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'The Bachelorette''s Controversial Tanner P Defends Himself

'The Bachelorette''s Controversial Tanner P Defends Himself
Copyright 2009 Jack Rowand / ABC

"The Bachelorette" finally ousted Tanner Pope on last week's episode, and now the bachelor with the foot fetish explains his desire for polished toes, why he stripped down to his tighty whities, and why he didn't tell Jillian Harris which of the bachelors had a girlfriend!

Early on, you told Jillian that one of the other men in the house had a girlfriend. Why didn't you name names?

Tanner Pope: Right. When me and Wes first moved into the bunk house, there was a lot of conversation going on. It was a lot of hearsay and, you know, a lot of times, it was joking around. So I never knew whether to take him seriously.

I didn't know his personality at that time so whenever he was joking around about, "Hey, you know, I've got a girl back home," or, "I used to have an old girl," I didn't know whether to take that seriously or not because I knew I didn't have a girl back home. And I knew I was there for the right reasons, and I stated that from day one.

Wes has, obviously, got some things going as far as his band. And I don't know if the whole "girlfriend" thing may have gotten blown out of proportion. And, so, I never wanted to tell Jillian 100 percent for sure, "Hey, I know Wes has a girlfriend," if I wasn't 100% sure.

Why did you then ultimately decide to come clean with the other guys that you were the person who spilt the beans to Jillian?

Tanner Pope: I mean, I think that's just the right thing to do. I think I needed to let them know that I didn't want that blame to fall on ... because a lot of guys were suspecting Juan, or Dave, or somebody else ... and I didn't want that. I mean, it was my responsibility, so I took it.

Why did you decide to strip down to your underwear in the final episode?

Tanner Pope: Whoa. That was the thing ... probably, half the part on that was due to the editing. We were all talking about what we wear, and you heard that. And it was one of the things where I just felt like, "You know what? I've been kind of the comedian of this whole thing. I'm just going to bust out and show her my manties." That's what I call them. So, I wanted to have fun with it, and she said it was a little awkward, but you know what the rest of the sentence went like. [Note: Jillian said she wasn't ready to see his "package," but it was big.]

Which begs the question: Did you stuff your shorts?

Tanner Pope: Negative. I was just blessed. That was the thing. And all the guys knew it because we had outdoor showers, so they all called me "King Dong" and other things. I did tricks with my wiener at one point.

On to your foot fetish. What is your idea of the perfect foot?

Tanner Pope: It's really this simple: it was a lot of embellishing on my part, but at the same time, it's not a deal-breaker, like I said, but at the same time I love, like, just a girl's pretty feet. It's that simple.

A girl's foot ... it's feminine, whereas guy's feet ... we don't take care of our feet. You know, girls are supposed to and so that's kind of my whole philosophy. And, you know, high arches and all, that's great, but it's not a deal breaker.

I just think that painted toes -- that's the thing. I just think that is what it takes to have hot feet. And Jillian had them. My brother also has the same fetish ... if you want to say. But it's not really a fetish. I mean, fetish sounds dirty and risqué to me.

It's more of just a "like," you know? And Jillian ... she always felt comfortable with it, or else I wouldn't have done it in the first place. I just like to have fun, poke fun at the guys, and, you know, have fun with the foot thing. And I think it worked for me.

Who do you think is the right guy for Jillian?

Tanner Pope: Wow. It's so weird being (asked) how they interact, because you don't actually get to see them, really, unless you're on a group date. So, there's been some awkward kissing going on. I didn't see Jake's whole kiss. Whenever he went in mid-sentence, I thought that was a little awkward.

There's some weird kisses between Kiptyn and her. So, you know, everybody has their favorites, and I thought Kiptyn might win at first, but I don't know. It's hard for me to tell. And, I think, 99 percent of the guys are there for the right reasons. Maybe there are a couple guys that slipped through, but I don't know who's going to end up winning.

"The Bachelorette" airs tonight at 8 p.m. on ABC.

Posted June 29, 2009 3:30:00 AM
See All: tv jillian harris the bachelorette

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