Last updated : Thursday, July 23, 2009

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Wes Finally Tells All

"Thank God she FINALLY got rid of him!" was what echoed throughout the blogosphere the night Jillian Harris of The Bachelorette did not give Wes Hayden a rose, sending him home to Austin, Texas. Viewers were led to believe that Wes, the "villain" of this season's dating show, was there for the sole purpose of promoting his music career, and sucking every ounce of publicity he could out of his time on the show. In addition, rumors swirled that Wes had a girlfriend the whole time leaving unanswered questions as to whether Wes was as wily as he seemed.

Well wonder no longer. iMag got an exclusive interview with Wes Hayden himself, and what he revealed about "reality" TV will shock you!

iMag: So Wes, you've caused quite the drama on The Bachelorette!
Wes: Honestly I didn't come up with the drama - I think it was more of a character that they were coming up with from the very beginning. You know, when they have five days of video footage dwindled down into a half an hour for one week, I mean, they can pretty much control whatever character they want to control, and make whatever they want to happen, happen. I mean, I really didn't have a girlfriend. I really didn't. Watching it, I lived a whole other experience than I did on TV - it was weird.

iMag: We were all looking forward to seeing you on the Men Tell All Episode! Why didn't you go on it?
Wes: It was kind of a two part thing - originally I had called them and told them, "Look, I can't go to the Men Tell All; it's not going to be beneficial for me to go up there and be bashed by you all, or to be edited to be made to look like someone  I'm not." They told me, "No Wes, you need to come up and defend yourself." I told them that I would do it if the show was live, because I knew that they would be editing me. I ended up thinking about it a little bit - and I saw the exit interview in the limo, and I said, "That is insane!" So I had to go up there, and really set the record straight. I told them, "Look, I changed my mind, I want to come up there and set the record straight." And their exact words were, "We don't think that's a good idea. We've heard some of your interviews with "Reality Steve"and other media, and you can't come up here and tell the audience what you're telling these other people." And I said, "Why not? Why can't I? I mean, that's the truth! Am I going to clear my name or not?" So the end result was, they didn't invite me, I think they know that I'm going to talk freely to people and tell them my side of the story, tell them the truth.

iMag: Jillian had 30 guys vying for her attention, so did you feel justified being on the show to promote your music?
Wes: I don't think I necessarily went on that TV show to promote a music career. If I was going to do that I think I would have gone on American Idol, or America's Got Talent. I didn't think that it would promote my music. I mean, this is a reality dating show, and by the way, there's nothing realistic about this TV show at all - from the fantasy dates, to 30 guys and one girl. If that's reality to people, we really need to dial into our moral compass, and get back to real life. The whole thing is absurd, I don't really understand it.

iMag: What was a typical day like?
Wes: You're sequestered the whole time. So you don't really go outside or do anything unless you have a date with Jillian. You wake up, eat breakfast, and all of the guys start drinking beer really early. We played drinking games, we don't have TV, we don't have a radio, we don't have magazines, we don't have any of that; we basically just have each other to occupy our time, so we basically just hang out in one room and that's kind of it, and pass out and do it again. And then we wake up and hope to God that we have a date! It's a lot like being quarantined, or in jail.

iMag: How much time did you actually spend with Jillian out of all the time you were there?
Wes: I would say, alone time was actually less than four hours in four months, and you know, if we had a group date, we'd all be hanging out, and I mean you've got ten guys with you so it's not so much of an intimate situation; it's like you're just with a pack of friends, and just hanging out.

iMag: What was your relationship with Jake?
Wes: You know, Jake's a great guy; I wouldn't necessarily say that he's the type of guy that I'd go hang out with after the show. When I was watching the thing back after I was in it, I realized that this is a total TV show. I don't think anyone's going to get married out of it, so when I saw Jake do this to me, I was starting to figure out that this was what it was. I was like ok, well this is the twist, this is what's going on, this is what they're going to try and pull ratings from - I'm kind of figuring out all of this about six rose ceremonies into this.

iMag: And that's why you said, "I've been on here for six shows, I got my publicity, if I wanted to go, I could go"?
Wes: And that's the thing, they brought in the cameras to film that scene, and this is how cleverly they edit those things, they don't show what I said before and after that, you only hear the middle part of me saying, you know, I've already made six episodes; if I wanted publicity, I could haul a**." I did say that, but you don't hear me saying in the beginning when I tell the guys, "Guys look, I understand why you would think that I'm here for the wrong reasons, I get it, you know, I've got a CD out. But if I was just here for fame, I've already got it. I made six shows - I can haul ass, but I don't want to because I want to see if there's anything between me and Jillian." You don't hear the beginning of things, you just hear what they want you to hear. And the whole show is like that with me, I was watching, and it made me sick.

iMag: Can you explain your limo confessional when you said, "I was the only guy on The Bachelorette history that made it to the final four with a girlfriend"?
Wes: Well, you know, I'm not in the limo by myself. The limo's filled with people, so they ask you questions. Just for example, I'm going to throw it out there and see if it makes sense to anybody else, because I don't want to get in trouble for anything. But what if someone asked me to say, "You know look Wes, you've got a bad rep on this whole thing because they say you had a girlfriend. I mean, what's the deal? People are going to say you're the only guy in Bachelorette history to make it to the final four with a girlfriend. and I'd say, "You know I don't have a girlfriend. I don't have one." And they would say, "Say it back in a complete sentence so people know what you're talking about. So I may have said, "Some people might say that I'm the only guy in Bachelorette history to make it to the final four with a girlfriend." And I pause and I say, "Dude, come on. If I had a girlfriend I wouldn't be here. I'd be back home with her." But again you don't hear the end, you only hear, I'm the only guy in Bachelorette history with a girlfriend. I mean, I didn't have a girlfriend. They just wanted to make sure that they got me in the end. I still didn't have a girlfriend. And it really ticks me off that they can, because they're as sneaky as they are.

iMag But Tanner said that you told him that you had a girlfriend back home.
Wes: The deal is this -  you've got a bunch of guys, and we're basically all living in one room together, and we're all getting really comfortable with each other. And I was joking when I said that to Tanner. I remember everyone saying, "Who's got the girlfriend? Who's got the girlfriend?",and I remember looking at Tanner and thinking, "This is so stupid." So I said, "Ya dude, I've got the girlfriend back home,"and I started laughing and winked, and I walked off. It wasn't like we were having a sit down pow-wow and I was like, "Look, um, I've got a girlfriend," he knows that. And I'm going to come out and defend myself about this over the next few days as well. I've actually got a phone conversation that's with Tanner admitting that I didn't have a girlfriend and that's just what people wanted him to say and this and that. We'll see if these people try and sue me over this or not. But I've got my character and my integrity, and that's all that I have. And that the show attacked me, and basically slandered my character, it's just not fair.

iMag: Who do you think will win?                                                                                        
Wes: I honestly don't know. I like Reid a whole lot. Reid is a good friend of mine, and so is Kiptyn. I didn't know Ed that much.

iMag: Have you cleared things up with Jillian?
Wes: I mean, she was saying things that she was told to say obviously. That's how I feel. When I left the show, I told Jillian that I was going to miss her and that I wish her the best of luck. I would always want her to be a part of my life somehow. And I really thought that she was a wonderful person. She would be a great friend, someone that I would want to be in my life for a long time. I think I met her for a reason, so you know, knowing those feelings that I took away from it - thinking that I met a person that I was going to be friends with for a long time and then on TV to stab me in the back and say those hurtful things, it really makes you just (sighs). It's a TV show, man. I know that's what it is. I don't really know what to say. I hope she doesn't really feel like that.

iMag: Why don't you call her and explain?
Wes: My whole deal right now - I think she knows that this is all BS. How could she believe that someone would be on TV and say those things? You know, its unbelievable. But I would love to talk to her one day, and clear the air, and maybe start fresh. And maybe have some kind of friendship.

iMag: If you could tell people one thing to clear your name, what would it be?
Wes: It was an edit job - I promise you. I would say, believe nothing you hear, and half of everything you see. That's what I would tell someone who was watching the TV show.

iMag: How do you plan to salvage your music career?
You know, I've been playing music for 14 years. It's not like I went on this show to get famous and decide, "Oh hey! I'm going to be a singer!" I've been doing this for a long time, that's how I make my living. The perception that's out there of me from the majority of the people is false. We're going to be fine. I mean, God's got a plan for my life, and I won't let these people destroy me. And as hard as they're going to fight, I'm going to fight harder.

iMag: What has been some feedback from your actions on The Bachelorette?
Wes: Of course I got people that will write in and just be really crude and cruel and I normally just try to kill them with kindness. Anytime I get something really negative from someone, I always write back something really positive and say, "Thank you for writing me a comment or a message." And nine times out of ten, they'll write me back and be like, "Oh my God, I'm so sorry, I don't know what I was thinking." This is entertainment, you know. I think the only difference between reality TV and normal TV is there's no script in reality TV. But they've got so much footage they can use, they can do whatever they want.

I've told people before, I'm from Texas. I may talk slow, but I'm not stupid. If I had an agenda, I would have gone up there and played it as the boy next door, or something like that, I would have never gone there and told anyone that I had a girlfriend. I would have never told anyone, "Look, I'm just here for my career." I would have stuck with my plan. But, I was very open with telling people, "Look, I understand that you may think that I'm here for the wrong reasons, I know that." And the producers are very slick and very sneaky about what they ask you, where you have to repeat the whole question before you get an answer and then they can use whatever it is they want. It's not rocket science. Now after doing it, I'm very savvy to the entertainment industry and how it works. I'll never make the same mistakes again.

*ABC declined to respond to Wes' comments. 

For more relationship advice, click onto iMag's Love Section!

 

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