The Bachelor News

LOS ANGELES — Jake Pavelka is speaking out on why he split with Vienna Girardi, who has denied reports that she cheated on him with Greek star Gregory Michael.

"There was a serious lack of respect in the relationship," he tells Extra. "I would like to think that she didn't cheat. That's my side right there."

Pavelka also said he's been less than thrilled with Girardi's behavior since their breakup on Monday.

"What did I ever do to you that you would go down and sell your story to a magazine? Is being famous that important to you?" he wondered. "If you don't want to be with me, that's okay. But there's a very amicable way to split relationships up and she did it the wrong way!"

The commercial pilot admits that Girardi resented his blossoming television career, which has led to appearances on Dancing With the Stars and the Lifetime series Drop Dead Diva.

"Fame changes people," he explained. "She feels like Dancing with the Stars should have been hers, but in my view, I felt like it was ours. She started to get insanely jealous over these wonderful things that were happening in life, and they directly affected her. I saw her frustrations, so I tried to include her in everything I did."

Pavelka, 32, surprised fans when he chose Girardi, 24, over Tenley Molzahn on the March 1 Bachelor finale. The former lovers will come face-to-face again on an upcoming episode of The Bachelorette, which Pavelka believes will be a healing experience.

"Hopefully, it's gonna be some closure for me," he said. "America was there and stood with me at the birth of our relationship, and I think I owe it to them and to myself and Vienna to let everybody be there at the end of it. That everybody understands that it was real. And I don't regret it. I regret what is happening right now. But I don't regret the decision that I made. I made the best decision on The Bachelor."

Photo credit: Greg Zabilski / ABC

LOS ANGELES — It's over for Bachelor couple Jake Pavelka and Vienna Girardi.

"Jake and Vienna have split," the couple's rep said early Tuesday. "They appreciate the respect for their privacy at this time."

No other details about the breakup were revealed.

Pavelka, 32, surprised fans when he chose Girardi, 24, over Tenley Molzahn on the March 1 Bachelor finale. 

"People don't understand why Vienna and are together, and that's OK," the commercial pilot explained on the After the Final Rose special. "I do - and that's the important thing."

Rumors also spread within days of the finale that Pavelka had cheated on Girardi, but he insisted that his relationship with Florida resident Tanya Douglas happened before his televised proposal.

"The relationship with [Douglas] was prior to The Bachelor, it simply did not work out," he told Entertainment Tonight. "There was no overlap with that or any other relationship during the show. It is unfortunate that people such as this are trying to financially capitalize on or disparage my incredible relationship with Vienna. I only wish everyone could be as happy for us as we are happy together."

Photo credit: Greg Zabilski / ABC