Every reality TV show needs a villain, but Francesca Farago didn't mean to so quickly become Too Hot To Handle's Enemy Number One. In case you didn't join the rest of the world in binging the series after it dropped on Friday, here's what happened: Shortly after Francesca made a connection with fellow contestant Harry Jowsey on the Netflix show, the pair learned about the whole no-sex, no-kissing thing, and...went ahead and kissed anyways. You can't really blame them for it — almost every contestant on the show broke the rules at one point. But that violation, plus the kissing stunt Francesca pulled with fellow contestant Haley Cureton, swiftly ostracised her from the rest of the group. While the 25-year-old says that she's repaired her relationship with a number of women from the house, she also told Refinery29 that she believes she was treated unfairly by the cast during filming.
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"The house was against me since day two," she explained. "No one really understood why I was doing things. A lot of people didn't form a connection so they didn't have that temptation there."
It wasn't just the house. After the show premiered on Netflix, viewers flocked to Twitter to lament in their frustration with Francesca's money-wasting antics.
So I’m watching too hot to handle on Netflix and Francesca needs her ass beat for costing the whole group $32,000!!!
— Lis ❤️ (@AliszaaSymonee) April 20, 2020
I don’t know if I’m just being sour but if I was on this Too hot to handle show I would’ve hated Francesca and Haley 🙄🙄
— Rain Mckay (@mckay_rain) April 19, 2020
I need everyone to start binge watching too hot to handle on Netflix so we as a group can collectively talk about how toxic francesca and haley are pic.twitter.com/BQ9brD5sZD
— NICOLE (@bowen_amyn) April 18, 2020
But, as Francesca pointed out, she wasn't the only one who broke rules. In later episodes, other couples were forgiven for their infractions while she and Harry were targeted — probably because they still managed to have the most costly relationship.
"People were not rooting for Harry and I," she continued. "But I don't regret anything that we did. And in the end, I think Lana was able to see that we were growing and we were learning about ourselves and we were developing such a deep connection. So that's why she gave us the opportunity to win all of the money back."
A year after filming, Francesca says there's thankfully no longer a rift between the castmates.
"When we're not in that environment, I'm not losing them 10 grand by kissing someone," she joked. "It was easier to form relationships. And Haley and I are still friends."
Lana would be proud.