An Ousted 'Golden Bachelorette' Contestant Believes His On-Screen Connection With Joan Was Simply A Facade

Unfortunately for fans of The Bachelor franchise, we did not get to learn much about Golden Bachelorette contestant Gregg Lassen – aside from his apparently unbearable snoring – before his untimely exit.

But fortunately, the Florida native is baring it all now that he has been eliminated from the popular reality TV show.

Initially, Gregg seemed to bond with leading lady Joan Vassos over their shared love for the beach.

But contrary to popular belief, things were far from smooth sailing (pun intended) between Gregg and Joan, as he failed to receive a rose during the third episode of The Golden Bachelorette.

Sitting down with Entertainment Weekly after his elimination, the 64-year-old admitted that his connection with Joan might have been a facade, something of a "a show for the cameras" after the novelty of night one wore off.

Gregg didn't shy away from the nitty-gritty details, either.

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'I Don't Think Joan Liked Me That Much'

Gregg Golden Bachelorette — Image via Disney/Ricky Middlesworth

Despite having so much in common on paper — a love for the beach, an affinity for disc golf, and other commonalities — Gregg strongly believes that his connection with Joan on The Golden Bachelorette was one-sided.

Gregg spared none of the details in his exclusive interview, and said:

"Truthfully, I don't think Joan liked me that much. There's 24 awesome men there, so it was a pretty competitive environment — and boy, she handled that so well.

"It was very clear to me very quickly that there were other men that she was more interested in — and honestly, that was fine.

"I'm in love with half of the guys in the house, so when she was dating other people, I was like, 'Well, that's one of my new best friends.' So I was just happy for them."

One of the men that he had "fallen in love with" in the house was high-maintenance Frenchman Pascal Ibgui.

Pascal, alongside Dan Roemer and Charles King, was one of his roommates — and their friendship came as a complete surprise.

After all, Pascal kicked Gregg out of the room for snoring, and he offered to pay Gregg $100 per load to do his laundry — not exactly the hallmarks of an iconic bromance.

Nevertheless, the retired university vice president then transitioned to talking about his relationship with Pascal, starting with the snoring.

And Gregg had nothing but positive things to say about his romantic competition:

"He's just such a cute guy and not like anybody I would've normally met. The first night we were having these conversations, and we stayed up really late.

"Of course, if I'm overly tired, that's when the snoring really happens, so yeah, I woke up to Pascal leaning over me hitting me with a pillow. I volunteered to go sleep downstairs."

According to Gregg, he slept in the living room every night he was in the mansion thanks to Pascal, and he would not have had it any other way.

As far as the laundry goes, Gregg "didn't take a dime from that guy," stating that doing Pascal's laundry was simply a favor for a newfound friend-turned-brother.

In fact, it sounds like Joan's senior suitors made a lot of unexpected new friends in spite of The Golden Bachelorette's "competitive environment":

"I love [Pascal] like a brother ... He's invited me to come stay with him in Chicago, and I'm going to take him up on that.

"The three Chicago guys all became close to me, so I want to go hang out with Pascal.

"Jack [Lencioni] and I have already been talking — and he's hilarious — and then Jordan [Heller] and I turned out to be fraternity brothers."

Alas, Gregg won't be the recipient of Joan's final rose — but at this stage of the Golden Bachelorette game, we don't know for sure if anyone will be.

Luckily, a brand-new episode of The Golden Bachelorette drops tonight, airing Wednesdays on ABC (with next-day streaming through Hulu and Disney Plus).

If it wasn't obvious already, our money for Joan's pick is on the oh-so-hunky Mark Anderson, but some alleged spoilers say otherwise.