Matt James’ journey to find love kicked off on Monday, January 4, and Demi Burnett joined Us Weekly’s “Here for the Right Reasons” podcast to break down the biggest moments — and remind “Queen Victoria” who wears the crown in Bachelor Nation.
“I had a crown. She had a tiara. I mean, I get it, like, she’s getting what she wanted. She’s getting the airtime. I don’t appreciate her calling herself the queen, obviously. Because we all know that that is my role in Bachelor Nation,” the 25-year-old reality TV personality quipped on the podcast. “But it’s quite flattering that she, you know, she wants to be the queen. That’s cute. But you got to earn your crown, girl! You can’t just show up and say, ‘Oh, I’m the queen.’ It doesn’t work that way. You have to prove you’re the queen and then you call yourself the queen.”
Victoria Larson made waves on social media after she arrived at Nemacolin Resort in Pennsylvania in a carriage with the job title “Queen” during Monday’s premiere. According to Demi, producers are heavily involved in planning the contestants’ limo entrances.
“You get to talk about it with your producers. They asked me what I wanted to do [on Colton Underwood’s season]. And at first, I said, ‘Oh, I was just gonna wing it.’ And they were like, ‘That’s a terrible idea,’” Demi recalled. “I wrote down a bunch of different, like, little catchphrases and stuff and then they picked the funny one. A lot of mine were actually kind of sincere … but they went with a funny one. And you know, I’m glad they did.”
Demi also noted that the producers help the women pick out their first-night dress — which may have been why two of Matt’s contestants showed up in the same red gown.
“On my season, Heather [Martin] and this girl Laura, they had the same dress on and you could tell that the producers — because the producers, like, tell you which of the dresses they think you should wear — so they probably wanted to stir something up,” she explained. “And then Heather and the girl Laura looked at each other and they’re, like, ‘Oh my gosh, we’re wearing the same dress, that’s awesome!’ They’re like, ‘You look amazing in it.’ So, it wasn’t a big deal and I feel like that’s what happened this time too.”
During Monday’s premiere, it was also clear that Victoria was rubbing some of the other contestants the wrong way. Demi told Us that during her stint on Colton’s season, she thought she was going to get the “villain” edit.
“I knew that [the other girls] were probably talking about me a lot, like, in their interviews and stuff,” she said. “Whenever I did, like, an antic or I did something funny or attention-seeking, I would see, like, them glaring at me. … I saw that they were not having it. But the thing with me is … I know that’s frustrating to see me acting up and getting attention and stuff, so I don’t fault them for it. I would just be really nice to them. And so, they couldn’t hate me because I was super friendly and nice to them still.”
Demi added that she wasn’t a “mean girl” and got along with the other women in the house. “I was nervous. But once I saw how I got my edit, I was so happy,” she admitted. “I was like, ‘Oh my gosh, thank God they just showed me being funny.’ And how I intended it to come across and stuff like that.”
For more from Demi — including her top picks for Matt and what she knew about Heather’s surprise arrival — listen to Us Weekly’s “Here for the Right Reasons” podcast!