Bachelor in Paradise alum Kendall Long has dished about her relationship with fiance Mitchell "Mitch" Sagely, including who made the first move and what she loves about him.
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Kendall and Mitch -- who are both from California -- have since moved into an AirBnB together in Germany, and they plan to live there for the next two years.
Kendall revealed how she met Mitch "through a mutual friend" in December 2021 during the latest episode of the "Bachelor Happy Hour" podcast co-hosted by Becca Kufrin and Michelle Young.
"[We met through] one of his volleyball buddies, and we met at a pre-game before going out together, and yeah, I think the first thing I really enjoyed about him was that he was very into science, like myself, so that's how we really first connected," Kendall recalled.
"From there, we just kind of clicked, and we pretty much knew very quickly that we were going to be together."
Kendall gushed about how she was "immediately" drawn to Mitch.
"When I first met him, I thought he actually came with a girl. And so, I was more so telling myself, 'I think he's really cute, oh my gosh, and he's really into science! But don't look at him! You can't! No!'" Kendall said.
"And then I found out later on that night that he was not spoken for, and we met the day before his birthday. So at midnight, we had our first kiss -- on his birthday."
Kendall smiled, blushed and added, "There was very much a lot of chemistry [between us]."
Kendall said Mitch was the one who went in for the first kiss.
"Mitch is the kind of guy who makes the first move," Kendall boasted. "So he was very much the more dominant one in that regard, and I loved [him taking charge]."
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Kendall said Mitch "knew elements" about her past experiences on The Bachelor franchise when they began dating.
"His friend that introduced us, he was supposed to be on [Clare Crawley]'s season of The Bachelorette, and so he was kind of in that Bachelor world," Kendall said.
"[Mitch] still has never seen it, and I encourage him not to watch it. We might one day [watch it together], but it's just weird to watch yourself kiss other people. I just don't want to do that."
Kendall seems smitten and madly in love with her fiance, whom she said is great at listening, giving advice, and interacting with her family and friends.
"This guy is great! He loves getting into conversations with my friends and family," Kendall shared, adding, "Obviously I'm very biased, but he's the best man in the world."
Kendall disclosed said Mitch is "an adventurer" and a "big kid, who just likes to have fun and play around." She shared how there is "a playful element" to their relationship and that Mitch also supports her taxidermy hobby and stuffed friends.
"He has met my taxidermy [pals] and they all have names, as scary as that sounds," Kendall joked. "He has not [made any with me]... but we are very interested in having a study in our future home with bookshelves, a bunch of books we've collected, and taxidermy all around."
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She added, "I've heard love explained to me by my parents and was scared I would never experience something so wonderful. But with you, love is so much better than I could have ever imagined it to be. I feel so lucky and I can't wait to officially be a Sagely."
Mitch asked Kendall to be his girlfriend on Valentine's Day in February 2022, and then Kendall went Instagram official with Mitch in April and bragged about how she was "in love."
Kendall announced in late October she had agreed to move to Germany -- before she got engaged -- with Mitch, even though she had repeatedly refused to give Chicago, IL, a chance with her ex-boyfriend Joe Amabile, which resulted in the Bachelor in Paradise couple splitting up.
Kendall had dated Joe for nearly two years before they broke up in January 2020.
Kendall and Joe fell in love on Bachelor in Paradise's fifth season in 2018, and then they moved in together in Los Angeles in April 2019.
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Kendall and Joe attempted to remain friends after calling it quits in 2020, but Kendall previously explained their breakup was difficult for her because they never fell out of love; it was logistics that broke them apart.
Kendall said she wanted to continue living in Los Angeles, but Joe hoped to move back to his hometown of Chicago to be near his loved ones.
"What happened was we broke up, we fought... we had our differences... but then I came back to [Los Angeles] four months after and I was pushing to have that conversation," Joe recalled on Bachelor in Paradise last summer.
"You were pushing to have me move to Chicago," Kendall argued with Joe.
"I was pushing to have you try -- yeah," Joe clarified, "to come move to the city where I grew up in, where my friends and family are. I think if you just would've tried, we could've figured something out."
Kendall said things probably would've ended the same way regardless because she had made it clear from the start of their relationship that moving away from her hometown was "a dealbreaker" for her.
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"Your thing was that you didn't want to move anywhere for a man... I should've been more than just 'a man' at that point, and we could've tried it," Joe pointed out.
Once Kendall and Joe worked through a "messy" reunion and found the closure they needed, Joe pursued a relationship with Serena Pitt on Bachelor in Paradise's seventh season.
"If she really wanted me back," Joe said of Kendall on the ABC reality series, "she should have told me before I got here and before I started this. Because I really, really loved her."
Kendall ultimately decided to quit the show because she said it was too difficult to watch Joe with Serena and her feelings for Joe registered as painful realizations that she wasn't over him. She didn't want to sacrifice her mental and emotional well-being to stay on the show.
Joe is currently married to Serena, whom he wed in late October, and the couple is living together in New York City. They plan to have a second wedding in 2023.
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About The Author: Elizabeth Kwiatkowski
