By RODNEY HO/ rho@ajc.com, originally filed Tuesday, August 30, 2016
Turning the other cheek in public is difficult.
Josh Murray, by choosing to be on ABC's "Bachelor in Paradise," has had to face what his former "Bachelorette" fiance and former Atlanta attorney Andi Dorfman has alleged against him in her recent tell-all book ( It's Not Okay: Turning Heartbreak into Happily Never After) in a very public setting. In the book, she said he was an "emotional abuser" who showed jealousy, anger and insecurity in one ugly package. They broke up after just a few months together.
He has refused to address the individual allegations in interviews, simply calling it "fiction" in a broad-brushed stroke.
Nick Viall, the suitor who fell short of Dorfman's love, also happens to be on "Bachelor in Paradise." (The producers know how to maximize potential drama, eh?) He was into Amanda Stanton - then Murray took her away from him. It was like a repeat of Dorfman for poor Viall. (Viall is a bit of a tool so to feel sympathetic for him is quite a feat.)
Sowing mischief, Viall feeds doubts about Murray to Stanton's two good buddies Emily and Haley Ferguson.
'It's hard to believe that (Dorfman) wrote a fictional book about Josh that was all made up, but there's some accurate things about me," Viall told them. "And so I think it's a very fair question to ask: Did he come because he thought he could repair his image?"
Indeed, Viall said when Murray got upset when Stanton went to sleep without telling him, this feeds into the perception Dorfman was right about Murray.
The twins decided to leave the island, having failed to find "love." But they decided to leave Stanton with a warning shot.
"Tonight it's been brought to our attention that, by a few of the people in the house now, that Josh's intentions aren't pure with you and we just want you to be careful," Haley said to Amanda. Also, they felt Amanda should ask about incidents referenced in Dorfman's book, but she had not read the book.
"It's convenient timing that he's here in 'Paradise' right now with the girl with the best reputation — America's sweetheart," Emily said.
When confronted, Murray became quickly defensive. "To believe that kind of stuff is like looking in a gossip magazine, and believing that," Josh said. "It's absolutely ludicrous."
He went out and decided to suss out who has spreading these supposed lies. (I'm sure he knew.)
"I am very frustrated right now. Ever since I've been here for some reason one person or multiple people have accused me of being fake ... It's very disrespectful. It's inconsiderate, and it's a bunch of (expletive) to be honest with you," Josh said. "I don't need to be here. My dog's been battling cancer for six straight months. I wasn't gonna come here. I am looking for somebody — period."
When he asked who thought he was being fake, Nick said he wasn't sure. Murray quickly fingered him as the rumor-monger.
"You keep saying it's a fictional book," Nick said. "All I know is on my part it's not fictional — the stuff she wrote about me."
Murray could only be threatening: "All I know is I'm gonna try to work on this right now, and you need to hope that everything's good with me and her — period, man."
Shaken, Nick told the cameras: "All he wanted to do was just murder me."
Murray began packing. Stanton wasn't sure who to believe. The "Bachelor in Paradise" producers are thrilled.
And certainly, so is Dorfman, who is raking in more money as sales of her book soar yet again.
ON TV
"Bachelor in Paradise," 8 p.m. Mondays, ABC
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