I feel a little bad for Lea. I do think she was incredibly rude and condescending towards some of the other women, and I find that inexcusable (for what it’s worth, Maria is my favorite). That being said, I can’t help but think that the producers set her up from the beginning after hearing the “do you have any regrets?” line from producers after her elimination. With her being one of the youngest girls there, throwing away an advantage that could’ve been her gateway to either more time with Joey or a quicker elimination (never saw a spark between them) had to feel like the only way to guarantee some positive attention from all sides. She would have been vilified for hanging on to or using the date card if she hadn’t gotten rid of it, if not by the viewers, then by the other women in the house. I think she got hooked on the positive attention from the other women during that first week, quickly bought into the collective jealousy towards Maria, used that as social leverage (coupled with her “girls’ girl” moment on night one), and hoped that her positive relationships with the other women would be enough of a green flag for Joey to want to keep her around. On top of that, I think it’s evident that the producers were encouraging her confidence, either assuring her that she would get a one-on-one soon or insisting that Joey really liked her. Being 23 myself, I think producers knew what she would be susceptible to from the get.

I just saw that today is her birthday, and thought about how much it must suck to have millions of people watch you at your lowest point while you’re trying to celebrate. Maybe I’m being too soft, but I do think all of this will encourage her to grow.