Juan Pablo Galavis has fired back up about the bad rap he finished his The Bachelor season with in light of public backlash.
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"It's hard because [viewers] saw a character on TV," Galavis told People after declining to do any other post-show press.
"A lot of things about me were not shown. I'm not a bad guy. People who know me, know who I am."
Galavis, 32, said he absolutely stands by his decision not to propose to girlfriend Nikki Ferrell although many fans hated on him for leading Ferrell on and refusing to even say he loved her at the end of the show.
"You go on [The Bachelor] thinking if there is the connection, you propose," explained the Venezuela native and former pro soccer player. "But I don't feel there's a need to propose to somebody if I don't feel 100 percent. I didn't know Nikki. I want to know more, a lot more."
Ferrell, who was also heavily criticized by viewers for her submissive behavior during After the Final Rose in which she seemed to just nod her head when Galavis spoke on her behalf, told the magazine how she feels about not being engaged after such a long emotional journey.
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"Had he gotten down on one knee, I absolutely would have said yes," said Ferrell, who admitted to Galavis she was madly in love with him on more than a few occasions during The Bachelor's eighteenth season.
"But having a ring on my finger wouldn't stop us from breaking up. What's going to keep us together is having a real relationship. I'd rather have him propose when he feels it's right."
As for the angry Clare Crawley, the Bachelor's runner-up who was brutally dumped at the final Rose Ceremony, Galavis said he couldn't believe she attacked him the way she did after breaking her heart. For example, Crawley noted she'd never want her future children to have a father like him.
"It was very tough for me to say goodbye to Clare," Galavis told People, according to E! News. "But she made it easier with her reaction. She was expecting me to propose, I get it, but you don't have to come at me like that. It was childish. She disappointed me."
Galavis said he wishes Crawley would've handled the tough situation similarly to Andi Dorfman, who had firmly explained her position in detail prior to leaving the Bachelor on a fairly happy note.
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"Like with Andi, we don't have to talk about what happened or didn't happen," Galavis added. "Just go."
In terms of what's next for Galavis' new relationship with Ferrell, a 26-year-old pediatric nurse from Kansas City, MO, the single dad who currently resides in Miami, FL, told People, "It's our start now. We can get to know each other fully. We're not in a rush."
About The Author: Elizabeth Kwiatkowski