‘Bachelor’ 2nd Runner-Up Zoe McGrady Thought Grant Ellis Was ‘100 Percent’ Picking Litia Garr

Zoe McGrady was already having doubts in her relationship with Grant Ellis after the fantasy suite episode — where he ultimately pursued a romance with his final two: Litia Garr and Juliana Pasquarosa.

“When I left the overnight [date], I was like this was the first time I don’t think I would say yes if he gave me a rose. And ultimately, like I didn’t have to come to that decision,” Zoe, 27, said on the Thursday, March 27, episode of the “Bachelor Happy Hour” podcast.

When cohost Joe Amabile asked if Zoe had a hunch that she may not be The One for Grant, she replied, “I thought it was 100 percent Litia.”

“At the end of the day, I’m like, it’s a 50/50 chance that I get the second rose,” Zoe said. “But I was like, ‘There was nothing life changing about our night.’ So I just genuinely had no clue … You don’t get to see other people’s relationships other than Litia kept getting validated, and that was obvious.”

Zoe explained that she and Juliana were “in the same boat” until Scotland as they both had not yet received a one-on-one date with Grant. (Juliana ultimately got the coveted alone time with the lead, whereas Zoe entered the hometown episode without having a one-on-one.)

“Obviously, she knows the conversation that she had. I know the conversation I had,” Zoe said of Juliana. “But as far as, like, validation, Litia got the first group day rose. Litia got a three-on-one. Litia was hand selected for the one-on-one from the three-on-one and then she got the final one-on-one. Just knowing her, she’s an amazing woman, I’m like, ‘Oh, like it has to be her.’ He had only had so many one-on-ones this season, which is the only reason why I was not so salty about not having one. There were only, what, seven of them?”

Zoe continued, “To my knowledge and based on our conversation, I was thinking, ‘It’s 100 percent Litia.’ But obviously you just don’t know what people are thinking. And so I was just like, ‘I don’t know, it might be me, it might not be me,’ like to be second, and I was like, ‘I don’t know if I would say yes.’ But I didn’t want to take away his power as the Bachelor, which people may or may not think is right. People are like, ‘Well I would have just left.’ Well if he’s having me here, like, ‘I don’t want to take away his power or make him regret having me here.’ And then he could have furthered his relationship with, like, Dina [Lupancu], you know what I mean?”

In the Monday, March 24, season 29 finale of The Bachelor, Grant broke things off with Litia before popping the question to Juliana. Litia told Grant that she would have “a lot of questions” if she were Juliana based on her conversations with the lead. In the live portion of the finale episode, Litia alleged that Grant said he could “stop the show” early because he knew she was his No 1.

While reacting to the finale, Zoe called Litia’s feelings “100 percent valid.”

“At this point in time, I can’t quite tell you if it was intentionally malicious that he said these things and he was in the back of his head thinking he had a different No. 1, or he just got caught up in trying to be a kind Bachelor,” Zoe said. “I will say the way that he’s kind of acted since we’ve left filming was a bit different than the man that he was showing us while we were filming.”

She continued, “I think specifically for me to be questioned about my intentions, it’s a bit ironic and I don’t love that. I don’t love how he has spoken about the two of us and all the women since leaving. I think that he can just acknowledge the facts and the reality of what we were in. You’re allowed to change your mind, you’re allowed to have said maybe you shouldn’t have said these things, or maybe you should have done less, and you can just say that you were like caught up. I’m grateful that I didn’t feel led on, but I think she’s one hundred percent valid to feel that way.”

Zoe said it’s “better to just acknowledge the facts of what happened, own up to it and move on.”

“There’s reality, there’s TV, and there’s reality TV,” she said. “Just because things were not aired does not mean they did not happen, right? So I think that we need to remember that and just we’re all people, and we were all this is all of our first experiences. So I really don’t appreciate and I don’t think she appreciates what happened since we left, and I assume she probably feels gaslit, which I would too.”

When asked whether she thinks Grant and Juliana’s love story will last, Zoe acknowledged that she only knows “parts of them.”

“As I said, I think Grant had a lot of pressures on his shoulders to be the Bachelor,” Zoe said. “I think maybe he behaved and said things that he maybe was trying to be a certain persona than who he really is. But if she’s supporting his desire to do music and be a little bit more on socials and doing and saying these things, then good for her girl, and good for them. I hope they last. Like, I love love, and yes, as long as they’re genuine with each other.”

Grant, who apologized to Litia on the live episode, later exclusively told Us Weekly that there was “a lot” she said that he “didn’t align with,” but he wanted to “let her speak her truth and her piece.”

“I’m not gonna sit up there and argue with her on stage about what she thought I said. But I think that having a little more clarity — when you are the Bachelor, you do see your final two contestants as somebody that could be your wife,” he told Us. “That’s where some confusion came into play. There’s room for interpretation when things are said, ‘off camera.’ At that point in time, I can’t really say much. I’m not gonna argue, I just have to accept whatever the conditions are and apologize and let her feel how she feels because she’s in a tough situation and she’s hurt. I understand.”