Zoe Reveals What She & Grant Really Talked About on the Rooftop and Why She Stole Grant: ‘I Didn’t Do Anything Wrong’

Spilling the tea.

This week, Bachelor Nation fans saw drama heat up on “The Bachelor” when Zoe stole Grant Ellis away on their basketball group date.

Now, Zoe stopped by the “Bachelor Happy Hour” podcast, where she’s opening up about her experience on the date and revealing what happened behind the scenes. 

When it comes to her decision to steal Grant away during the date, Zoe told co-hosts Joe Amabile and Serena Pitt that she was adamant that she “didn’t do anything wrong.” 

Zoe said, “It happens every season. There are no rules there, and I knew it would rub people the wrong way, but I didn’t think it would anger them. I thought it would be something like, ‘She did what I wanted to do and I’m gonna take notes for next time,’ not like, ‘Oh, my gosh, she’s this evil mean woman trying to steal Grant from all of us.’ There are ways to be rude in this environment.”

She went on, “Like, if I had a rose and I knew I was safe or if I had a one-on-one that week or something that we had already established a really strong connection and then I was just stealing him to steal him, I’d get you being upset. But it was day one and we had been playing basketball for hours and I had the opportunity to have some extra time and I needed to see if I liked this guy. If any other girl had done that, I would not have been angry at them. I would’ve been like, ‘Cool, next group date, I’m allowed to take him away.’ That’s the way my brain works.”

Zoe opened up about what she and Grant talked about on the rooftop and how Grant felt about her stealing him away. 

She shared, “Grant really liked it and he was appreciative. He was like, ‘I see you and I see you trying to step out.’ The other reason I did it too is that I’m a shy person naturally and it’s something I’ve worked on over time. In this environment, we’ve seen people there not for the lead, but I wanted it to be known to him that I was trying to get to know him. I didn’t want to just show up and go week to week and make it through.”

She added, “I genuinely wanted to see if we had a connection because I don’t want to be taking up any extra time if I’m not supposed to be here. That conversation was important to me to see what our actual vibe was because I only had two minutes with him on Night 1.”

Zoe continued, “We had a cute little conversation about general things like food, travel, what our type is typically, and what we’re looking for. On the rooftop, he asked about some of my previous relationships. I got to tell him about my last partner and how I was very much gaslit and made feel very insecure and I’m not looking for that again. It was a cute little moment and I was grateful that I got to do it because my time is valuable and his time is valuable. It was meant to be just that; it wasn’t meant to do anything else.”

And when it came to stealing Grant again at the cocktail party from Alli Jo, Zoe shared what happened from her POV. 

The Bachelor Nation star said, “This wasn’t shown, but I had the opportunity to steal him from her quicker, but I literally looked at a wall and was like, ‘I’ll give her five more minutes.’ I just wanted to end the night with him on a good note because I knew there were so many targets on my back.”

She added, “I didn’t know how I was being perceived by him as too aggressive or dramatic or problematic and I just really wanted to end on a high note and say goodnight. It just turned into this whole thing and he walked in to us screaming and crying at each other when he was going to hand out the Group Date Rose. He was probably like, ‘What did I get myself into?’” 

Hear more of Zoe’s conversation with Joe and Serena on the full episode of “Bachelor Happy Hour” below.