If that old saying, "You are who you surround yourself with," is any indication, then perhaps Matt James should find better friends.
Though it may seem that The Bachelor star rarely hangs out with anyone other than Tyler Cameron, he does have other friends. People got to know these fellas when Matt and Tyler went golfing with the group and later shared videos of the excursion.
In one clip shared to Instagram by fan account @bachelornation.scoops, Matt stands ready to take his shot when his friend Jerry tries to throw him off his game by commenting on contestant Victoria Larson's figure. "Now how was Victoria's body? Cause when I look at her, it doesn't look very nice," Jerry remarked. "And you've been making out with this woman."
Laughter is heard in the background, but Matt didn't reply at the time.
Victoria, on the other hand, saw the video and commented on @bachelornation.scoops' post, "Cute... I love my body :)."
Though Matt didn't shut down the body-shaming at the time, he's confronting Jerry's actions in an interview with the ladies of The Real.
On the Thursday, Jan. 28 episode, Matt states he does not "condone or stand for" bullying of any type.
"It's just a constant reminder that you need to be smart about the people you surround yourself with," he continued. "And those moments when you're in sports and people are trying to say things to you to throw things off your game, it's sad that someone would think saying something like that about a woman that I was dating would deter me from what I was trying to do."
Matt went on to say that the video only showed a small part of what actually happened. "I said something to him off-camera about it. Something along the lines of, 'Victoria wouldn't have given him a second look.'" He recalled, "It's always the pot calling the kettle black. Who is he to comment on someone's body? It's such a low blow for any man to try and take a dig at something like that."
And to those Bachelor fans who were disappointed to think Matt would be friends with someone like that, he assured, "That's not my character and that's not what I'm about. It's a shame that that's even associated with what was going on. I apologize on his behalf. I don't know if you'll get it from him, but that's not something I support or stand for."
Matt is right to apologize to Victoria, even if she's not the kindest contestant on the show.
On this week's episode, she proved that she held herself in high regard, as a "queen" does, when she commented, "the trash just took itself out," following Sarah Trott's exit.
Despite that drama, Victoria found herself an ally in Anna, but that's a story for next week.
As for Matt, see what else he had to say about The Bachelor when he joins The Real on Thursday, Jan. 28.