If you haven’t been watching Bling Empire on Netflix, take this as your sign to jump in right now. I watched all eight episodes in two days and have zero regrets. Ok, one regret: that there weren’t more episodes that I could binge. I obviously enjoyed the show and it was a nice departure from my usual Bravo fare.
One of the central plot lines for the show was the tumultuous relationship between Kelly Mi Li and her boyfriend, Andrew Gray. They were on and off again the whole time and fans got to see a most unpleasant side of him from the go.
But now Andrew is saying that not everything you saw was authentic. He recently spoke with E! News about his feelings and how he was portrayed on the show. According to Andrew, he got a bad edit. Isn’t that what they all say? Andrew started, “To set the record straight, what was captured in the show doesn’t reflect our relationship at all. I don’t believe the audience—and this is my opinion, Kelly’s gonna say her piece—really saw anything other than the absolute worst part of a time, a short time, that was put on camera.” Well, yeah, we saw what you gave us.
Andrew also claimed filming was “a set-up,” “a trigger” and “a manipulation.” Seeing all that play out definitely didn’t bode well for either Kelly or Andrew. Kelly said of the matter, “There were definitely some things that were really difficult to watch. You know, but for me, I feel like…really proud how far we’ve come since filming.” The filming for the show was actually done at the end of 2018 and into 2019, so Andrew and Kelly have had plenty of time to reflect.
In one of the worst moments between the couple on the show, Andrew went ballistic on Kelly for leaving him in a Paris hotel room to sleep while she went shopping with co-star Anna Shay. So it’s not surprising that Andrew faced some harsh criticism online. Of the backlash he said, “It’s surreal because you have hope that people will fact check, respond, reply but, time and time again, we see reactions, we see common hate, we see common anger through people who’ve also been affected in some way shape or form from a person, place or thing.”
The couple is now back together, with Kelly stating that her co-stars have been supportive. Andrew feels differently. He stated, “First of all, I’m a transparent guy, ok? I don’t know these people. I don’t know their favorite color, I don’t know their middle names, I don’t know their nicknames.”
He continued, “I know Kane [Lim], and I know Anna a little bit. But we just met Anna—Paris was the first time we did anything with her…They never knew our relationship. They’re just being fed. They’re like, ‘Say this, we’re going in an interview.’ And they’re like, ‘Oh ok!’ So, I don’t know how they really feel about it.”
RELATED: Bling Empire Stars Kelly Mi Li And Andrew Gray Are Back Together; Andrew Says He’s Grown A Lot
Andrew also feels like the cast was told what to say about him. He explained, “They’re probably tired of talking about it because producers are in their ear every day. ‘Can you just say this?’ And they’re like, ‘Ok, yeah. How do you want me to say it?'”
These are big accusations for sure. Let’s face it, we all know that reality TV has some scripting involved. How else would we get the drama we so desperately crave. But it’s hard to hear claims of “bad editing” when we saw with our own two eyes just how Andrew treated Kelly. Regardless of what the cast was or wasn’t told to say about him, you can’t make up what happened in Paris. Or any of the other times he was seen manipulating her (hello, every scene with the therapist comes to mind).
I think Kelly deserves better. And we deserve a second season of Bling Empire. Hopefully, it won’t include Andrew.
TELL US – DO YOU BELIEVE ANDREW THAT HE GOT A BAD EDIT? DO YOU THINK KELLY SHOULD HAVE GOTTEN BACK TOGETHER WITH HIM? DO YOU WANT TO SEE ANOTHER SEASON OF BLING EMPIRE?
[Photo Credit: Netflix]
