It’s been nearly a decade since Ali Fedotowsky handed out roses — and it’s safe to say the season 6 Bachelorette doesn’t miss the reality series.
“It is so difficult. I hated being the Bachelorette. And that’s the truth,” the 35-year-old reality TV personality dished exclusively on Us Weekly’s Bachelor podcast, “Here for the Right Reasons,” which was recorded earlier this month and released on Tuesday, March 17. “I am beyond grateful. Like, my life would not be what it is today. If I wasn’t on that show, I wouldn’t have the platform I have. I wouldn’t have the amazing community around me. I wouldn’t have met my husband, wouldn’t have my kids, like, I’m so beyond grateful for The Bachelorette. But I hated my experience.”
Fedotowsky, who originally competed for Jake Pavelka’s heart on season 14 of The Bachelor, went on to explain that it was “very hard” for her to send people home, but also difficult to keep contestants that she wasn’t interested in.
“I found it very hard to date people that I knew I wasn’t going to end up with. Like, I walked into night one of The Bachelorette, knowing my top two guys,” she said. “A lot of people are that way. That’s why people who get the first impression rose are always in the top two or three. … You know your attraction to somebody right away.”
Fans may recall the former Facebook employee’s final two — Roberto Martinez and Chris Lambton — was decided after Frank Neuschaefer self-eliminated during week 9.
“I was devastated, like Frank and Roberto, they were my top two from night one, always knew it was going to be the two of them,” she said, noting Martinez got her first impression rose and Neuschaefer scored the first one-on-one date. “Just like Madison [Prewett] got the first date and Hannah Ann [Sluss] got the first impression rose [on Peter Weber’s season]. You know right away.”
Fedotowsky then admitted that she was so mad at Neuschaefer for leaving that she convinced herself she was never going to choose him in the first place.
“So I end up getting ever engaged to Roberto. We were together for a couple of years, whatever, you know, he’s a great person,” she said. “And I told everybody after the show, ‘Oh, I was always going to choose Roberto with no question. There’s no question.’ Well, now here I am, 10 years later, finally admitting I didn’t know. If Frank had stayed it might have been Frank and admitting that now, I do that because, one, I want to help people sympathize with Peter.”
Fedotowsky and Martinez, whose engagement aired in August 2010, called it quits in November 2011. She went on to marry Kevin Manno in 2017. They share two kids: Molly, 3, and Riley, 21 months. Martinez, for his part, got engaged to Kristiana Elliott in January.
Weber, meanwhile, came under fire after he proposed to Sluss during the season 24 finale, which aired earlier this month, only to call it off a month later because he still had feelings for Prewett.
While Fedotowsky told Us she feels sorry for Sluss, she understands why Weber made the decisions he did. “He was so heartbroken that Madison left that he convinced himself it was never her anyway,” she said. “I get that because I did that.”
The mommy blogger also joined Us to talk about being a fan of Each and Every natural deodorant, her thoughts on Clare Crawley’s contestants and more.
“I tested every [deodorant] under the sun, and Each and Every is by far the best one I’ve used,” Fedotowsky said. “And it’s just super important. And especially now, like, recently, I was diagnosed with basal cell carcinoma, which is a very common and treatable form of skin cancer, but it’s still skin cancer. And ever since then, I’m even more hyper aware of what I’m putting on my body.”
