Bachelorette's Jess fires back at rumours of contestants 'hooking up'

The Bachelorette's Jess Franklin sadly didn't receive a rose on Thursday night's episode of the show and was sent home along with Bec Pressing, Matt Pottier and Emily Bebbington after four intruders entered the mansion.

Brooke Blurton shocked the original contestants when she chose to keep all four new intruders and say goodbye to four people who were there from the beginning.

Speaking with Yahoo Lifestyle, Jess admitted she didn't see it coming at all and thought it was a bit too early to be bringing in intruders.

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"Yeah, I think I did," she told us. "Because we, I suppose didn't get a big enough chance to be able to have that time with her you know? Yes, we're on group dates, but you know, we don't get that time that other people get on one on one dates or the cocktail parties and we're having that one on one time with her, but sometimes that can be cut really short.

"And sometimes you might not even get the chance to talk to her at every cocktail party. So yeah, I think that they would have been nice if they'd just let that go just a little bit longer!"

Speaking of the final cocktail party, Jess said she was even more shocked that she went home because she had 'a really nice chat with Brooke' where she opened up and was 'very vulnerable'.

"So after that, I felt good," she said. "I felt like, 'Yep, I've given her what she's sort of asked for all along, which was some more vulnerability,' which takes a lot for me. And then boom, don't get a rose."

"After that, there were a few tears and, you know, I said a few nice things to her. It was fine, because we didn't get the opportunity to form that relationship with her, that bond. There was no real, actual connection, so, you know, it was a mutual feeling and I'm totally find with that."

She added, however, that she wished she'd had more of a chance to show Australia more about her and who she is.

On the contestants 'hooking up'

One thing that got Jess quite fired up about, however, was the idea that the contestants in the mansion might be hooking up – something Brooke herself has spoken about in the past.

"Whether you have an interest in someone in the house and you develop a relationship that you think maybe potentially could work on the outside, good for them, I’m not gonna hold them back," she told Fitzy and Wippa in May. "I’m going to be disappointed that I didn’t get to develop a relationship with them and get to know them on that level but love comes in all forms and I’ve just gotta accept it and be like it is what it is."

When asked about the rumours, Jess told us, "Yeah, you know what, I hate that because, um, you know, yes, it's men and women and some of the women you know, are bisexual and that's how they identify.

"But his whole thing that everyone's gonna hook up was just, it was insane to me, because it didn't happen whatsoever. We know we formed really great friendships with each other. And there was nothing like that that happened. You know, there was no hooking up. There was no you know, sexual tension from my end anyway, or that I could see."

She continued, "Yeah, just that whole premise that that was gonna happen. That was just strange to me. And everyone needs to get that out of their head that a bunch of lesbians or queer women and you know, bisexual men or just straight men together, we're not all going to hook up with each other."

Jess' comments come shortly after fellow eliminated contestant Bec Pressing admitted to Yahoo Lifestyle that it never crossed her mind to flirt with anyone else besides Brooke.

“We were all there for Brooke and it was really important that we got to know her,” she said.

“I definitely think post-show, I would be surprised if nothing happened between any of the contestants, but there was nothing within the house that happened.”

The loveseat drama

Jess was of course involved in the biggest drama of the first episode when she 'stole' Konrad Bein's loveseat that he and Brooke built together on the red carpet before he had the chance to sit down with Brooke.

"I honestly didn't think it was going to be as as bad as it's kind of been. And the flack that I'm copping for that," Jess tells us. "But you know, watching it back, I can see the significance of the loveseat and the chair that Conrad built, but you know, everyone knows lesbians know how to build things. So, I can build my own loveseat!"

She also added that she and Konrad were actually friendlier than what viewers saw.

"What people didn't see is that we did have have chats and we did have conversations, both on camera and off camera. And you know, I apologised to him and it wasn't like a good move on my behalf.

"But you know, it happened and I have to own it. And yeah, we joked about it and we laughed and you can see that in the photoshoot us sort of having a laugh about it. So yeah, it was all really just like fun and games. All's fair in love and war!"

Jess also said that she wished Australia saw more of her than that one incident which had people think she's a 'vicious' person. However, she added that she wasn't surprised that she was made to look like the villain.

"I kind of always knew that that was gonna happen because of everything that was said that night between everyone else and you know, I did cry a little bit and that wasn't shown so probably that would have you know, made it a little bit more relatable, I think for people. But you know, it's a TV show, and if that didn't happen, it probably would have been boring!"

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