Matt James Talks Sending Victoria Home and Expecting 'the Very Worst' From 'Women Tell All' (Exclusive)

Victoria Bachelor
ABC

The 29-year-old had enough on Monday's episode of 'The Bachelor.'

Queen Victoria's reign came to an end on Monday night's episode of The Bachelor, and Matt James isn't looking back. After weeks of drama, the 29-year-old real estate broker finally confronted Victoria about some of her comments toward the other women, and sent her home at the rose ceremony. 

When she was departing, Victoria had some fiery final words for Matt, and he stood in silence as she spoke."I honestly feel so sorry for you that you would listen to hearsay and not all of the facts behind a situation," she said, with her arms crossed over her chest. "So, goodbye." 

"I was out of juice," Matt told ET's Lauren Zima on Tuesday. "I had no more words, like, I just...I had nothing for her. There was nothing in the tank."

Some fans have speculated that Victoria was kept on the show purely for drama, but Matt insisted that it was his decision to keep "The Queen" around for as long as he did, and not pressure from producers. 

"The producers, they're there for you to bounce ideas off of," he shared. "They don't tell you what to do and what not to do."

Matt even took on some of the responsibility for Victoria's negative experience on the show, saying, "I feel like I dropped the ball."

"I think that if I would have handled our relationship a little differently, then maybe she would have had a better understanding of how to navigate what I'm looking for in a woman and maybe she would have had a more positive experience," Matt said. "So I take part of the blame for that, not just being more aware of what was going on."

Victoria had been at the center of the drama since Night One, and over the last four weeks, she took aim -- and tried to take down -- several fellow contestants. 

Last week, Victoria and Anna led the charge in making disparaging comments and spreading damaging rumors about a new contestant, Brittany, claiming that she was an escort. And on Monday's episode, Ryan tearfully told Matt that Victoria had called her a "ho" for being a dancer -- which Victoria said was taken out of context.

"Up until that episode, I really didn't know what was going on," Matt shared on Tuesday. "Once it was made clear to me, then the decision was relatively easy."

During an appearance on Good Morning America last week, Victoria said she was shocked she wasn't well received by fans, and said her comments were all made "in good fun." "I really do have a good heart," she declared. 

Matt, meanwhile, told ET on Tuesday that he doesn't "know what to expect" when it comes to possibly seeing Victoria again at the Women Tell All special.

"[I'm expecting] the very worst, you know?" he admitted. "I would hope that, at this point, watching it back, you kind of have a better grasp of your actions and maybe accountability for some of the name-calling and whatnot, but the bar is very low, unfortunately."

However, he shared, "I'm hopeful. I would like to be pleasantly surprised, but I'm gonna manage my expectations there."

And as for their awkward goodbye, in which Victoria declared that she "hates the name Matt now," and wouldn't date anyone else with that name, Matt said, "It's unfortunate, a lot of Matts are gonna miss out on a Queen, and... that's something they're gonna have to take on the chin."

While Victoria garnered the most attention, she wasn't the only woman in the house to start drama. Matt sent Anna home earlier on Monday for the rumors about Brittany -- though he told ET he had higher expectations of her at Women Tell All, given that she seemed "very aware of what she said and very remorseful."

Ultimately the episode ended on a cliffhanger, as the Bachelor tried to get to the bottom of Jessenia's claim that MJ was an "antagonist." 

"It was hard, you know, 'cause you want to think you know what's going on, but you really have no idea," he said. "For me, it's about creating a safe environment for all the women in the house so that we can really connect with one another, and that's what I felt like we did last night."

"A lot of my effort and time spent with these women is trying to get to know them, and not trying to police what's going on in the house," he continued, "but if it's getting back to me then that means it's gotten pretty serious, and I want them to know that I'm taking it seriously."

The Bachelor airs Mondays at 8 p.m. ET/PT on ABC. 

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