Jef: Emily's In It for Love, Not Money
After his elimination from The Bachelorette last month, ETonline spoke to Joe Gendreau. In that conversation, he raised concerns that Emily Maynard was digging Jef Holm because he had deep pockets. Today, Jef was on rumor control to clear up this misconception.
"We have never talked about financial things or money," he said of his intimate conversations with Emily. "She mentioned to me, on our next stop, that she thought I still lived at home. She had no idea about my financial status. I never knew anything about hers." He has had to deal with girlfriends with "expensive tastes" in the past, thus explaining his Chloe handbag reference a few episodes ago.
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Arie may have accidentally let it slip to ETonline last week that his current status is "fiance." Jef became "really good friends" with the race car driver during filming, but doesn't know if there's a wedding on the horizon. "I don't know if he's engaged or not. If he is, that's awesome. I'm pretty confident he'll invite me to the wedding."
That could get complicated if Arie ties the knot with Emily. "I know for a fact it wouldn't be awkward between Arie and me, but I would wonder if it would be okay with Emily," he worried. "We had something different than what she had with any of the other guys. I would want to be there because I love and care for Emily and Arie."
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The final outcome is all speculation for several more weeks, so Jef could also potentially be Emily's husband-to-be. "I'm flattered that people think that it's me," he said. "I definitely developed strong feelings for Emily, but as far as where I am at right now, I'm still crazy for her."
The Utah native is confident his strong roots in faith and family make him suitable for the role of father to Emily's daughter Ricki and husband to her. A self-proclaimed "child at heart," Jef could see himself relating well to kids. "I told Emily that I would love to skateboard with Ricki and play soccer." Only time will tell if he gets that opportunity to meet the apple of Emily's eye. If he does assume the title of stepfather, boys won't have to be intimidated by this papa when Ricki's ready to date. "I'll be waiting at the door with two skateboards instead of intimidating him with a shotgun!," he laughed.
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Jef teased "a big surprise elimination this week" on The Bachelorette. On the upcoming episode, it is revealed that fellow frontrunner Arie neglected to be upfront with Emily about his former girlfriend being a producer on the show. This "shocking" news also took Jef by surprise because they had shared so much with one another. In retrospect, Jef remembers Arie being concerned that Emily felt he was "holding something back. She doesn't trust me." Now that the truth has surfaced, Jef understands her hesitation because "she didn't address it immediately with him. She kept trying to get him to open up and talk about it." Will Arie survive the rose ceremony?
To witness "a huge changing moment" in Emily and Jef's relationship, watch The Bachelorette on Monday night on ABC.