The Reno, Nevada, native is under fire after allegedly liking Instagram posts mocking immigrants, transgender people and Parkland shooting survivors.
Bachelor Nation was just as smitten with Garrett Yrigoyen as Becca Kufrin was when he hopped out of that minivan on Monday's season premiere of The Bachelorette, but recent reports now have fans conflicted.
The Reno, Nevada, native has caused controversy for allegedly liking Instagram posts which mock transgender people, feminists, immigrants and Parkland shooting survivors. The Instagram account that allegedly belonged to him was deleted shortly after the screenshots of the posts made their way around several blogs this week. Becca, however, is keeping an open mind -- and wants her fans to do the same.
"I want viewers to be open to everyone, and I want them to go through this season with me and watch my love story unfold with all of these men... because that's how I went into this journey," she told ET's Lauren Zima during a sit-down interview in Los Angeles on Wednesday. "I did things in the past that I'm sure wasn't the best thing, but I just want people to stay open-minded to everyone."
The 28-year-old publicist, who gave Garrett her first impression rose, didn't reveal whether her opinion of Garrett has changed since the scandal. She did say, however, that if the allegations were true, it's something she would "confront" with any guy she dated. "We would have a discussion about it. We would get to the bottom of it and we would find a solution," she said.
"I can't fault on anyone for what they believe and who's to say that anyone is truly what they believe in if they just double tap," Becca reasoned. "I can't speak to that because that's just not me. I am a strong woman and I do believe in certain things, but again, that's what's so great about our country -- everyone is entitled to their own opinions."
ET also spoke to ABC's Senior Vice President of Alternative Series, Specials & Late-Night Programming, Robert Mills, about the situation. "It's an alleged account," he said. "And it's likes, it's not things he's actually posted, which are things you actually can't scrub for unless the person has a certain number of followers. ... Obviously we want to know every single possible thing about these contestants. So, we're working harder. I mean, it is such a new frontier, social media, and I think it's important for us to really be on top of this stuff, and certainly we never want a situation like what happened last year with Lee [Garrett] to ever happen again. ... We are here telling everybody we are putting the best men and women forward for the lead to date, so I think we want to make sure we are absolutely doing that."
One thing's for sure: after night one on The Bachelorette, Becca considered Garrett to be a frontrunner.
"I mean, fresh out of the minivan -- I can't even say limo. I thought it was cute," Becca shared. "It reminded me a little of what I did last year, making Arie get down on one knee and joking about getting engaged. I liked that Garrett could be lighthearted and laugh about the future about being a dad and having the minivan."
"What I really liked was the fly fishing. It reminded me so much of home and it reminded me of my dad and I wanted to give [the first impression rose] to someone who really stuck out that night," she added.
Becca also opened up about another contestant, Colton Underwood, who in addition to dating Olympic gymnast Aly Raisman, has also been romantically linked to another member of Bachelor Nation, Tia Booth, from Arie Luyendyk Jr.'s season of The Bachelor.
"Yeah, they did have a past, so that's something Tia and I had conversations about," Becca confirmed. "They dated. I don't know how serious it was, but you'll see all of that unfold throughout the season as well."
"Colton, night one, I remember thinking how big of a heart he had," she said. "What really drew me to him that first night was the fact that he had started a nonprofit [for cystic fibrosis], and that's something near and dear to my heart because two of my cousins have it. So night one, I felt like we really connected over that."
"And he's easy on the eyes," Becca added.
Tell us your thoughts at ET's new Facebook group, Group Date: A Bachelor Nation Support Circle.
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The Bachelorette airs Mondays at 8 p.m. ET/PT on ABC. See more on Becca in the video below.
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