On Monday night, "Bachelor in Paradise" fans finally got a chance to see the interactions between participants DeMario Jackson and Corinne Olympios that took place before "allegations of misconduct" brought production of the series to halt earlier this summer.
Now, Jackson says he feels vindicated by the footage.
While an internal investigation by Warner Bros. had already concluded that "the tape does not support any charge of misconduct by a cast member," this was the first time any of the footage surrounding the incident — though not including it — had been made public.
"I feel like they rolled enough of the tape," Jackson told Entertainment Tonight of the Season 4 premiere. "You can't show too much, because that's gonna disrespect both Corinne and I, and I just feel like it wouldn't be the best or the classiest thing to do."
According to the reality TV star, the important thing was that viewers were able to see that "she's lucid, I'm lucid."
"It wasn't like I'm some predator who was at the bar waiting for the girl to get extremely drunk, then I'm like, 'Oops! Let me pounce on her,'" he explained.
Jackson also spoke to Access Hollywood after the episode aired and said he "was extremely happy" with the broadcast. "Seeing is believing."
And having viewers believe him was important to Jackson after the media attention he gained when the controversy first came to light.
"I lost 25-plus pounds, I've had crazy stress ... no sleep," he said. "It was extremely hard for me and my family. No man wants to see their name next to rape allegations."
Of course there's another cast member's take on all of it to be considered — that of Olympios.
A sit-down interview with her will air on "Bachelor in Paradise" Aug. 28.