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Reality TV star of the week: ABC throws birthday surprise to 'The Bachelor' Season 28 star Lea Cayanan with elimination episode

'The Bachelor' Season 28 star Joey Graziadei eliminated Lea Cayanan in Episode 6 of the popular reality show

MONTREAL, CANADA: Lea Cayanan's exit from 'The Bachelor' Season 28 wasn't generating much buzz until her elimination episode coincided with her birthday. The exit immediately became a topic of significant interest.

Fans remarked that ABC did dirty to Lea by supposedly changing the schedule of the episodes to make the elimination one drop in her birthday week.

The episode previous to her elimination was slated to be released this week. But ABC apparently made a slight change and dropped two episodes last week. This led to the elimination episode aligning with Lea's birthday week.

Now, fans are wondering whether the streaming platform purposely created the fuss.

A fan playfully remarked, "Airing this episode on Lea’s birthday is savage." Another pointed out, "They really had 2 episodes last week so that they could eliminate Lea on her birthday."

A third user noted, "This episode of Lea getting sent home airing on the same day as her birthday. Happy birthday, girl!" "Theres something so poetic about lea getting sent home this episode knowing today is her birthday," another claimed.

One user jokingly praised the producers, stating, "Today is Lea’s birthday and this episode of her going home airing today is PRICELESS to me. well done producers, well freakin’ done."

Why was Lea Cayanan eliminated from 'The Bachelor' Season 28?

Lea Cayanan was eliminated by Joey Graziadei in Episode 6. Joy believed he had a better connection in terms of emotions with other women as compared to Lea.

Moreover, after Lea's feud with Maria Georgas, Joey realized that this was not the kind of drama he wanted in his life. Instead of making any efforts to get a one-on-one date, Lea was thoroughly seen complaining to Joey about not getting one.

'The Bachelor' Season 28 star Lea Cayanan calls out Joey Graziadei

As Lea walked out of the villa, she was asked by the producers how she was feeling about her elimination. Lea replied, "It’s just unfortunate that I wasn’t given the full opportunity to have that time with Joey and see what Joey and Lea really looked like. But that’s truly his loss."

Along with Lea, Katelyn DeBacker, Jess Edwards, and Lexi Young also walked out of the show in Episode 6. 

'The Bachelor' Season 28 premiered on Monday, January 22, 2024, at 8:00 pm ET on ABC.