Leo Dottavio made it pretty far on The Bachelorette 2018 and now he arrives on Bachelor in Paradise, looking for love. He ends up getting in between Kendall Long and Joe the Grocer, who had been courting, prior to his arrival. So, it looks like he has love triangle issues coming up. But, he definitely has more problems going on outside the show.
According to The NY Post, Bachelor alum, Bekah Martinez, previously claimed that Dottavio acted inappropriately towards women online. Martinez even posted screenshots of alleged comments Dottavio made about his penis on her Instagram account, but Dottavio claims they were photoshopped.
Martinez told The NY Post, “I started posting the screenshots [of their messages] because to me, it’s not a coincidence that multiple women would be saying similar things about the same person. There’s no way these women happen to be lying about the same thing before seeing what other women are saying.”
Dottavio gets romantic with Kendall Long on BIP this season, but it looks like Long is quite friendly with Martinez. Perhaps she isn’t a fan of Dottavio anymore, since the two have posted many photos together on social media over the past few months. See a photo of the two buds together below. Martinez and Dottavio have reportedly never met.
Dottavio has taken a leave of absence from his job as a stuntman at “WaterWorld” at Universal Studios amid the sexual harassment reports, according to Page Six. He is also at the beginning stages of taking legal action against Martinez. In a statement to USA Today, office manager, Gaby Davi,s of Action Horizons, which produces “WaterWorld,” said that, “We recently became aware of the situation concerning Mr. Dottavio. We are allowing him the time he needs to handle the matter privately as the allegations did not arise from conduct in the workplace.”
In a post on Instagram, Dottavio spoke out against the sexual harassment claims, as reported by Page Six. Dottavio wrote, “There have been some recent stories about me that have garnered attention and I want to address them. I want to start by saying no one has ever accused me of sexual harassment. No one has ever come to me in any way and told me I made them feel uncomfortable. However, I am not a perfect person nor have I ever claimed to be. Did I do things in college that I would be embarrassed about now? Absolutely … I have grown as a person since college. I am not the man I was two years ago, let alone 14 years ago.”
He also stated that, “It’s important for women to speak out if they felt uncomfortable or harassed. I support that. If there was anyone I made feel uncomfortable why not come to me? I would love an opportunity to right my wrongs and speak to any woman that wants to tell me how and when I made them feel uncomfortable … I want to take this an an opportunity to better myself and the treatment of women in my life.”
When Dottavio isn’t working as a stuntman or appearing on reality television, he works for his family’s construction business, according to Reality TV World.