JoJo Fletcher on her 'The Bachelorette' season: I'm happy with the way it played out, wanted to find a greater love than Ben Higgins

JoJo Fletcher's journey to find love on The Bachelorette begins in only a few days, and now that filming has wrapped, the star herself is able to open up about it all.


When The Bachelorette premieres Monday, May 23 at 9PM ET/PT, fans will follow JoJo as she meets and dates 26 eligible suitors in the hope of finding her future husband. There will even be a "mystery man" making waves.

Preview clips of The Bachelorette's upcoming twelfth edition have already been released by ABC, and it appears JoJo will endure quite an emotional rollercoaster with romantic highs and devastating lows.

On Friday, JoJo talked to Reality TV World about her experience on The Bachelorette following her brutal split from The Bachelor's Season 20 star Ben Higgins.

Reality TV World: In seasons past, many Bachelorettes experienced heartbreak before picking the right guy at the end -- a guy choosing to leave or competing on the show for the wrong reasons. I'm sure you can't reveal whether you're engaged, but did you leave the process genuinely happy? And were you happy with the process, because based on previews, it looks like you got your heart broken again along the way. 


JoJo Fletcher: Yes, I will say this. The way that everything played out and how it ended, I am happy right now. And I'm pleased with how the season went down.

Reality TV World: You truly loved Ben and he was known for being a really nice guy. Was it a dealbreaker for you on The Bachelorette if a guy you were falling for sort of emerged as a villain in that he didn't get along with everybody in the house?

JoJo Fletcher: I don't particularly want somebody who can't get along with anyone else. But at the same time, I really tried to give everyone the benefit of the doubt. I wanted to make sure I was able to see every side of every situation and every story. But it's definitely something to be worried about and concerned about.

Reality TV World: Was it difficult to not constantly compare these men to Ben?

JoJo Fletcher: Yes. Ben is a phenomenal and amazing man that set some sort of standard of the type of guy that I would want, but at the same time, coming into this, I was really excited to find a greater love. And that's how my mindset was going into this.


Below are several more highlights from JoJo's pre-season The Bachelorette call with reporters:

You were very brave to put your heart on the line again. What was the experience like? Were you afraid to risk getting hurt again on television?

JoJo Fletcher: When I left Jamaica on that day with Ben, I was definitely heartbroken, crushed and confused. After having time to go home, it was definitely hard, and the whole The Bachelorette idea didn't get brought to my attention until probably a month or two after I had been back.

So I had enough time to at least pick up the pieces and get my life back together. I could start to have that closure on my own. It was something that was definitely hard, but I think it taught me a lot.

So when this opportunity came to me, it was something that I think I was excited about. Because even though it didn't work out with me and Ben, it definitely did something positive for me in the end, and that was what kind of helped me go into this season.


What exactly did you learn?

JoJo Fletcher: The things that I learned from that last weekend was my relationship with Ben taught me a lot about what a relationship -- a good relationship -- should be like as far as that respect between each other and that feeling you should have and the type of man you would want when you think of your husband.

And so, Ben definitely taught me what I deserved and what kind of men are actually out there. But, you know, as a girl who's had her heart broken, you always are scared of heartbreak.

So, I came into this promising myself that I would be open-minded and let my walls down and be vulnerable, but it is always a fear, you know? Because it's a two-way street at the end of the day. I could choose someone and love someone, but they would have to choose me back. And that's something that I've always thought about.

We saw a bit of your family last season and Ben's date in your hometown of Dallas didn't seem to go too well. Will we be seeing a lot of your family on The Bachelorette? And if so, do you feel it's a more positive experience?


JoJo Fletcher: You will be seeing my family, and I think that they were the same way in which they were really honest with their opinions and their answers.

Did you wish your brothers would be a little less honest though? (Laughs) Maybe you hoped they'd tell you something was wrong privately after the fact rather than slam the guys to their faces?

JoJo Fletcher: (Laughs) Watching back last season, that was just a nightmare of a hometown date. I think everyone felt my pain. My mom -- you saw my mom chug straight from a bottle because of how stressed she was. So, it was definitely not the easiest hometown date. But coming into this season, things are a little different.

There's not as much risk for me, and I think that my family and my brothers, especially last season, they saw heartbreak in my future at that point. And I think this time around, they're a little more confident that things could work out. But at the same time, I wouldn't change the fact that they're honest and they give me their opinion, because their opinion means a lot to me.

Check Reality TV World's The Bachelorette 12 webpage for more from JoJo Fletcher's pre-season interview.






About The Author: Elizabeth Kwiatkowski