Lindzi: Dumpsville Text Trumps 'Bachelor' Split
As Lindzi Cox galloped away after her elimination from The Bachelor, she handled the disappointment with seemingly more integrity and poise than the other ladies all season. The dignified horse enthusiast was even more heartbroken once before, she told ETonline the morning after the episode aired.
An ex-boyfriend once broke up with her via a text message reading, "Welcome to Dumpsville, population you." This impersonal method weighed her heart down more than Ben Flajnik's sincere words. "I think any time you get your heart invested in a relationship and it ends, [it's] difficult," she said. "I was able to bounce back being broken up with on national TV quicker than the Dumpsville incident."
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A tabloid report emerged earlier this week that Lindzi had reunited with this ex for a soirée. She wittily responded, "It's amazing what people will do for a dollar" and said the allegations are "not true."
Lindzi didn't even deem it necessary to confront Ben at the After the Final Rose taping because "I didn't have any pressing issues." She remained backstage as the emotionally "fragile" Ben and Courtney Robertson resolved their problems. "I did get closure that final day [in Switzerland]," she said with complacency. "He was honest with me. He had strong feelings for me, but ultimately loved someone else more. At the end of the day, I respect that."
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While she does have intentions of maintaining a "friendship" with Ben and Courtney, Lindzi hasn't had any communication with the couple since filming wrapped. "It's up to them if their relationship works. I wish them nothing but the best," she said authentically. She was "genuinely shocked" to watch Courtney's demeanor revealed on TV, but from her interactions with her, doesn't think the season's token villain "is necessarily a bad girl." Lindzi was the lucky recipient of the first impression rose, but she feels Ben's relationship with Courtney "escalated the fastest."
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All in all, the experience taught her a golden rule in dating—"to be open about my feelings." Her final words to Ben were for him to consider calling her if things didn't work out with Courtney. "I am kind of like a joker. It was my way of breaking the awkward silence," she said of the remark taken out of context by viewers. "Ben and I were laughing about it."
Now that the finale has aired and her single status is no longer a secret, Lindzi plans to date "sometime soon." If she doesn't find a lucky guy through traditional dating methods or at a Bachelor alumni reunion party, she'd "consider" starring as The Bachelorette or competing on Bachelor Pad.
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In the meantime, Emily Maynard's season of The Bachelorette premieres on Monday, May 14 on ABC. The single-mom met all of her suitors tonight in North Carolina. Executive producer Mike Fleiss was live-tweeting about the limo arrivals with up-to-the-minute details.