OPINION: Claudia is still reeling after Zac booted her off The Bachelor NZ and says she's worried her apparent eagerness to sleep with him put him off.
She also says watching last night's episode, where she was evicted, was especially upsetting for her mother.
We all knew her time was limited. She was simply the disposable one.
Anyone who has been watching The Bachelor NZ knew that Zac was unable to live without vanilla Viarni or wild child Lily. And so, through no fault of her own except not being either of those two, Claudia Hoskins was evicted from the Bachelor mansion last night.
We weren't shocked when she went home, but she certainly was.
"I didn't see it coming. Everything before that had gone so well, felt so comfortable," she says.
"I never had any inkling he may be thinking of sending me home."
In a cruel TV quirk, she was in the dark about the adoring but boring Viarni-Zac affair and the too hot to handle Lily-Zac spark. Only we got to see that Claudia and Zac's lovely but lifeless interactions were doomed to failure.
She didn't even get an explanation from the Bach, except for: "I'm just going with my gut."
Does she know now why he said no? "Not really, I don't really know."
She says she's now watching the show "and piecing everything together". This, as you can imagine, has left a few things unsaid between her and Zac.
"On last night's episode he said he thought there was so much more to me that I wasn't letting on. I don't know what he could have been talking about! What you see is what you get [with me]."
Unlike previous, "too cool for emotional school" evictees, Claudia admitted that she had fallen for Zac and going home was painful. Watching it with her parents was even more painful.
"My friends and family were a little upset, especially my mum. They just felt sorry for me."
You can imagine it wasn't too fun for them to hear their daughter negotiating the overnight stay on TV either - but that didn't play out the way it seemed on screen, claims Claudia. On screen, she came across as quite disappointed that Zac didn't stay the night, although she wasn't surprised as she knew he hadn't stayed with the other girls. But it wasn't because she wanted to sleep with him.
"I felt there was such limited time on the show, especially that off-camera time that never happens. I wanted to spend some time with him that way," she says, acknowledging that that's not how it came across.
"I think he took that as me being really eager to spend the night with him. And maybe that put him off! I dunno."
All in all, Claudia won't be rushing back to reality TV, despite getting flattering messages on social media from fans.
"Yeah, some of it is flattering! Some of it's pretty weird though!"
She also can't go to a shopping mall now without getting accosted by middle-aged ladies who are fans of the show. But despite the perks, she feels search for love on TV has finished.
Zac will decide upon this season's winner in The Bachelor NZ finale, broadcast on Three at 7pm this Sunday.
Newshub.
