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Eliza Isichei was involved in one of the biggest love triangles on season 8 of Bachelor in Paradise. It ended with her giving her rose to Rodney Mathews over Justin Glaze, only to dump Rodney the following day and leave the beach to pursue Justin. At that point, though, it was too late, and Justin didn’t want to be her second choice, so Eliza left the show as a single woman.
“I did reach out to Rodney when I got back [from filming],” Eliza told HollywoodLife EXCLUSIVELY. “I have so much respect for him, so I did reach out and apologize for how everything went down. I told him it wasn’t personal and told him I hope he’s doing well. That was the last conversation we had, except for [filming the BIP reunion). The same goes for Justin.”
Needless to say, Paradise was a tough go for Eliza, but she doesn’t look back with regrets. “Overall, it was a lesson,” she admitted. “It was an experience and it was growth for me. I think I handled it the best that I could. lt was definitely so emotional and it was really hard for me. I think I really did my best.”
Eliza was one of five women to come on the show during split week, which was when the original couples were separated into two separate locations of guys and girls. The split happened before the third rose ceremony. Eliza and Rodney formed a connection and he dumped Lace Morris to pursue her. Things were going great until Justin, who had previously been eliminated, returned to the beach with the intention of meeting Eliza.
When Justin asked Eliza on the date, Rodney encouraged her to go in order to explore her options. However, she admittedly wanted him to fight for her and tell her NOT to go, which is when she started questioning their relationship. On the show, she admitted that the rest of the cast’s positive opinions on Rodney were part of what pressured her to choose him over Justin at first, but in the end, her gut said differently.
“I just felt so blindsided [by Rodney],” Eliza told us. “I felt like we started so strong and then having that one conversation, I wanted him to fight for me a little bit. Not [tell me] that I couldn’t go on the date, but just be like, ‘I don’t want you to.’ I think that kind of derailed us a little bit. In the end, I had feelings for both and I just feel like I had stronger feelings for Justin in that moment.”
