Maria Georgas is defending her dad, Nick Georgas, after The Bachelor fans accused him of shading Daisy Kent in an interview. 

During a Tuesday, April 9, appearance on the “BachMakers” podcast, Nick addressed the rumors that Maria, 29, turned down an offer to star on season 21 of The Bachelorette. Jenn Tran was announced as the show’s next lead in March.

“I’m not going to say too much about The Bachelorette,” he said. “I don’t think anybody should really say too much about The Bachelorette because that’s not fair to Jenn. Jenn is a great person and it’s her show.” He also added, “Nobody should say, ‘I got asked and I said no.’”

Since Daisy, 25, has publicly said that she turned down the offer before it was given to Jenn, 26, fans thought that Nick’s comment was a dig at the Minnesota native. “I can assure you my dad has not seen interviews [with] Daisy,” Maria replied to one commenter. “Nothing to do with anyone else! Just his take on the questions he’s being asked.” She also included a red heart emoji with her response.

bachelors maria georgas says dad didnt shade daisy kent
ABC

Daisy was the runner-up on Joey Graziadei’s season of The Bachelor. During the March 25 finale, viewers saw her end their relationship at the final rose ceremony because she realized that he was going to pick Kelsey Anderson over her. After the footage aired, she appeared live to discuss her plans for the future and said that starring on The Bachelorette wasn’t in the cards for her right now.

She further opened up about her decision during the April 4 episode of “The Viall Files” podcast, where she confirmed that she turned down the lead role two weeks before Jenn’s casting was announced. 

“There’s, like, a few reasons,” Daisy, who wears a cochlear implant to assist with hearing in her left ear, admitted. “One is my health is an aspect of it and I knew as the lead, it’s a lot on you. Not only emotionally, but also physically. You’re up super late. It’s nonstop. And I talked to a lot of past leads when [the show] was in talks with me and I just knew from a health point it would be a lot.”

She also hinted that she wasn’t sure she was ready to get engaged after just a few weeks of dating someone. “I think coming off the show and doing the show, I didn’t realize how much of a big thing it is,” she admitted. 

Although she’s content with her choice, Daisy said it “wasn’t an easy decision” and revealed that she “thought really long and hard about all of it” before giving her answer. “[The past leads] were like, ‘It’s the hardest thing I’ve ever done,’ but a lot of people were like, ‘It’s also the best thing too.’ And no one regretted it,” she recalled. “But [they said], ‘If [you’re] doing it, make sure you’re ready.’ It didn’t feel right.”

Before Jenn was announced as the next Bachelorette, fans were certain that the gig would be going to either Daisy or Maria. Maria has not publicly commented about whether or not she was asked like Daisy.

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