Connor Brennan’s passionate smooch with a female audience member atThe Bachelorette’sMen Tell Allspecialwas not as organic as it may have seemed.
During an appearance onThe Ben and Ashley I. Almost Famous Podcaston Tuesday, co-hostAshley Iaconettiasked Brennan, 29, to address the rumors that the ABC show’s producers hired an actress to kiss him.
“They asked for volunteers to kiss me, and she volunteered,” he said of the woman, namedTara Kelly. “She was really pretty. So I got her number, and we definitely talked and FaceTimed a bit. But you know she lives in L.A., I live in Nashville. So I think, for now, we’ll probably just be friends.”
Brennan then added: “But she’s pretty amazing.”
Craig Sjodin/ABC
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After theMen Tell Allepisode aired in July, theBachelornation.Scoop Instagram accountpostedan alleged listingfrom Central Casting where a “young attractive woman” was being sought to kiss a man who was “accused of being a bad kisser.”
“This woman would either come down onto the stage to kiss the guy or would respectfully decline and perhaps accept a hug instead,” the casting notice read.
Connor Brennan.ABC
Brennan recently told PEOPLE thatKelly caught his attention at the start of the night.
“I looked up [and] I was like, ‘Damn, that girl’s cute.’ She caught my eye. She’s, like, right in my line of sight,” he said. “I looked over, I was like, ‘She’s so cute.’ And then, all of a sudden she’s on stage kissing me, you know!”
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Brennan recalled feeling “very flustered before, during and after” the kiss, especially because he had just finished discussing how former BacheloretteKatie Thurstondidn’t feel a spark when kissing him.
“I thought I was going to get roasted for my kissing, because it was so egregious, and there’s been so many tweets about it,” he said. “So I thought maybe they’d read some mean tweets, or something like that, or give me s— about it.”
Bachelor in Paradiseairs Mondays and Tuesdays (8 p.m. ET) on ABC.
source: people.com
