The Bachelor star Grant Ellis got his happily ever after when he proposed to Juliana Pasquarosa during the season 29 finale. While the couple is still going strong today, many fans have called out Grant for choosing Juliana – who he said was more “fun” – over runner-up Litia Garr.
“I’m very serious. But everybody is different in a relationship. Some people are more serious and they don’t like to go out. Some people like to have fun. I think that in a relationship, you can be serious and have the best of both worlds — that’s what I meant,” Grant, 31, told Us Weekly about his relationship with Juliana, 26, in an interview published on Wednesday, March 26. “Our relationship is a friendship. It’s fun in the fact that we can let loose and be ourselves.”
During the finale episode of Monday, March 24, Grant opened up about his playful dynamic with Juliana while talking to his father, Robert.
“There’s love on both sides, but [it’s hard] deciding what to pick in such a short amount of time when I have a woman [Litia] who’s 31 who knows what she wants and would be there for me no matter what,” Grant said to his father. “And I have a woman [Juliana] who also loves me, but our relationship is more fun.”
After fans watched Grant propose to Juliana during the finale, he quickly faced backlash from some viewers who believed he chose the winner because he’s not ready to settle down. After all, Litia, 31, had been very open about wanting to have children soon.
“It’s so obvious that Grant chose Juliana because, despite coming on the bachelor, he’s not actually ready for marriage but wants a girlfriend,” one fan chimed in via social media, while another commented, “You have ‘a woman who knows what she wants and one who’s [sic] relationship is more fun’ ??? grant you’re not serious … you don’t want to get married #TheBachelor.”
While speaking to Us Weekly, Juliana reiterated that she and Grant have an “easygoing” relationship.
“Just because I said that doesn’t mean that I’m not serious. I’ve got tattoos, I like to have fun, but I take love very seriously,” he said of his comment that Juliana is “more fun” than Litia.
Grant also insisted that he did take the process to find his future wife seriously. “I poured my heart out there and that showed, and if people can’t see that, then they’re never gonna see it,” he said.
After Grant and Juliana confirmed that they were still together during the After the Final Rose special, they revealed their plans for a long engagement while speaking to People.
“I think that we are taking it one day at a time,” Grant said in an interview published on Tuesday March 25. “Right now, we are learning each other and we’re falling more in love with each other every day.”
Juliana added that they want to “live life together for a minute” before they start wedding planning. “A wedding is a big thing, and there’s so many people we have to meet. I want them all to have an opportunity to see [Grant], see us, and just have it make sense to everybody,” she said.
