“I thought I was going to make it further than I did,” the 28-year-old admitted on Dear Media’s “Not Skinny But Not Fat” podcast on Tuesday, April 6, adding that she thought she was “going to go further some girls” on the show.

While it didn’t take long for Victoria to be labeled a “bully” and a “mean girl” during the season, she still doesn’t totally understand the backlash.

“[It was] so bizarre, but like, it started from night one,” she recalled. “Cause even when I told that girl, ‘Oh, go talk to Matt.’ People were like, ‘She’s mean for that.’ I’m like, that wasn’t mean. It was a buildup of things that weren’t mean … I was just categorized as such, I don’t know. I do understand not to call women names.”

She added, “I feel like a lot of the girls going on were careful about what they said, or they wanted to present themselves well and, like, I just wanted to have fun. … Like, it’s a show. I wasn’t taking it seriously.”

While Victoria told host Amanda Hirsch that she didn’t have the strongest connection with Matt, 29, she knew he “appreciated” her. She also admitted she didn’t have Rachael Kirkconnell pegged as the winner.

“My brain couldn’t wrap around it. I knew Michelle [Young] would make it pretty far,” she said. “And then in hindsight, I’m like, ‘OK, not surprised Rachael won because they did have a strong connection, but I really thought Bri [Springs] was going to.’”

Matt and Rachael, 24, secretly split while the season was airing after the Georgia native’s past racially insensitive actions resurfaced.

“I genuinely don’t feel like it’s my place to say if someone’s ready [for love] or not, but I think that he seems to be headed in a really good direction,” Victoria added of Matt.

Scroll through for the biggest takeaways from Victoria’s interview:

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This story originally appeared on: US Magazine - Author:Sarah Hearon