203

Credit: Clifton Prescod/Bravo

Jesse Solomon is clapping back at Lexi Wood for trash-talking him in several recent interviews.

As he also discussed his potential children with Ciara Miller, 29, and shared why he “[respects]” and “[appreciates]” her, the 31-year-old Summer House cast member shaded Lexi, 27, for blaming him for her lack of friendships with the women of the show and explained how Paige DeSorbo, 32, has helped him cope with fan backlash.

“I feel misunderstood a bit because the girl I dated was going on all these podcasts and accusing me of this terrible stuff that I did off-camera. That’s hard to defend because there’s no evidence of it,” Jesse said during a May 20 interview with Elite Daily.  “I don’t like when people attack my character and call me a liar, because I’ve always tried to be a good person. My family, friends, and people around me know that I have good intentions. So, yeah, it just hurts.”

“I tried to have conversations with her since the show ended, and she refused. She’s like, ‘I’m not talking to you.’ OK, so you have to go talk to the media about it?” he continued. “I really do want her to be happy, and I’ll be curious to see who she ends up with. But it’s hard not to say how I feel.”

Jesse was particularly disturbed by Lexi’s suggestion that he isolated her from the women of the show.

“She didn’t create relationships with the girls in the house, and she used me as the scapegoat,” he stated. “It wasn’t my fault. I wanted nothing but the best for her, and for her to have a good experience in the house. She knows that. I’m not dumb, but I’m not some mastermind manipulator.”

While Jesse admitted to making mistakes during their courtship, he denied lying about anything.

“I take accountability for the things that I f*cked up in the relationship, and flirting with Ciara was one of them. Getting my toes sucked was another one. Beyond that, I am not a liar,”  he insisted.

Then, after being asked about Lexi saying she didn’t watch the show before appearing, Jesse raised an eyebrow.

“I’m not going to call her a liar because I think that’s a very rude thing to do, but… suspicious,” he shared.

As for whether he’d be open to dating next season, Jesse confirmed he was not going to let his drama with Lexi scare him off of dating.”

“If there’s somebody I like, I’m going to pursue them, whether they’re in the house or not,” he revealed. “[But] the next girl I date, I’ll definitely try to build a bigger foundation. I see the value in moving slowly — never saw that before. The girls [in the house] told me, and I just didn’t listen.”

Although Jesse is open to a showmance in the future, he said he did not foresee a future relationship with Ciara. 

“No. We’ve had plenty of opportunities to hook up, and we never have,” he stated. “She’s smoking hot, and I think we’re attracted to each other in a platonic way. We just know that we’re not a fit. She says she doesn’t want to date Bravo guys, and I don’t want to not be able to give her what she deserves.”

“We’re just friends,” he clarified, before adding, “Our babies would be cute.”

Because Ciara “holds [him] accountable,” Jesse said he “[respects]” and “[appreciates]” his castmate.

“She’s taught me a lot about myself,” he admitted. “I say whatever comes to mind, but sometimes you need to have a filter. Sometimes your actions have consequences. I had a bit of growing up to do.”

Amid the growing pains, Jesse was met with backlash, primarily due to his handling of his romance with Lexi, and what he did and said behind her back.

“[I] agreed to put my personal life on public display, so how can I get upset when people have an opinion about it? I just try to dissociate from the haters,” he said of how he copes. “They don’t think of me as a person — I’m a character on a TV show to them.”

As he continues to face backlash for his season nine behavior, Jesse is heeding advice received from Paige and not saying too much.

“People are coming to their own conclusions, so I’m not going to go around trumpeting that I’m a good guy. I hope people see that,” he shared.

Also during the interview, after revealing his goal of being a “touring musician,” noting that he likes “entertaining people,” Jesse, who studied jazz at the University of Miami, addressed the controversial toe-spreaders he was seen wearing on a recent episode.

“People probably think I’m a freak, and I am, but I care about my foot health,” he explained. “I have flat feet, and the toe spreaders get the natural alignment back. I don’t know why I thought it was a good idea to wear them at the house, but that’s me.”

He then joked about a potential partnership with a toe-spreader brand.

“I don’t think the toe spreader companies have big ad budgets, but I might be able to get some free spreaders,” he reasoned.

Summer House season nine airs Wednesdays at 9/8c on Bravo.