The Bachelor alum Nick Viall has admitted he's skeptical that Maria Georgas suddenly chose to back out of The Bachelorette's 21st season after she accepted the position.

ADVERTISEMENT

Maria had claimed that she was "offered" The Bachelorette role, it "was set in stone," and she was already "doing wardrobe fittings" before it "became very overwhelming" and she felt the need "to decline" the opportunity during a recent appearance on the "Call Her Daddy" podcast.

RELATED LINK: 'THE BACHELOR' FRANCHISE COUPLES NOW: WHO IS STILL TOGETHER?? (PHOTOS)

Maria dropped this bombshell about a month after ABC had announced Jenn Tran as the new The Bachelorette star during The Bachelor: After the Final Rose for Joey Graziadei's season on March 25.

Nick, who starred on The Bachelor's 21st season, pointed out, "When you're doing fittings, you ARE the Bachelorette... You're the lead and they're filming. I mean, they're taking content," during the May 7 episode of his "The Viall Files" podcast.

Maria's explanation for dropping out was that she was "not in the right headspace" to be The Bachelorette star this year and her heart simply wasn't in it. She said she didn't want to waste a bunch of men's time.

"Jenn was one of my closest girls in the house, and she was always verbalizing how badly she wanted this. And when everyone around me was so supportive of me being in this position and everyone wanted this for me, I kind of took a second and was like, 'Why am I not happy? Why am I not excited about this?'" Maria said on the "Call Her Daddy" podcast.

"It took me realizing that it's just not my time where I was like, 'Guys, respectfully, I need to decline. I need to take a step back.'"

Maria added that The Bachelorette producers were actually "so supportive" of her last-minute decision because she had been "open and honest" about where she was at "mentally" and how she felt.

"I think that's definitely Maria's truth... I just think there's another version to this story," Nick said on "The Viall Files" podcast.

Maria told Alex Cooper that as much as she wanted her time off, she also wanted Jenn to "have her moment" because Jenn will make "the most perfect Bachelorette" and she "couldn't think of anyone better" to lead the show.

Nick's wife, Natalie Joy, admitted she "doesn't buy" that Maria had given up the position to Jenn because she thought Jenn was extremely deserving and sincere.

Nick agreed, although he acknowledged "it's possible" that could have truly been Maria's motive.

"I don't know anything specific about what happened with Maria and the show and why she turned it down," Nick said, "but in my experience, the few instances where someone was meant to be the lead and in the last minute there was a switch, I only know that, from experience, the show decided that the juice wasn't worth the squeeze."

RELATED LINK: 'THE BACHELORETTE' COUPLES NOW: WHOM DID 'THE BACHELORETTE' STARS AND THEIR BACHELOR PICKS ULTIMATELY END UP WITH?! (PHOTOS)  

Nick mentioned that while producers have worked with "difficult people" in the past, he insisted they "really value" the ability to get along with a lead since it's "a very long process."

Nick noted it's "entirely believable" Maria had opted out of starring on The Bachelorette on her own accord, but he apparently hasn't heard "that version" of a casting story before.

"Imagine how difficult it might be to work with someone who [doesn't take accountability]," Nick reasoned.

Nick went on to reference how Maria, an old friend of his, recently came up with a conspiracy theory that he and Ashley Iaconetti had influence over Joey's The Bachelor season and found a way to make Maria look like the villain in her rivalry with Sydney Gordon.

Ashley recently called the theory "strange," and both she and Nick firmly denied having had any involvement in the way Maria was portrayed on The Bachelor.

"Instead of thinking it was possible that they could rub anyone the wrong way, they think it was more believable... that their own friend, whom they hadn't spoken with in several years -- for no other reason than to prove himself right -- decided to come up with this elaborate conspiracy theory as to why she might have rubbed some women in the house the wrong way," Nick vented of Maria.

"That person might, you know, be challenging."

Nick shared, "And [The Bachelorette] contract says, 'Until you are [officially] announced, we can pull this from you.'"

Nick also said that he heard filming with Maria was similar to The Bachelorette's experience working with Season 16 lead Clare Crawley, who had selected her winner Dale Moss only 12 days into the process and refused to continue dating the other men.

"And Maria quit before filming even started!" Nick quipped, comparing the two women.

RELATED LINK: 'THE BACHELOR' COUPLES NOW: WHO DID 'THE BACHELOR' STARS AND THEIR BACHELORETTE PICKS ACTUALLY END UP MARRYING? (PHOTOS)

Tayshia Adams ended up stepping in halfway through The Bachelorette's sixteenth season as a result.

Bachelor in Paradise bartender Wells Adams appears to have heard similar rumors about Maria.

Wells had called Maria "a little unhinged" and wondered if The Bachelorette producers thought she'd be too difficult to control during a March episode of his "Your Favorite Things" podcast.

"I heard that her demands were ridiculous and they were like, 'No,'" Wells said.

"I guess one of her demands is that she wanted to have her phone the entire time, which is like, come on! Another [rumor] I heard -- and who knows if any of this is true -- but I heard that she wanted... them to hire her friend to be her [own personal handler or producer], which, no! They are not qualified to do that job!"

Maria, however, said on the "Call Her Daddy" podcast that when she heard Wells' comments, she immediately "wanted so badly to shut that sh-t down."

"I just didn't think it was my time or my place," Maria revealed.

Maria vented to Alex that it was "so disheartening" to hear Wells say that, adding, "[He] knows what they put us through -- not what they put us through -- but knows how intense it is. You have to be fully committed."

"[Wells] knows how mentally draining and physically draining this could be," she continued, "so to say something like that, shut the f-ck up! You don't know me!"

Maria insisted she's "a very respectful person" and so Wells' claims "went against [her] character" and they are "so not true."

"Everyone knows you get your phone taken away and that's it," Maria confirmed.

RELATED LINK: 'THE BACHELOR' FRANCHISE COUPLES NOW: WHO IS STILL TOGETHER?? (PHOTOS)

Interested in more The Bachelor news? Follow our Bachelor Nation News Page on Facebook or join our The Bachelor Facebook Group!




About The Author: Elizabeth Kwiatkowski

FOLLOW REALITY TV WORLD ON GOOGLE NEWS