Bachelor contestant accuses Bachelorette contender of sexual harassment

May 2024 · 3 minute read

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Former “Bachelor” contestant Bekah Martinez is accusing recent “Bachelorette” contestant Leandro “Leo” Dottavio of sexual harassment.

Martinez, 23, took to Instagram Wednesday to post a series of screenshots she collected from her fanbase, all of which claim the 31-year-old Dottavio acted inappropriately toward women.

The screenshots begin with an Instagram post by Dottavio, dating back about four years, saying “you need my big d–k.”

Martinez discovered the screenshot when browsing Bachelor and Bachelorette Reddit pages. She says that the screenshot of the comment has been floating around online since May. Dottavio told The Post that the screenshot of his comment is photoshopped, and was asking his lawyer to look into it. Martinez says she has seen multiple versions of this comment and believes it is real.

After Martinez shared it, many women responded by sharing what they say were their own experiences.

“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, Martinez tells The Post. “There’s no way these women happen to be lying about the same thing before seeing what other women are saying.”

One Instagram user who claims to have attended college with Dottavio and performed in theater productions with him there says he’d acted “creepy” to her and other women, some of them, she charged, “barely legal.”

Another user says Dottavio constantly pursued her friend and sent her multiple “unwanted” pictures of his genitals.

Martinez says she received about a dozen messages detailing “specific examples” of sexual harassment but has shielded the identity of Dottavio’s accusers.

She also posted a video saying his lawyer has reached out to her to remove her posts and issue a public apology or be sued for defamation.

Dottavio, a stuntman, appeared on the current season of “Bachelorette” vying for Becca Kufrin’s heart, which he didn’t win. Promos for the upcoming season of “Bachelor in Paradise” show Dottavio, though he is not part of ABC’s official cast announcement.

Martinez and Dottavio have never met. But she says, “hearing first hand from other cast members about his behavior definitely did not lend to his character.”

Dottavio has since responded to Martinez through Instagram with graphic claims from his own followers about her, all of which she denies. “[His response] is so toxic,” she says. “This is why women don’t come forward.”

Martinez, a nanny and Instagram personality, appeared on the most recent season of “Bachelor,” which featured Kufrin and Arie Luyendyk. She’s called out other players in the “Bachelor” universe for their off-screen behavior.

A representative for ABC says they have no comment on the allegations.

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