Bachelor in Paradise bachelor Rodney Mathews has revealed if he considered quitting the show to chase after Teddi Wright and how he felt once his love interest suddenly left.
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"I'm telling you that I thought about it for a millisecond. It was just a really quick thought of, like, 'Maybe I should go run after her. Maybe I'm the one guy who should chase after her and change her entire mind,'" Rodney admitted.
"But then I was like, 'Hold up, I just met the girl and had a quick five-minute conversation with her.' It was an amazing conversation, but I didn't think it was appropriate for me to try to be that person, you know?"
Rodney acknowledged how Teddi had all of her friends in Paradise, including her original love interest Andrew Spencer, to lean on and seek support from -- and she still chose to leave the show.
"I trusted Teddi to make the decision that was best for her in that moment, and I think that's what she did," Rodney said.
"So I didn't think it was appropriate to add any more stress to her or add anything else to her plate. I think she already had a lot going on, and I'm glad that she made the best decision for herself, to move on from the process and just say, 'It's not for me.'"
Rodney pointed out how he "can share in that sentiment" and "relate" to Teddi's feelings on the Paradise spin off.
"Because going there, I didn't think it was for me either, but at that time, I didn't want to leave yet because I still wanted to give it a chance," Rodney noted.
"It was very early in the process and so, yeah, I'm just glad it looked like she's happy and doing much better."
After Rodney joined the cast and expressed interest in dating Teddi, Teddi suddenly realized there was something "missing" with Andrew, and so she dumped the pro football player.
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RELATED LINK: 'THE BACHELOR' FRANCHISE COUPLES NOWBut instead of giving Rodney a chance or waiting for other bachelors to arrive, Teddi just left the beach in Mexico without saying goodbye to anybody -- not even her close friend Serene Russell, who seemed hurt and offended by Teddi's silent exit.
"I was just really, truly shocked. I think, like everyone else, I was just shocked, like, 'What?!'" Rodney recalled.
"And me being the last one to find out... [I was] all excited to ask and stuff, not knowing what's going on. And everyone was just sad and I was like, 'Hey has anyone seen Teddi?' I was like, 'I'm asking her on this date.' And they're like, 'Rod, you'll want to sit down for this one.'"
Rodney said Jill Chin and Justin Glaze asked him to sit down for a chat and then Serene came over and said she had searched for Teddi and "couldn't find her."
"[Serene] was like, 'It's all bad. She's gone.' And I was like, 'Wait, what are you talking about, she's gone?! Is she coming back? What's going on?' And obviously at that moment is where I found out she was gone for good," Rodney said.
Rodney repeated how he was shocked and added, "But more importantly, I just wanted to check in on her and make sure she was okay. And I wanted to check in on Andrew and make sure he was okay."
"Because I, once again, I didn't come down there to cause any drama or any strife or anything like that. And so, yeah, I wanted to make sure that everyone was okay."
Rodney said in Teddi's defense, he "wasn't mad at her at all."
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"So I one thousand percent support her and just want to make sure that she's okay. Because I do know how difficult that environment can be."
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After Teddi's Bachelor in Paradise exit aired, she took to Instagram and appeared to address her departure.
"Something I'm proud of learning," Teddi captioned a photo of herself holding flowers.
"1. Leaving environments that are cruel to me & the people around me."
And No. 2, Teddi continued how she's proud of "sticking to my boundaries no matter how many times people in authority try to cross them."
The surgical unit nurse and proud virgin concluded, "Excited for this next chapter and what the rest of the year will bring."
There are apparently no hard feelings between Teddi and Serene as of late, because Serene commented on Teddi's post, "I love you dearly. I cannot wait to see where life takes you next."
And Salley Carson, who has been the butt of jokes on Bachelor in Paradise's eighth season, wrote in the comments section, "[You go girl]. So proud of you."
Some Bachelor in Paradise fans have even accused bartender Wells Adams and the show's producers of bullying Salley with the dramatic and exaggerated suitcase "saga" that aired earlier this week.
And Kendall Long, who previously appeared on Bachelor in Paradise's fifth and seventh seasons, gushed in the comments, "Love that you escaped a toxic situation before it became much worse. Lessons to live by."
A fan asked Kendall why Bachelor in Paradise is so "toxic" for its cast members, and Kendall replied, "Honestly, just have to go on the show to know fully."
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Although Andrew and Teddi had been waiting to meet each other in Mexico with much anticipation, Teddi seemed to think their chemistry fell a little flat.
Teddi, for example, noticed how she wasn't as affectionate with Andrew as she had been with other men in past relationships.
Teddi therefore called it quits with Andrew, who appeared brokenhearted but agreed he didn't want to force anything.
"If it can't work with him, I don't know if [Paradise] will be able to work," Teddi lamented to Jill on the show.
And then just as Rodney was about to ask Teddi out, Teddi disappeared and was nowhere to be found by her castmates.
"I want to get married, and I want to have kids... I want to go home and move past this and find that person," Teddi said in a confessional, adding that she was ready to leave the beach.
"I feel so bad. Like, I just want to go now. I know you wanted me to find love here and I get that, but, like, I'm just not. I want to go. I'm not going in there and doing a big goodbye with everyone."
Bachelor in Paradise star Michael Allio recently said how he thought Teddi left Paradise because she felt "overwhelmed."
"Teddi is such an empathetic and kind person, that you know, I feel like she didn't necessarily want to break anybody's heart," Michael told the podcast's co-hosts Becca Kufrin and Michelle Young.
The single dad added, "People have to do what's best for them, and she realized that this wasn't the place for her. And I actually applaud her for being decisive and making that decision vs. dragging it out without her heart being in it."
Bachelor in Paradise currently airs on Monday and Tuesday nights at 8PM ET/PT on ABC.
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About The Author: Elizabeth Kwiatkowski
