The Bachelor: Matt James eliminates Anna Redman and Victoria Larson during purge of ‘mean girls’

Matt James finally got rid of his show’s ‘mean girls’ on Monday’s episode of The Bachelor.

In a move that relieved many in the cast, the 29-year-old star decided to eliminate Anna Redman, 24, and Victoria Larson, 28.

He realized after hearing from others that they were persecuting women unnecessarily, and decided it was time for them to go.

‘I owe it to these women to create a safe space for them, and that’s what I’m going to do,’ Matt emphasized as he bade Anna goodbye.

Anna, a copywriter from Chicago, had recently spread a rumor that model Brittany Galvin, 23, was an escort in that city.

Matt had also heard that Victoria, a self-described ‘queen’ from Los Angeles, was being nasty to contestants.

He eliminated her at the rose ceremony itself, along with three other women.

In her usual fashion, Victoria did not go quietly, telling Matt, ‘I honestly feel so sorry for you that you would listen to hearsay and not all the facts behind a situation.’

To the cameras, she snapped, ‘You think I’m gonna go hug him goodbye? No. And he just stared at me. How dare you? He is not my king, and I am still a queen.’

‘The whole house is gonna feel like s*** that I’m gone,’ Victoria vowed. ‘I brought so many people joy.’

She promised never to date another Matt ‘as long as I live. I hate that name now.’

Drama had been swirling for days at the Nemacolin Woodlands Resort in Farmington, Pennsylvania, where 20 original contestants and four new girls were staying.

Some of the originals savaged the more recent arrivals, calling them ‘newbies’ to their ‘OGs’.

Katie Thurston, 29, a bank marketing manager from Renton, Washington, told Matt that the house was getting ‘toxic.’

‘If you’re going to be a mean girl, I’m going to call you out,’ she said to the cameras.

Matt then confronted the issue at the rose ceremony, laying it out for the women.

‘I want to address something that was brought to my attention last night, about the environment in the house,’ he said. ‘How toxic it is, how there’s a mob mentality with the new women, the old women, this ”us vs. them,” a culture of bullying.’

‘I also want to address some rumors floating around that could potentially ruin someone’s life,’ he went on, as Anna’s expression soured. ‘If you have to belittle someone else for you to shine, then those aren’t the qualities I’m looking for in my wife.’

Matt took Brittany aside to see how she was doing, and she affirmed that Anna had called her an escort, before denying it.

‘That’s not true, and everyone back at home knows that it’s not true,’ Brittany said, weeping. ‘It sucks because this is national TV—my mom watches this show, and this could ruin my entire life. I didn’t sign up to be bullied and harassed; I signed up to find love, and to meet you finally.’

Matt then spoke to Anna, who confessed that she’d been ‘a shallow person in the worst moment ever,’ and claimed she was ‘so sad and upset’ with herself for spreading rumors.

‘I feel so horrible,’ she shared. ‘I’m breaking out in a rash because I’m so sad.’

‘Listen, you’re not a horrible person,’ Matt replied. ‘But I have a responsibility to the women that are here, to Brittany, to myself, to follow my heart. And unfortunately, I can’t see you being part of that journey anymore.’

He walked Anna to a waiting limo as the worried OGs apologized to the newbies.

‘I can’t even explain the kiss-a**ery that is going on,’ said Serena Chew, 24, a flight attendant from San Francisco, laughing as she watched.

Victoria first attempted to make things right with Catalina Morales, 29, a former beauty queen from Caguas, Puerto Rico, whose crown she had ripped off on night one.

She was more miffed when she heard that Ryan Claytor, 26, a dancer from Brooklyn, had told Matt she called her a ‘ho.’

‘Lit-er-ally, everything is going amazing,’ Victoria moaned afterward. ‘Li-ter-ally. I am the perfect person to be his wife, but then these losers create these problems when everything is fine.’

She loudly denounced Ryan’s ‘shadiness’ and insisted she was the only contestant with a ‘working brain in this room.’

Matt admitted that he’d always thought Victoria had ‘a big heart,’ but he no longer supported her actions.

When he handed out roses that evening, Victoria didn’t get one, nor did Catalina, Lauren Maddox, 29, or Mari Pepin, 24.

The next day, he took Rachael Kirkconnell, 24, a graphic designer from Cumming, Georgia, on a one-on-one fantasy date.

She got a fashion makeover from celebrity stylist Ty Hunter, 49, and was gifted expensive clothes and Louboutin heels.

Matt slid them on her feet as she marveled, ‘I’ve never had a pair of shoes that cost more than $40.’

He also sent Rachael a blue gown for their dinner that night, making the other girls jealous.

As they ate, Rachael told Matt that she had felt ‘undeserving’ of her good fortune that day, laughing as she said he was ‘out of my league’ and that she’d often felt ‘scared’ to open up.

Nervously, she added that she was falling in love with him and could see their future together, and Matt agreed, beaming at her.

‘It is scary to say, but when I’m with you, it just feels right,’ he told Rachael, giving her a date rose before taking her on a horse-drawn carriage ride.

Matt’s weekly group date  involved a day working on a farm.

MJ Snyder, 23, a hairstylist from Hudson, Ohio, flirted with Matt aggressively, but he ended up making out with Pieper James, 23, a student from Happy Valley, Oregon, in front of her.

At the cocktail party, he also lavished attention on runway model Chelsea Vaughn, 28, from Brooklyn.

He then had a big moment with Abigail Heringer, 25, a financial manager from Beaverton, Oregon, who is deaf.

Abigail told Matt she worried that if they had kids, they could very possibly be deaf. 

She revealed that her ‘birth father’ had left her family after she and her sister got cochlear implants.

Matt had been raised by a single mom and told Abigail that the things she saw as ‘roadblocks’ to their love were among the things he admired about her most.

To her delight, he ended up giving her the group date rose.

Matt had less admiration for MJ, telling her that he’d lately heard she was an ‘antagonist’ who caused ‘divisiveness’ in the house.

When MJ asked the girls who’d said it, Jessenia Cruz, 28, a social media marketer from San Antonio, Texas, said she’d told Matt that MJ had described women as ‘varsity’ or ‘JV.’

‘I lead by example,’ MJ insisted, and Jessenia retorted, ‘You made it uncomfortable for these girls. That’s what you did.’

Matt’s final one-on-one was with Kit Keenan, 21, a fashion entrepreneur from New York City and the daughter of famed designer Cynthia Rowley.

Kit’s socialite life featured ‘gold Bentleys and red carpets,’ but she told Matt that she usually had her guard up, and said he had helped her get in touch with her emotions.

After the two of them cooked dinner together, Kit told Matt she was falling in love with him, and he gave her a date rose.

The next day, as the women waited for another rose ceremony, the bachelor sent out a missive.

‘MJ and Jessenia, I need to know the truth,’ he wrote. ‘Meet me before the cocktail party.’

The pair got dressed and arrived at the main hall together, where they ceaselessly sniped at each other until Matt arrived.

He sat down on the couch and they fell silent, waiting for what he’d do next.

The Bachelor will return next week on ABC.