"It was definitely really, really rough for me. There are no words."
Over two months after the incident that shutdown production on the fourth season of Bachelor in Paradise, Corinne Olympios is finally sharing her side of the story. While DeMario Jackson, the other contestant at the center of the controversy, spoke to E! News exclusively about the scandal before sitting down with Chris Harrison on last week's episode, Corinne had yet to break her silence. Until Tuesday night, when she had her chance to sit down with Harrison.
"This is my first time talking about what happened and my take on things and I would love for everyone to just have a better understanding of me," she said, before finally going into detail about what happened on that day of the production, which caused two producers to file misconduct complaints (Warner Bros. later cleared production of any wrongdoing following a two-week investigation).
"The first day, unfortunately, I don't remember much of," Corinne admitted. "I definitely overdrank, I did. I was also on some medicine that you're not supposed to drink on, which I didn't know. The combination of the two is just not a good combination, I am now weaning myself off that medication." (She started taking the medication, which she did not name, after her season of The Bachelor.)
Corinne also said she had never experienced a blackout before, saying, "It was obviously very scary for me and very different."
Because she was known as the "fun" Corinne during her season, the 25-year-old said there was "no way" for DeMario or the production crew to know she was "mentally checked out...which is beyond scary, but it is what it is I guess. I don't think it's anyone's fault, I just think that it was, again, an unfortunate and annoying situation that had to go down and it really sucks."
Throughout her sitdown, Harrison had Corinne watch portions of his interview with DeMario, who she said she doesn't blame for what happened. "I honestly don't feel like he did anything wrong." She later added, "I really just want people to know that I don't blame DeMario. I never pointed fingers at DeMario. I never said a bad word about DeMario."
As for what she would say to DeMario, who she has yet to speak with since the shutdown, Corinne said, "I would want to tell him, like listen, I respect you as a human. I have nothing against you. I am so sorry you had to go through this. I know exactly what it feels like...and I wish you all the best and I'm sorry."
Of the media attention and public scrutiny she experienced after the scandal, Corinne admitted, "It was definitely really, really rough for me. There are no words."
Corinne said she had "no idea" how big the scandal would become, saying, "When I watch it, I'm like, how did this happen? It's just so annoying. There's no other way to put it."
Bachelor in Paradise airs Mondays and Tuesdays at 8 p.m. on ABC.