'The Bachelorette' bachelor Sean Lowe: Emily Maynard wasn't trying to spare my feelings

The Bachelorette bachelor Sean Lowe, a 28-year-old insurance agent from Dallas, TX, was eliminated by Bachelorette Emily Maynard during the eighth season's ninth Rose Ceremony at the end of Monday night's broadcast, determining Arie Luyendyk Jr. and Jef Holm as Emily's Final 2 bachelors.


When we talked to Sean last, he seemed in high spirits to discuss an earlier The Bachelorette episode in which he and Emily enjoyed a one-on-one date -- which he had referred to as one of the best days of his life -- and strengthened their relationship in London. However, during his conference call with reporters on Thursday, Sean was singing a different tune after the woman he loved and had every intention of marrying sent him home unexpectedly and broke his heart.

During Thursday's call, Sean talked to Reality TV about his The Bachelorette experience and emotional exit -- including whether he believed Emily truly could've thought he was perfect considering she didn't pick him in the end, why he didn't regret saying "I love you" sooner when Emily potentially could've fallen harder for him faster, and whether he agreed with reports that Arie went on the show just for fame.

Below is the first portion of Sean's conference call with reporters. Check back with Reality TV World on Friday for the concluding portion.

Reality TV World: Emily kept saying you were the "perfect guy" in general and she basically had no good reason as to why she eliminated you, claiming you really had done nothing wrong and didn't need to change a thing. So since she sent you home, looking back on it now, do you really believe that or do you think she was just trying to spare your feelings as much as possible?


Sean Lowe: You know what? I believe that, and I'm not saying that I'm perfect, but I believe that she couldn't find any faults with me and ultimately, I think it just came down to connection. And maybe her connection was stronger with Jef and Arie.

Although she couldn't come up with anything necessarily wrong with me, I think in her heart, she just realized Jef and Arie might be the better choice. So, I don't think she was trying to spare my feelings at all.

Reality TV World: During your final one-on-one date with Emily, she said due to the fact you hadn't told her you loved her yet, she remained protective of herself and wouldn't even let her mind or head go in that direction yet. I know you said you have no regrets, but do you think if you had said "I love you" sooner maybe things would've been different? Because it sounds like Emily would've been more open to falling for you had she known you felt that way, you know what I mean. Like Arie said "I love you" fairly early in the season and it seemed to strengthen their bond immediately.

Sean Lowe: Yeah, that's an interesting question and ultimately, Emily would be the best person to ask. But I think regardless of whether I said it earlier or later, she knew how I felt. And maybe she didn't know that I was in love with her, but she knew that I was crazy about her and she knew that I cared for her very much. Ultimately, I don't think that played a big factor in it.

Reality TV World: You said during the season that you and Emily shared the commonality that faith and family were both your top priorities in life. However, do you think Emily's faith was really as strong as yours? Because Emily really hasn't been shown talking about her faith or God or anything like that much throughout the season.


Sean Lowe: You know, I'm not going to speculate on where she is in her faith. I think that would be unfair for me to do. What she showed me, is yeah, we certainly shared the commonality of our faith and what we want out of life.

And you know, I'm not going to question whether or not hers is as strong as mine or stronger, so I don't know. I'm sorry for giving you a political answer, but that was just really tough to answer.

Reality TV World: When I talked to you last, you said you let Emily know right off the bat you weren't on the show for your 15 minutes of fame. And a recent report from Arie's ex-girlfriend just surfaced and she's claiming Arie went on the show just for fame because his race car driving career had been pretty slow. So what's your response to that? While you were on the show, did you think Arie was in search of fame or did you really think he was on the show for the right reasons all along, for Emily?

Sean Lowe: Yeah, I spent a ton of time with Arie and I got to know Arie really well. Never once did I think he was on the show for any other reason than to find love. And you know, like I went on the show for the experience. I honestly didn't think I was going to find love, and several weeks into the process, (laughs) I soon realized, "Wow, this process does work."

As I said before, I was kind of skeptical going into it, but I think Arie, if not for love, it's for the same reason I did -- for the experience and to travel and do all these other cool things. But ultimately, he did find love and I don't question that one bit. So, I wouldn't say Arie came on the show just for his race car career.


Reality TV World: You said you never once thought you wouldn't receive a rose at the ceremony in which Emily sent you home. So at the time, did you think Emily was going to deny a rose to Jef or Arie? What was going through your mind?

Sean Lowe: Honestly, when I went into the Rose Ceremony, my first thought was, "Well, she normally gives the rose to the guy who's most obvious. So I think I'm going to get the rose. So she said Jef's name and then in my head, I was thinking, "Oh too bad for Arie. Arie's going home." (Laughs)

And then she says Arie's name and obviously I go home after that. So, I wasn't giving a lot of thought as to who was going to go home. I was just focusing all my attention on, "I'm about to get a rose and I'm one step closer to marrying this girl."

Reality TV World: You said in a recent interview it took you several weeks to be able to fully get over Emily and your heart break. What was the turning point for you when you started to feel better about the situation, and also, what was your family's reaction to it all when you got home?

Sean Lowe: Well first, my family's reaction was just love and support. I've got such a great family, and that's really what helped me to get over the whole thing. Obviously, I was replaying things in my head and going over different scenarios -- "Should I have done this differently or said this?"


And I think just time and being around loved ones is what ultimately helped me get over it, and then I came to the realization a few weeks into it, as I said earlier, "My wife isn't going to have any doubts that she wants to spend the rest of her life with me," and Emily did. And that's okay, but she's just not the one for me.

Also in the call, Sean talked to reporters about topics such as whether he'd consider being the next The Bachelor star.

Would you ever consider being the next Bachelor?

Sean Lowe: (Laughs) Funny you ask that. I've been getting that a lot lately. It would be a difficult decision if they were to ask me only because it was so emotionally taxing and, you know, I don't know if I could go through that again.

But on the flip side of the coin, I understand that the process works. I believe in the process, and ultimately if I were to find my wife, it would certainly all be worth it. It's just a little difficult to think about right now. So, I'm not sure, but they'd have to ask first. So, I don't even know if I'm going to have to make that decision.


When we talked to Jef earlier in the season, he said you were like a closed vault in that you never wanted to talk about your dates and time spent with Emily although the rest of the guys would always be chatting about their own experiences. Why did you behave differently in that situation?

Sean Lowe: Going into it, even before I had feelings for Emily, I just knew for my own personal sanity it was probably best to pretend like she's not dating other guys and these other guys are going on dates with other girls.

So, I felt like it wasn't healthy for me to share the special bond and connection that Emily and I had with the other guys. That was something that I cherished and valued and I wanted it to stay between me and Emily.

So, that was kind of my game plan all along. And certainly some of the other guys, like Jef and Arie, were very open with each other as far as what their dates consisted of and how they felt, which might've been good for them. But for me, I just wanted to go about it a different way.

There's a lot of speculation out there on whether Emily ends up alone at the end of her The Bachelorette journey due to the preview that aired at the end of Monday night's show. If she got in touch with you again and asked for a second chance or just a date or something like that, would you accept?

Sean Lowe: That's an interesting question. I would not accept it. I have nothing but wonderful things to say about Emily. She's a fantastic girl, but I've come to realize she's not the one for me.


And I've said this before, but I understand now that the woman I'm supposed to spend the rest of my life with will have no doubts that she wants to be with me. And Emily had doubts, and I don't fault her for those at all, but she's just not the one for me and I'm okay with that.

Above is the first portion of Sean's conference call with reporters. Check back with Reality TV World on Friday for the concluding portion.






About The Author: Elizabeth Kwiatkowski