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Did producers force Joey to keep Sydney in 'The Bachelor' Season 28? Fans speculate as star enjoys 2-on-1 date

'The Bachelor' Season 28 contestant Sydney Gordon has been accused of 'manipulating' Joey Graziadei

AGOURA HILLS, CALIFORNIA: 'The Bachelor' Season 28 star Joey Graziadei awarded his rose to Sydney Gordon after she tried to allegedly manipulate him against Maria Georgas. During the episode, Sydney accused Maria of bullying her and creating a hostile environment. 

Additionally, the preview for the upcoming episode teased that Joey would enjoy a 2-on-1 date with Sydney and Maria, escalating the drama between the two contestants. However, during the trio's yacht date, Sydney pulled out Joey and told him, "Maria started attacking me."

Sydney's confessional pushed Joey to have second thoughts about Maria as he noted to the cameras, "The question is, Is Maria who I think she is or not?" However, viewers claimed that the producers pushed Joey to award the rose just to continue the drama.

A social media user tweeted, "Sydney calling Maria a "mean girl" is hilarious. It's the perfect example of it takes one to know one, even when she's wrong. And poor @joeygraziadeii, the producers of #TheBachelor made you keep Sydney for the drama, didn't they? Smh, dude, that's a forced error."

Another person added, "'Maria’s manipulation' girl what manipulation are you talking about???? 😭 im sorry but i just know joey kept sydney for another week due to producers persuasion." Another critic noted, "The producers DEFINITELY made him keep sydney."

Someone else pointed out, "Once again, the producers made the bachelor keep two women who are polar opposite and fighting. Then they will make the bachelor take the two on a date together and then the bachelor gets to dump the villain, so all the viewers can cheer." Another viewer said, "Oh the producers r so evil for putting maria and sydney on a 2 on 1 date 😭."

Charity Lawson backs Maria Georgas amid Sydney drama

Charity Lawson claimed to be in team Maria in her feud with Sydney Gordon. A Reddit user recently shared a video where 'The Bachelorette' alum shared her thoughts on Maria and Sydney's drama.

In the video, Charity had a conversation with people on a street and said, "The age thing is stupid." Charity's fans wholeheartedly agreed with her before she added, "And we are Team Maria!" The road was filled with cheers for Charity.

Maria and Sydney's drama escalated after the former was accused of age-shaming Madina Alam. Sydney later dubbed Maria a 'mean girl' and a 'bully', and decided to take the issue to 'The Bachelor' Season 28 star Joey Graziadei.

Will Sydney Gordon receive a rose during the fourth ceremony?

'The Bachelor' Season 28 star Sydney Gordon continued to do everything to win Joey Graziadei's heart. However, it seemed like she failed to even continue her quest for love after the fourth rose ceremony.

According to Reality Steve, Joey eliminated Sydney on the two-on-one date with Maria Georgas in Malta. The outlet revealed that Joey trusted Maria over Sydney, and chose to eliminate Sydney.

During episode 3 of the ABC show, Joey admitted that he thought how Maria spoke to him sounded more real than how Sydney did.

New episodes of 'The Bachelor' Season 28 airs every Monday at 8 pm ET on ABC.