The Bachelor runner-up Gabi Elnicki has addressed losing The Bachelorette gig to Charity Lawson and whether she'd be interested in appearing on Bachelor in Paradise this summer.
ADVERTISEMENT
"Obviously I still want to find love and I still want my person," Gabi told Joe Amabile during a recent episode of the "Click Bait with Bachelor Nation" podcast.
RELATED LINK: 'THE BACHELOR' FRANCHISE COUPLES NOW: WHO IS STILL TOGETHER?? (PHOTOS)
With Bachelor in Paradise's ninth season right around the corner, Gabi said she doesn't know if she could picture herself looking for love on the beach in Mexico.
"I'm not sure," Gabi noted.
ADVERTISEMENT
However, Gabi said she'd be interested in meeting The Bachelorette 15 alum Tyler Cameron -- adding "duh" after her disclosure -- as well as The Bachelorette 19 alum Aven Jones.
"I was watching last season because I was thinking I was probably going to go on the show. So I think Aven was really cute and I thought [Spencer Swies] was really cute," Gabi shared.
"But yeah, I don't really know many people in Bachelor Nation, if I'm being honest."
As for The Bachelorette's upcoming twentieth season premiering Monday, June 26 at 9PM ET/PT, ABC already selected Charity as its leading lady.
When asked if she would've been ready to star as the Bachelorette right after her breakup with The Bachelor 27 star Zach Shallcross, Gabi admitted, "You know, I think there are parts of myself that still need to heal."
ADVERTISEMENT
"But just because I'm healing and just because there are parts of myself I don't love and that I don't completely love yet, I mean, I don't not deserve love," she explained.
"So I think I could've done it, but I think it probably would've taken a toll on me emotionally."
Gabi reiterated how she'd "probably need more time to heal" after The Bachelor 27 finale and "figure this all out."
Gabi also pointed out how a lot came to light when she was watching The Bachelor season back on TV from January through March that had a profound effect on her.
"I hadn't seen all of the details of everything that was going to come out, and I think that's brought up even more emotions," Gabi explained.
ADVERTISEMENT
"And so if I was in the middle of filming [The Bachelorette] right now, I don't know how I would've handled that."
RELATED LINK: 'THE BACHELORETTE' COUPLES NOW: WHOM DID 'THE BACHELORETTE' STARS AND THEIR BACHELOR PICKS ULTIMATELY END UP WITH?! (PHOTOS)
The account executive from Pittsford, VT, added, "I do need to heal parts of myself, and I am fully aware of that."
Gabi therefore reasoned, "I think I could've done [The Bachelorette] and I think it could've been a good season. I obviously don't filter myself; I'm 100 percent me all the time, so it probably would've been pretty entertaining for people."
"But I probably would've looked pretty unhinged given how emotionally through the wringer I was put," the brunette beauty concluded.
ADVERTISEMENT
And Gabi noted how Charity will be a "great" The Bachelorette star because she's "hilarious."
"I hope that we get to see a lot more of that personality. She stands up for what is right, always... She wasn't afraid to speak up or say, 'No, I don't think that's right. I don't think you should be doing that.' And she deserves to find love," Gabi said.
"I think she was very authentic the entire time. She was always there for all of us, and that's partially her career. She's a therapist, and so she did always lend that helping hand."
Gabi told Joe that she knew if Charity wasn't going to win Zach's heart, there was "a high chance" she'd be picked for The Bachelorette "just because of the type of person she is."
"And she's going to absolutely crush it," Gabi gushed. "I really hope and pray that the person she finds is someone really genuine, who's really kind and is there for the right reasons and treats her with respect and love. I hope nothing but the best for her."
Gabi also puts faith in the fact Charity will be able to handle all the emotions that come with the show and how "emotionally draining" it can be.
RELATED LINK: 'THE BACHELOR' COUPLES NOW: WHO DID 'THE BACHELOR' STARS AND THEIR BACHELORETTE PICKS ACTUALLY END UP MARRYING? (PHOTOS)
Gabi still has "healing" to do from Zach's The Bachelor season for multiple reasons.
Zach, for instance, told The Bachelor host Jesse Palmer and his eventual winner Kaity Biggar that he had slept with Gabi in the Fantasy Suites -- something Gabi and Zach had initially agreed to keep private.
Gabi claimed Zach had actually asked her to keep the sex secret and so she felt "blindsided" and "violated" by his sudden urge to be transparent.
Zach also told Gabi at the Final Rose Ceremony he hadn't "fully" made a decision about his The Bachelor winner until he was in bed the night before.
ADVERTISEMENT
Zach, however, said on The Bachelor: After the Final Rose that he had picked Kaity and had no doubt about wanting to spend the rest of his life with her during their last-chance date in Thailand.
Zach explained to Us Weekly after the finale that ABC had aired his last-chance dates out of order, meaning Gabi's final date with Zach actually preceded Kaity's.
Zach insisted he didn't lie to Gabi, but he clearly told her something very different at the Final Rose Ceremony.
Gabi also felt "humiliated" by her The Bachelor breakup at the Final Rose Ceremony.
Gabi apparently saw the split coming, and so she wished Zach had broken her heart in a more private, low-key setting rather than the grand spectacle of the Final Rose Ceremony.
But Gabi said on the "Click Bait" podcast she's "truly" happy for Kaity and Zach's engagement, and she hopes to be invited to their wedding. Gabi and Kaity have both said they remain good friends to this day.
Kaity and Zach, meanwhile, plan to move in together in Austin, TX, this summer, and they've already discussed tying the knot in 2025.
RELATED LINK: 'THE BACHELOR' FRANCHISE COUPLES NOW: WHO IS STILL TOGETHER?? (PHOTOS)
Interested in more The Bachelor news? Join our The Bachelor Facebook Group!