Following highly publicized engagements and subsequent splits, Josh Murray is learning from his past mistakes.
“Both of my situations in getting engaged on TV there were times in the middle where I wanted to and I should have walked away and I didn’t, and it’s my fault in the long run for certain things that happened,” Murray, 33, told Us Weekly exclusively of his past relationships with Bachelor Nation stars Amanda Stanton and Andi Dorfman. “Obviously there were connections there and there was love and stuff, but when you see certain things in relationships that you don’t like, you can’t change somebody, they are who they are.”
He added: “I have learned that you can either accept that or if you can’t deal with that, then you need to move on. The longer that you wait to move on from that relationship, the worse it gets.”
The former baseball player says that the experiences taught him to trust his own instincts more going forward. “What I learned about myself is that I’m too much of a people pleaser,” he said. “And I worry about what everybody else thinks instead of going with my gut and how I feel.”
As previously reported, Murray and Stanton, 27, met and got engaged on season 3 of Bachelor in Paradise before ultimately splitting in December 2016. Murray and Dorfman, 30, ended their five-month engagement in January 2015 after meeting on her season season 10 of The Bachelorette.
As for his current dating life, Murray has partnered with Hinge and has found the dating app is an easier way to meet the right woman for him. “When I’m walking around and I’m outside and I see someone I’m very attracted to, I’m a very shy person to be honest,” he told Us. “I don’t go up to that person and then later on I’m like, ‘Damn it, Josh, you should have done it.’ It’s very tough for me, but [Hinge] makes it easier. I don’t mind if somebody pursues me. I think that’s a great thing because maybe I don’t see them and they liked my picture first and it’s an automatic connection and I can choose whether I want to talk to them or not.”
The New York native is very clear about who he wants to connect with. “I like somebody who goes after what they want as well, so I don’t mind that at all. I can be the aggressor or they can be the aggressor, either way, as long as we connect that’s all that matters,” he said. “I like somebody who’s just smiling, somebody who’s not too serious. I like somebody who’s fun, who’s outdoorsy, who has a good time. That’s what I like, just a real down to earth girl next door.”