They say … love, it don’t come eaaaaaaaasy. They also say there are two sides to every story, and The Bachelorette‘s Wes Hayden wants to make his known.
The Austin, Tex., singer’s eight-episode stint on the ABC show came to an end Monday after all kinds of controversy over whether he just went on the show to promote his music, and/or whether he had/has a girlfriend back home.
He’s been called every name in the book, and that’s fine by him. But Wes Hayden says it’s all bogus, and he is simply a victim of deceptive, false editing.
In an interview on an Austin radio station, he addressed the #1 rumor that has plagued the alleged singer but also his alleged girlfriend, Laurel Kagay.
“I had a girlfriend last summer. She’s still a very good friend of mine. Every now and then we’ll go out and do lunch or something like that. I mean, I did some work for her mom, I’m good friends with her family,” Wes Hayden said.
“I just called [The Bachelorette producers] two weeks ago, and was like, ‘Look. I don’t care what y’all do to me. You can say I’m the worst guy in the world and I’m here for publicity, that I’ve got a girlfriend. But don’t mention anybody’s name.”
“As soon as you mention her name, people in Austin are going to know her, because we dated for a long time. Sure enough, they mentioned her name the very next day.”
And that’s just the tip of the iceberg, according to Wes Hayden.
As for his nasty statement after being booted by Jillian Harris, in which he boasted, “I’m the only guy in The Bachelorette history who’s made it to the top four with a girlfriend,” Wes says his limo comments were completely butchered.
“They don’t play what I say after that. I said, ‘Only guy in Bachelorette history to make it to the top four with a girlfriend. Get real, dude. If I had a girlfriend, I’d be home with her right now, and I wouldn’t be putting up with this $h!t.'”
“They did stuff like that all the way through. They take whatever they want and just play what they want. It’s not rocket science. I promise. I do have a career. I’ve been a musician 14 years. I would not go on national TV and sink myself.”
Wes does note that “there had to be drama, there had to be ratings” and that The Bachelorette chose him for it, otherwise “the show would have been boring.”
But he has a word of advice for people considering going on reality TV.
“I think everybody needs to remember that this is a TV show, and it’s here for ratings. If anybody wants to go on any kind of reality show they really need to consider what could happen to them, and think about it long and hard.”
“If you do go on, don’t say a whole lot, because they can pretty much do whatever they want. Basically when you sign up for a show like this you pretty much relinquish every right that you have,” Wes Hayden lamented.
Love him or hate him, he did make Jillian Harris’ journey a lot more fun to watch. Click to enlarge some of Wes Hayden’s greatest hits …