DeMario Jackson speaks out for the first time since he was accused of sexual assault on the Mexican set of “Bachelor in Paradise” earlier this month. Jackson is ready to be heard and in an incredibly candid, exclusive interview with E! News’ Melanie Bromley, the “Bachelor in Paradise” star tells his side of the story about the now infamous night and opens up about the onslaught of rumors that followed. Jackson details the happenings of that day, the morning after the incident, and the days to follow, as well as breaks his silence about what physical relations actually took place. He also reveals the hardest part about the whole situation and hints at what he felt lead to the escalation of events.
Warner Bros cleared Jackson and its producers of any misconduct, and says he did not assault his fellow contestant Corinne Olympios, but he says the scandal has been nonetheless hard on his family.
Bromley tells Jackson in a preview of their three-part interview, “I can’t even imagine what it would feel like to be accused of something so serious – sexual misconduct – that you did not do,’ E! News.'”
He recalls his side of the story. “It was stressful. For me, mostly for my mother. It’s hard to see your mom cry every single day. It was very difficult.”
“That night was probably one of the wildest nights of my entire life,” he told us of the first night of filming. “Like we went for it.”
He explained that he was nervous coming into the whole experience, considering the reputation he gained after the Bachelorette.
In case you missed it, a woman showed up to greet Jackson and Rachel Lindsay on the show, claiming she was his girlfriend. However,Jackson says it was all set up.
“It was crazy from the last season with the fake girlfriend,” he told us. “I was the villain for this, straight up. I was nervous, I was sweating [coming onto BiP].”
Jackson said he immediately found a “homie” in Olympios as she was also defined as a villain on her season of “The Bachelor” with Nick Viall.
“Our first real conversation was at the bar,” he said of meeting her. “We were hanging out. We kind of were just complimenting each other on being villains. I was like, look, I’ve accepted this role. We were kind of just laughing, like, ‘Oh, we’re about to dominate Paradise!’ Like homie stuff, like really, really like friends. And then, you know, we started having a little bit more fun…and had a few drinks.”
He admitted they took a couple shots and things started heated up between them.
“From the bar scene, it got a little hot and heavy,” he admitted. “She got in my arms, and we started making out at the bar.”
He said she wrapped her legs around him and continued, “I was like, ‘Hell yeah!’ You know, I’m down for it. I’m not gonna…I don’t think any single man—some married ones—wouldn’t turn down Corinne. She’s a beautiful woman!”
He said he didn’t think Olympios seemed drunk at all at that point as the whole group had really just started mingling and hanging out.
“She’s like, ‘Let’s go to the pool, let’s go hang out,'” he continued. “It’s crazy because when you’re a man—mostly African American man—no matter where you’re at, you always look for things that can help you out. And at that moment, I made sure the cameras followed us. It just seemed too perfect in a sense for me, and at the point, that’s when my spidey senses got up.”
When they got to the pool, Jackson said Olympios was the one who made the moves.
“[We were] kissing, rubbing, touching. It’s nothing too sexual yet,” he recalled. “Things got wild because it was more her being the aggressor, which was sexy…When you have a very attractive girl telling you what she wants, it’s like a very, like, ‘Wow, OK! This is hot. This is very…I like it.'”
He admitted they had taken off their bathing suits at that point, and when he got up out of the pool, he said Olympios sexually advanced toward him, suggesting she wanted oral sex.
“I get out of the pool, and I have my legs in the pool and I’m just hanging out…This is when she gets up out of the pool and puts her lady parts right on my face,” he said. “I don’t know if I can say it.”
After confirming the oral sex, he continued, “She straddled me, like put her…literally smack dab right there,” putting his palm to his face. “I’m like, ‘Oh s–t!'”
Jackson admitted he had heard about Olympios hooking up with three other men that night. While he did see her kiss fellow contestant Derek Peth, he said he did not “personally see the other two.”
The next morning, DeMario said everyone woke up very hung over, recounting the wild night, and Olympios was one of the first people he saw.
“We’re talking, and I gave her a hug,” he said. “We all went up and got breakfast together.”
He continued, “She wasn’t mad. We were hanging out. Actually, I offered her a shot, and she said that the production had cut her off from drinking for the day.”
After filming resumed for three days, producers pulled Jackson aside to inform him there was an issue.
“He goes, ‘Here’s what I’m gonna need you to do: I’m going to need you to bow out. Tell [Chris Harrison] and the crew you that love them, you’re thankful. However, you—you know you’re not there for the right reasons,'”Jackson recalled one producer’s conversation with him. “I’m like, what the f–k? Straight up. He goes, ‘I can’t tell you what I know, but it’s going to be bad if you don’t leave tonight.'”
Jackson admitted, at that point, he didn’t know what had happened and was very confused.
He and the rest of the cast headed home shortly thereafter, and in the end, Warner Bros. found that the footage did not support any misconduct allegations. In fact, filming for the new season just resumed in Mexico, though DeMario will not return.
“Our internal investigation, conducted with the assistance of an outside law firm, has now been completed. Out of respect for the privacy interests of those involved, we do not intend to release the videotape of the incident,” the Warner Bros. statement read in part. “We can say, however, that the tape does not support any charge of misconduct by a cast member. Nor does the tape show, contrary to many press reports, that the safety of any cast member was ever in jeopardy.”
Still, Olympios and her legal team plan on moving forward and pursuing a separate investigation of their own.
“It needs to be made crystal clear that production of ‘Bachelor in Paradise’ was shut down because of multiple complaints received from ‘BIP’ producers and crew members on the set. It was not shut down due to any complaint filed by Corinne against anyone,” her attorney Marty Singer said in a statement last week. “It comes as no surprise that Warner Bros., as a result of its own internal investigation, would state that no wrongdoing had occurred. Our own investigation will continue based on multiple new witnesses coming forward revealing what they saw and heard.”
As for Jackson, he said he still struggles daily with the repercussions, mostly because of the way it’s affected his family.
“It was stressful. For me, mostly for my mother,” he shared with us during the interview. “It’s hard to see your mom cry every single day. It was very difficult.”
He continued, “My dad, he kept me extremely strong and kept me grounded and humble but having your mom cry every day for something that you know you didn’t do.”
Catch the full interview with “Bachelor in Paradise’s” Jackson when it airs exclusively on E! News.The exclusive three-part interview with DeMario will air over two nights, Monday and Tuesday, at 7pm and 11pm.
