The Bachelorette bachelor Tyler Norris admits he was "very blindsided" by his elimination and also revealed whether he's still in love with Rachel Recchia.
ADVERTISEMENT
Tyler, a 25-year-old small business owner from Wildwood, NJ, told Rachel, "I love you," during his hometown date.
RELATED LINK: 'THE BACHELOR' FRANCHISE COUPLES NOW: WHO IS STILL TOGETHER?? (PHOTOS)
But Rachel chose to send the bachelor home from The Bachelorette's nineteenth season at the halfway point in his hometown date, only minutes before he was about to introduce the flight instructor to his family.
Tyler appeared on a recent episode of the "Talking It Out with Bachelor Nation" podcast co-hosted by Mike Johnson and Bryan Abasolo and admitted how watching the show back "is not easy to see," although he now has clarity on why his romance with Rachel didn't work out.
ADVERTISEMENT
"It was very difficult and definitely emotional," Tyler said of his breakup with Rachel.
He added, "I was very blindsided... I didn't see it coming."
Tyler explained, "Before I came on the show, I was in on Rachel. I was going there to meet Rachel, so I was 100 percent in before I even got there... She was everything and more than you could ask for."
Tyler felt his relationship with Rachel was "getting further and further along" and "progressing, although slowly in that atmosphere, and so he believed he was "getting there" with Rachel, especially after receiving the group-date rose prior to hometowns.
When asked if he's still in love with Rachel, Tyler replied, "Not right now, no."
ADVERTISEMENT
"I want to find somebody who loves me the same way I love them, knowing that along the journey she probably felt that towards other people and not myself, I knew that at the end of the day, she was going to find happiness," Tyler continued.
"And to me, I felt like I deserved the same thing... I was able to get past everything that happened."
RELATED LINK: 'THE BACHELORETTE' COUPLES NOW: WHOM DID 'THE BACHELORETTE' STARS AND THEIR BACHELOR PICKS ULTIMATELY END UP WITH?! (PHOTOS)
Tyler noted how he felt "so much respect" for Rachel for eliminating him before meeting his loved ones and it was "the best thing" for her to do.
Introducing a woman to his family is apparently a big deal for Tyler, especially because he hadn't brought a partner home in two years.
ADVERTISEMENT
And after watching Rachel with her other bachelors on the ABC reality series, Tyler acknowledged it was "absolutely" clear Rachel's relationships with other guys were further along than what they had developed.
Tyler's ouster was heart-wrenching because he poured his heart out to Rachel just as she was trying to dump him. Still, Tyler doesn't regret expressing himself, and he said his love proclamation to Rachel was not "premature" or rushed.
"I'm not somebody who feels and hides that. I'm a very heart-on-my-sleeve type of guy. If I'm feeling something, that's the lover boy in me," Tyler explained.
"If I'm feeling something, I'm going to make it known, whether it works out or not. I made it known and it didn't work out for me, but there wasn't anything that I felt I left off the table."
Tyler said he wouldn't have done anything differently and he just wasn't Rachel's person at the end of the day.
ADVERTISEMENT
Once Rachel rejected Tyler, he visited his parents and family alone, without Rachel on his arm.
Tyler's family appeared shocked and disappointed in how things had turned out for him, but Tyler insisted it was wonderful to lean on his family during that "tough" time and have their support.
RELATED LINK: 'THE BACHELOR' COUPLES NOW: WHO DID 'THE BACHELOR' STARS AND THEIR BACHELORETTE PICKS ACTUALLY END UP MARRYING? (PHOTOS)
"If everything kept going the way I thought it was going and my family had loved Rachel, it's kind of like, why would I not [propose marriage] afterward?" Tyler shared.
But now that Tyler is single again, he plans to move to San Diego and obtain his real estate license. He's also definitely interested in a stint on Bachelor in Paradise.
Tyler said on The Bachelorette season how he was convinced Rachel was "The One" and would be his future wife and the mother of his kids.
Mike therefore confessed on his podcast how he was a little skeptical when Tyler said he's no longer in love with The Bachelorette star.
Tyler told Rachel, "At this point, I am not falling in love with you. I am so in love with you, and it's just been incredible."
Rachel suddenly looked away from Tyler, appearing very distraught.
But he continued, "I would not change a thing... This means so much, it really does. And you are literally the most amazing person I've ever met."
Rachel had to interrupt Tyler to explain that she didn't want to bring other people into their relationship. Rachel said she appreciated how Tyler loved so openly and wasn't afraid of getting hurt.
ADVERTISEMENT
"I just feel like we've had the most incredible day but I'm still feeling like not 100 percent confident," Rachel said in tears.
"And I don't know if I'm ready to meet your family when I still have this bit of reservation -- and I don't know where it's coming from. I just feel like something is missing. I don't know if it's time... but I don't know if I'll be able to get there with you."
Tyler said being in love again meant so much to him, and he added, "That love that is forever is real... And just looking at you, I know you're going to have that. And I want that too."
"I wish I could get there," Rachel cried. "I do."
Rachel wished that she could fall in love with Tyler because he's an amazing man. Rachel said this was the hardest thing she's had to do on this show and her heart was "breaking" because Tyler didn't deserve to get hurt.
RELATED LINK: 'THE BACHELOR' FRANCHISE COUPLES NOW: WHO IS STILL TOGETHER?? (PHOTOS)
Interested in more The Bachelor news? Join our The Bachelor Facebook Group!