Deluded Joe Francis Insists He Is Not Controlling His Girlfriend

The dynamic between Girls Gone Wilder founder Joe Francis and his girlfriend Abbey Wilson—featured this season on VH1’s Couples Therapy—is actually really fascinating to watch and dissect, as he insists to her that he is not controlling because, “I hate when I have to tell you what to do.”

Wilson is 14 years Francis’ junior and suffering from an eating disorder that she says has only intensified as their relationship progressed. Francis wasn’t even aware that she was dealing with this condition until they had already lived with each other for over a year. They never get into specifics of Wilson’s ED (whether it’s anorexia of bulimia), but both agree that it affects their relationship immensely, to the point that it seems to be a scapegoat for all of their problems, something that the therapist pointed out to Francis pretty deftly in their first session:

We seek out people who are at the same level as us. On some level, whether you knew what was going on or not, you knew that something was wrong with this picture. Something about this was attractive to you…I think that her being the identified patient allows you to be in control.

Wilson seemed to agree and told Francis to stop talking and “take it in.” He nervously laughed it off, but later when they were eating lunch, he confronted Wilson about not defending him about being controlling, because he’s not controlling. He then told her what she should’ve said, until she finally agreed with him that she had made a mistake. He rolled his eyes and said, “It came across as ‘She’s right. Shut up.’ Which is not what I wanted.”