No After the Final Rose? No problem. Ben Smith, Brendan Morais and Ivan Hall have all dished about their respective splits from Tayshia Adams after the Tuesday, December 22, finale of The Bachelorette.
“It was a lot of coming and going, but I will say I don’t regret anything,” Tayshia, 30, told Us Weekly exclusively about her two-part finale on Wednesday, December 23. “I think if that’s how I felt in the moment, then it’s what I needed to do in order to get the closure that I needed. And although [bringing back Ben] kind of made things maybe a little sticky at times, I mean, sometimes you have to do the sticky things to figure out what you really want and to be competent in your decision at the end of the day.”
During the Monday, December 22, episode of The Bachelorette, Brendan, 30, eliminated himself after he realized he wasn’t ready to get married again while looking at engagement rings with Tayshia and Neil Lane.
“Finding Tayshia, as amazing and beautiful as she was and that connection was true and really there, I was gonna take it day by day and as I moved farther along into the process, I tried to be as true to myself and not doing anything for any other reason … any other outside factors,” he explained on Rachel Lindsay and Becca Kufrin’s “Bachelor Happy Hour” podcast.
Following Brendan’s exit, Ben, who was eliminated after the hometown dates, returned for a second shot.
“The reason I feel in love with her is because of the way she made me feel,” Ben explained to Nick Viall on his “Viall Files” podcast. “She held space for me. She created a space for me to be open and valuable. … She didn’t do anything other than just receive me. … I don’t know how she did it … But she handled herself with beauty and grace.”
During Tuesday’s finale, Tayshia decided to give Ben and Zac Clark roses after she sent Ivan home. While viewers were confused by their split, Ivan explained on Kaitlyn Bristowe’s “Off the Vine” podcast that things took a turn when Tayshia, a Christian, asked him in the fantasy suite whether he planned to raise his kids religious. According to the former phlebotomist, however, religion wasn’t the only factor in their breakup.
“We utilized fantasy suites for what they’re really meant for. Yes, you know, there’s a stigma behind it. But also, it’s an opportunity to have conversations that you might not want to have on camera,” Tayshia told Us. “And we had a lot of conversations about what we thought our future would look like, what it looked like raising kids and our beliefs and everything like that. So, religion is one thing that we did talk about, but we talked about many other things. And I feel like there were reasons why we both felt like, you know, it might not align.”
In the end, Tayshia sent Ben packing (again) and accepted a proposal from Zac. While Chris Harrison cited the coronavirus pandemic as the reason for no live After the Final Rose special, the couple appeared on Good Morning America to confirm their status and reveal plans to spend the holidays in New York with his family.
“It’s been difficult at times [for Zac and me to watch the show]. But I think we’ve navigated to the best of our abilities, and it’s worked out,” Tayshia concluded during her chat with Us.
Scroll through for more post-show revelations: