Last night was the big showdown interview between recently split-up tabloid couple, bachelor Jake Pavelka and his would-be bride, Vienna Girardi. I have to admit that I didn’t watch the whole thing and just saw the highlights. (Which are available on Radar, TMZ, and Popeater. Popeater’s video is above.) Jake comes across as very mean, controlling and arrogant and snipes at Vienna to stop interrupting him several times. He claims she “undermines” him and says that’s why he didn’t sleep with her while they were together. She points out that he gave her other excuses, including that he was fasting and that he wanted to wait until marriage.

I’m only marginally interested in these two, but from what I saw of this interview it was explosive and frankly somewhat scary. Jake looked unhinged and very angry like he was about to go off at any time. The only example he could give of Vienna “undermining” him was when she wanted to use the GPS when he insisted he knew how to get somewhere. He was so pissed off that she questioned him that he threw the GPS out the car window.

They seemed to hurl insults most of the time, with each claiming they were the first one to break up the relationship. Vienna ended up walking out in tears when Jake told her to stop interrupting him. Radar Online is reporting that she wants a quarter of a million dollars to have another televised interview with Jake but that ABC isn’t paying.

Here’s Radar’s recap of the Jake vs. Vienna televised fight, which is the most complete I’ve found:

The Bachelor’ host Chris Harrison moderated the pool-side debate between the couple, who called off their engagement last month. The 32-year-old pilot from Dallas and the 23-year-old Geneva, Fla., resident quarreled over such issues as where they should place furniture in their home and why she gave an interview to a tabloid about their split. Amid the fireworks, Vienna accused Jake of emotional abuse, while he said “she breaks me down … she’s mean.”

The two met on a reality TV show, where Jake chose his favorite girl Vienna from a pack of willing women. While the couple admit they were happy at first, things quickly went downhill. “The first month together was great. He was crazy about me. From there it went straight downhill. It felt like a relationship when cameras were rolling or we were out on a red carpet, but when we were at home [it was] lonely,” Girardi explained.

He fired back, “To me there is more in a relationship than sex.” When she interrupted him again, he added, “She’s asking me why there’s not intimacy in a relationship and this is it right here.”

But she says while the couple tried to act happy for the cameras, they weren’t intimate at home. “At home, it wasn’t like we were in a relationship. I just wanted him to be around me and talk to me and hold me and kiss me, like a normal relationship,” she explained.

Then came the tabloid interviews from both sides. Girardi lashed out first by appearing on the cover of Star magazine alongside the headline “Jake’s a MONSTER!” Pavelka then struck back on the front of PEOPLE magazine above the headline “I DON’T TRUST HER.” Girardi later dodged infidelity allegations on Twitter, while Pavelka unloaded about his relationship regrets in an interview with ‘Extra’ host Mario Lopez.

“Either way, our relationship had been public. The world was going to want to know what happened … I hadn’t had a voice this entire time,” she said. “You are a fame whore is what you are.”

“I’m so mad at you. I’m disgusted with you,” Pavelka fired back.

But who actually initiated the breakup remains unknown. “I called you and broke up with you over the phone,” Girardi said. Disgusted at his ex, Pavelka said, “She’s like a tabloid. You get 40 percent of the truth.” He later added, “She breaks me down, she undermines me, she’s mean … This is it, right here.”

Throughout the interview, Pavelka continually got annoyed at his ex for “interrupting” him. He kept trying to silence her and finished by yelling at his ex. At this point, Vienna couldn’t take it anymore and began crying. She finally jumped off the couch, saying to Jake, “You are the meanest person I’ve ever met in my life. … I’m over it.”

[From Radar]

I didn’t watch this show and I only know this couple from the tabloids and what little I’ve seen of this interview. There’s something wrong with this Jake guy, though. He’s a creep with no idea how to compromise in a relationship and is far from a catch. He’s looking for a woman to dominate and control – if he’s even interested in women.

Why the hell don’t producers vet these people properly? Can’t they give them psychological testing to see if they’re emotionally ready to be a relationship? There’s nothing romantic or dreamy about these dating shows and it’s time that major networks gave them a pass. Sadly, the more over-the-top drama there is the more we watch. Now we know that it’s not all manufactured for ratings. There’s no doubt these fools weren’t acting.