Bachelor Jake Pavelka's Ex-Girlfriend Speaks Out
Airdate: 3/16/2010
"The person I fell in love with is not the same person everyone saw on TV, not at all," says the most recent Bachelor's ex-girlfriend, Tanya Douglas.
She's the mystery woman who sparked headlines when she called into a Florida radio station with her voice disguised, saying she was still involved with The Bachelor, Jake Pavelka, after he was engaged to fiancée Vienna Girardi.
Now Douglas is speaking out publicly for the first time, exclusively to INSIDE EDITION.
"I fell in love with what I believe was maybe a lie," she tells INSIDE EDITION's Megan Alexander.
Douglas first met the handsome pilot two years ago when she was a passenger on a plane he was flying from Asheville, North Carolina to Florida.
"He and I had a chemistry, we had a very, very special bond that I don't think most people find in a lifetime," Douglas says.
They spent a romantic weekend in New York City and even met each other's parents.
"He's come to my hometown, he's met my family. He had a private conversation with my father saying, 'I love your daughter, I think that God led us to be together, I have every intention of having a life with her,' " says Douglas.
"At that point you're thinking 'Jake is the one' ?" Alexander asks.
"No thinking, I knew," she says.
After dating for five months Pavelka unloaded a bombshell, he was going to become the next Bachelor.
"He said, 'Tanya I love you and I'm not going on the show to find love, and I know I've found love with you, but we just need to put our relationship on shelf,' " she says.
"You must have known it was over when he started dating 25 other women,' " says Alexander.
"Well of course it was over, but putting your relationship on a shelf is not the same as breaking up with someone," Douglas explains.
She says she had renewed hope about their romance when Pavelka called her several times immediately after he finished taping the show, before episodes began to air.
"He said, 'But Tanya I do want to let you know that ever since I first saw you get on that plane in Asheville, that I've never loved anyone more.' "
"You thought, 'He's coming back to me' ?" asks Alexander.
[Douglas nods]
So imagine Douglas's surprise when she saw that Pavelka had actually proposed to Girardi on the show.
"He called you while engaged to Vienna, do you consider that cheating?" asks Alexander.
"If I were in Vienna's shoes I would consider it absolutely cheating," says Douglas.
Pavelka released a statement saying: "The relationship was prior to The Bachelor. It simply did not work out. It is unfortunate that people such as this are trying to...disparage my incredible relationship with Vienna."
"They may be happy now, but I know what he told me immediately following their engagement," says Douglas.
"What goes through your mind watching this?" Alexander asks.
"Disbelief."
Douglas says she is coming to grips with the fact things are over with Pavelka, and she's looking forward to dating again.
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