Canadian ‘Bachelor’ contestant Maria Georgas is bringing Joey Graziadei for a hometown visit. Here’s what to know about her

Maria Georgas has emerged as a standout contestant on this season’s “The Bachelor,” making it to the final four. The 29-year-old Canadian has been a standout on the 28th season of the ABC reality dating series starring tennis professional Joey Graziadei, but Georgas has had her fair share of hiccups along the way and has been dubbed both a “bully” and “misunderstood” in her pursuit for the final rose.

This week, Georgas, along with contestants Daisy Kent, Kelsey Anderson and Rachel Nance, will bring Graziadei to their hometowns to meet their families, with one woman’s visit sure to end in tears.

Who is Maria Georgas? Here’s what we know:

She’s from a small town

Georgas, an executive assistant, hails from the small town of Kleinberg, Ont. When she was first introduced to Graziadei earlier this season, she handed him a miniature Canadian flag, paying tribute to her beginnings.

A daddy’s girl

The “Bachelor” contestant has a notably strong relationship with her father, Nick Georgas, the president of Jubilee Candy Corp.

“Growing up, all I heard was like my dad’s Willy Wonka, which is so funny. I love it, but they sold the business and my dad ventured out and did something on his own, which was sprinkles,” she said in a TikTok.

Georgas shared a heartfelt Instagram post referring to him as, “The man, the myth, the legend” to celebrate her father’s 60th birthday.

She survived a near-fatal car accident

When Georgas was one years old, she was involved in a car accident with her mother.

“A semi truck basically fell on top of my mom’s car. It was really bad. It’s crazy to even think about. My car seat was in, like, pieces. I was literally announced dead at the scene. It was in newspapers as a miracle at the time. It was a very scary situation,” Georgas told Graziadei on an episode of “The Bachelor.”

In a recent TikTok, Georgas shared newspaper clippings documenting the tragic car accident she and her mom were in when she was a toddler. She noted it was a “miracle” they both survived.

“Going through something so tragic like that, I can only imagine what my mom went through,” she said in the video. “It’s not something I normally share, it’s not something I even like to talk about.”

Georgas has a complex relationship with her mother

According to Georgas, her mother broke almost every bone in her body and suffered a “big depression” after the car accident.

“Being a young age, I didn’t recognize or understand any of that,” Georgas told Graziadei. “My mom wasn’t around for most of my childhood. [She] wasn’t capable of being the mother she really wanted to.”

“When I was younger, I didn’t really understand why my mom left,” she said. “She wasn’t around for me. She just wasn’t around.”

“My mom and I are still a work in progress,” she said.

A second car accident left her in a ‘dark place’

Georgas revealed in a TikTok that she was involved in another car accident in 2018 that caused her to withdraw from those around her.

“It brought me to a really dark place,” she shared. “I didn’t want to see my friends, I didn’t want to see my family, I felt ugly… I didn’t see what the meaning of life was anymore.”

Georgas credits her friends and family for helping her through the difficult time and said she always tries to have a positive outlook and be grateful for each day.

She’s a ‘straight shooter’

Georgas explained in a TikTok that after reaching her “breaking point” in a recent episode, fans were able to see a small glimpse of her “sensitive side.” The 29-year-old said: “I am a woman who speaks her mind and will defend herself at all costs. That’s just how I was raised.”

Embracing vulnerability, Georgas went on to explain why she is a “straight forward” person, saying, “I’m a little rough around the edges… It is because I was raised by my dad and my brothers.”

“I didn’t have my mom around,” she added.

She has a black belt

According to Business Insider, Georgas achieved a black belt in Taekwondo. Back in 2016, she took to Instagram with a short clip showing off her technique and flexibility.

She was once in a movie alongside Vin Diesel

In 2005, Georgas appeared in the film “The Pacifier” alongside Diesel as Firefly #1. In 2016, on Father’s Day, Georgas shared an old photo of her dad posing next to Diesel in 2005, at the time of filming.

“Happy Father’s Day to my dads,” she quipped in the caption.

A psychic told her she would win “The Bachelor”

According to her “Bachelor” bio, her romance with Graziadei is written in the stars.

“A psychic reading recently left her thinking that Joey could be her future husband. Time will tell if the psychic’s foresight was right,” her bio reads.

She’s been at the centre of ‘Bachelor’ drama this season

Former contestant Sydney Gordan dubbed Georgas a “bully” and a “mean girl” for commenting on Madina Alam’s age. At 31, Alam was the oldest woman in the group, but Georgas’s comments were merely encouraging her to “own it” in front of Graziadei.

The misunderstanding culminated in a dramatic 2-on-1 date with Gordon, Georgas and Graziadei. Georgas called Gordon a “bloodsucker” for ruining the mood of the date, while Graziadei said the drama “derailed” his relationship with the Ontario native.

Ultimately, Graziadei sent Gordon home, which angered some of Gordon’s friends in the house and other contestants.

At one point, Georgas told Graziadei that she was considering leaving the show because she was unable to handle the tennis pro building relationships with other women.

“I think that Maria can sometimes be misunderstood,” Graziadei told US Weekly. “I get that she explained that herself — that she’s a little rough around the edges and was surprised that she didn’t get along with a lot of the women in the house.”

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