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'Influencing is her job': 'The Bachelor' fans slam Zach as he eliminates Anastasia 'based on hater hearsay'

'The Bachelor' fans disappointed after Zach Shallcross sends contestant home over 'hearsay'

THE BAHAMAS, CARIBBEAN: Anastasia Keramidas in the Bahamas is disappointed when the ladies tell Zach Shallcross she's only there for the followers. However, viewers at home believe that 'The Bachelor' is the last show that should be concerned with contestants coming in for clout.

Zach is dealing with his worst-case scenario. The software mogul was the target of claims that one of his girlfriends appeared on 'The Bachelor' to increase her social media following on Monday night's program. The drama unfolded during the group outing for the week, which involved a beach party in the Bahamas for Zach and several of his ladies. While everything seemed to be going smoothly at first, tensions increased when Kylee snatched Zach during a group activity.

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Why did Zach send Anastasia home?

Kylee Russell decides to tell Zach everything about her and Anastasia's feud. She then reports more acknowledged "hearsay" from Charity, who says Anastasia loves to speak about how many Instagram followers she'll have from being on the show. Zach, as the audience can tell, does not enjoy it.

"That freaks me the f**k out," he admits. "I am terrified that I would end up with someone who is here for the Wrong Reasons." Kylee reiterates that she did not hear anything personally and "so I hate that I even spoke on it."

Naturally, Zach seeks clarification from Charity, who verifies Kylee's story. "I was one of the girls who did overhear it," she explains. "It's like, we shouldn't even be talking about, like, followers and things like that." Zach returns to the holding pen and gives a gloomy announcement. "There may be someone here for the wrong intention," he says, before dragging Anastasia aside for a conversation.

Anastasia is taken aback by Zach's implicit allegation. "I'm here for you!" she declares. "Yeah, I'm here to connect with you and get to know you." Zach is not persuaded. He informs Anastasia that the rumor on the street is that she is only there for the followers, which bothers him. Anastasia maintains her innocence, stating that she is eager to "build a life" with a partner who is also her "best friend." She does not deny speaking with the ladies about Instagram in general, but she does admit she has spoken with them about specific firms she has worked with in the past. "They all were asking me about it," she says, "so I told them I would share my contacts with them. That's literally the extent of our conversations."

Zach informs Anastasia that he wants some time to reflect on the entire event. He goes away, and she returns to the holding pen. Zach begins the cocktail party by taking Anastasia away for a one-on-one conversation. After some thought, the bachelor appears to have concluded that Anastasia needs another chance to tell her side of the situation. "My character is everything to me," she says. "It was really upsetting that you had any doubt in that … I did not come here for anything other than to see if there's a connection, and to see if you could potentially be a partner for me."

But Zach can't get beyond the idea that Anastasia was discussing Instagram followers in general and ends up sending her home.

'Influencing is her job'

Anastasia's job title is "content marketing manager," which may be a fancy way of saying "influencer." Viewers are now considering the idea that she had a completely harmless talk with the women about how they may make some more money in the future with some sponsor engagements. After all, the majority of male and female Bachelor franchise contestants wind up doing an "influencer" job after appearing on the show.

Angry fans took to social media asking, "You got Anastasia sent home on half hearing. Wait till the tell all. If influencing is her job she can't talk about it if asked questions?" Calling out Zach on this, a fan wrote, "I mean c! It comes with the territory! I’m more mad about Anastasia getting the fight word out of context! Getting girls/guys sent home because they say word the Insta followers is getting old! Zach is a." Another fan added, "But tbh ppl on this shows be on just for followers Anastasia just seem to say it out loud lmao." Still rooting for her, a fan wrote, "So ok… I actually do feel bad for Anastasia. I feel like if she did talk about the instagram followers then the producers would’ve played that footage. Soooo idk."

Slamming the franchise for it a fan wrote, " You guys are some of the biggest social media wh***s on Twitter and you kick a girl off for getting followers?" Another person added, "Can we all stop acting like social media claiming isn’t a part of being on #TheBachelor ?? It’s been an unspoken perk for the last 10 years and it’s so tiring acting like it isn’t." Another fan quipped, "i'm shocked. you're telling me the content marketing manager is here for social media??" One more viewer wrote, "i’m sorry but are we really gonna send the social media manager girlie home for talking about her job based on hater hearsay??"

'The Bachelor' Season 27 drops new episodes every Monday at 8 pm ET on ABC. 

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