was a painful journey for her.
"I don't regret it because I learned so much about myself and there's so much time for self-reflection. That's actually the only thing you can do besides think about Zach all day long, is reflect on yourself," Gabi said at the time.
When asked whether she was "over" Zach following their split, Gabi replied, "I think I thought I was over him. But when you leave the bubble, you are saying goodbye for good, right?"
She continued, "You can't call them, you can't text them. I'm not hitting him up on Instagram. He's with, you know, one of my best friends and I knew they were together. And I wouldn't have wanted to reach out to him anyways."
Gabi said once she had returned home from filming, she attempted to get back into her normal routine of working in sales. Gabi also leaned on family, friends and one pint of Ben & Jerry's ice cream to get her through each day.
"Watching it back was definitely... difficult. But for me, I don't think I'm over how violated I felt by the end of the show and how hurt I felt. But I'm over Zach, if that makes sense," Gabi told Kaitlyn at the time.
"I don't know. Maybe I'm not over him and I'm just saying that."
But Gabi confirmed that if Zach came running back to her asking for a second chance, she'd say, "No."
Gabi, however, is currently in a happy relationship and living with her boyfriend in Houston, TX.
