The Bachelor alum Kendall Long apparently thinks her relationship with boyfriend Mitchell "Mitch" Sagely is headed towards an engagement and she's "excited" about that.
|
ADVERTISEMENT
|
RELATED LINK: 'THE BACHELOR' FRANCHISE COUPLES NOW: WHO IS STILL TOGETHER?? (PHOTOS)
Although the couple hasn't been together long, Kendall revealed that she sees this relationship becoming very serious.
"It's weird because when I was on the show, I was almost, like, a commitment-phobe or I was afraid of marriage and afraid of all that happening. But the show really taught me a lot [about] actually being able to visualize my future and wanting marriage and talking about wanting marriage," Kendall, 30, said during a recent appearance on Us Weekly's "Here for the Right Reasons" podcast.
"So I told myself that I would never be public or be in a full, like, relationship unless I saw that future with that person."
Kendall, who went Instagram official with Mitchell and declared she's in love again in April, continued, "Right now with Mitch, I feel like [an engagement] is the direction that we are headed and I'm comfortable with that and I'm excited about that."
Kendall said picturing Mitchell as her husband doesn't scare her.
"It's crazy to be in a relationship where you're like, 'Oh wow. I can see it with this person and not be terrified,'" she shared.
"So I think the show has definitely taught me a lot about what I'm looking for in a relationship and looking forward to that next step with somebody."
Ultimately, Kendall said being on The Bachelor and Bachelor in Paradise's fifth and seventh seasons taught her what she's "looking for in a relationship."
Prior to meeting Mitchell late last year, Kendall disclosed how she had dated "multiple different people."
RELATED LINK: 'THE BACHELORETTE' COUPLES NOW: WHOM DID 'THE BACHELORETTE' STARS AND THEIR BACHELOR PICKS ULTIMATELY END UP WITH?! (PHOTOS)
RELATED LINK: 'THE BACHELOR' FRANCHISE COUPLES NOW"But] I wanted to be in a solid place with somebody before I introduced them to the public," Kendall reiterated on the podcast.
"Because as soon as you introduce someone you're dating, everyone has an opinion, and so I wanted to make sure we had a really strong base and foundation before going public."
Kendall, in fact, feels "really confident" in her relationship with Mitchell, adding, "I feel really confident... [in] where we're going, and I feel really confident in him as a person."
Kendall said Mitchell has never watched any of The Bachelor franchise shows but would be interested in tuning into her seasons just for amusement.
"He sees it as a funny thing I went through," Kendall noted with a laugh.
However, Kendall would rather not, for obvious reasons.
"You don't wanna see me kissing someone else or dating someone else... I'd be open to watching [Arie's season], I feel like that'd be fun. Everything else in Paradise, it's basically, you know, someone that I almost married. It's weird."
Kendall was previously with The Bachelorette alum and former Dancing with the Stars contestant Joe Amabile.
ADVERTISEMENT
The pair attempted to remain friends after calling it quits, but Kendall explained their breakup was difficult for her because they never fell out of love -- it was logistics that broke them apart, meaning Kendall wanted to continue living in Los Angeles, CA, and Joe desired moving back to his hometown of Chicago, IL.
RELATED LINK: 'THE BACHELOR' COUPLES NOW: WHO DID 'THE BACHELOR' STARS AND THEIR BACHELORETTE PICKS ACTUALLY END UP MARRYING? (PHOTOS)
When Kendall appeared on Bachelor in Paradise's seventh season last summer, she watched Joe pursue a romance with Canada native Serena Pitt, who had competed on Matt James' The Bachelor season in 2021.
"It's difficult for me to not have you be a part of my life. I do want you in my life... in some capacity, and it's hard to not have that," Kendall said with tears in her eyes.
"You try to move on, but for some reason, it doesn't feel right and it's hard to... At first, I was absolutely terrified of coming."
Kendall told the cameras that she still loved Joe and hoped he still had love for her.
"I don't know if I still love Kendall. I'm telling you the truth... I have something going on with Serena that I don't want to just throw away. I don't. This is messy. I need to figure out what to do," Joe lamented in a confessional.
Joe was still upset Kendall never even gave Chicago a chance for the sake of their future together, and so he determined he wanted to continuing dating Serena, whom he called his "main priority."
"If she really wanted me back," Joe said of Kendall on Bachelor in Paradise, "she should have told me before I got here and before I started this. Because I really, really loved her."
Kendall ultimately decided to leave 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.
But Kendall said on a September 2021 episode of the "Talking It Out with Bachelor Nation" podcast that she just went on the summer spinoff to find closure with Joe and had no intention of getting back together with him.
Joe and Serena got engaged during the Bachelor in Paradise 7 finale. They recently moved into a place in New York City together and are in the beginning stages of planning their wedding.
ADVERTISEMENT
RELATED LINK: 'THE BACHELOR' FRANCHISE COUPLES NOW: WHO IS STILL TOGETHER?? (PHOTOS)
Interested in more The Bachelor news? Join our The Bachelor Facebook Group!
About The Author: Elizabeth Kwiatkowski
