What could have been! Dean Unglert was developing extremely strong feelings for Rachel Lindsay before he was sent home after his hometown date on The Bachelorette.
“I’m not going to say I was in love with her, but in the moment, especially after hometowns, I was falling in love,” the startup recruiter, 25, told Bachelor alum Ashely Iaconetti on the Almost Famous podcast on Monday, July 31. “I saw it getting to that point. You’re in the Bachelorette bubble.”
The Colorado native, who spent “lots” of time “daydreaming” about Lindsay, 32, while vying for her affections on season 13 of the ABC series, also opened up to Iaconneti about introducing Rachel to his family. “I don’t think it opened [my family] up to criticism. There was no hesitation. At the end of the day. at some point [I] might be getting engaged to this woman, and I wanted her to know what my family was like and what her in-laws would be like,” he explained. “There was a scene that didn’t get aired, unfortunately, where she met with four of my closest friends. But I definitely just wanted her to be familiar with my family dynamic before we ultimately took that plunge.”
The Venice Beach-based businessman admitted that while “it’s definitely been difficult” for him to open up in previous relationships, Lindsay helped push him out of his comfort zone. “The thing that was striking about Rachel is she was the one that kind of pressed me to open up about [my family]. And so it never really was that difficult because I feel like I’m really good at deflecting and making the topic not about me, but watching it all play back, I would say it was definitely very beneficial and cathartic for what Rachel allowed me to do so,” he added. “None of my prior relationships have been quite as deep as the one I had with Rachel.”
However, despite his heartbreaking elimination, his one regret has nothing to do with the breakup. “I would pack more,” he said.
The Dallas-based lawyer and Unglert reunited during the Men Tell All special which aired on Monday, where Unglert told his ex that he is “still confused” about what happened between them. “You told me you were falling in love with me and then I got the boot four days later,” he told Lindsay.
The reality star then explained to Unglert that she had actually reciprocated his feelings for her. “I meant it. It’s just that you had so many emotions that were new to you and I feel like some of your feelings of love were wrapped ip in that,” she said. “I don’t think I was taken over by emotions. In the moment, I did love you.”
Overall, Unglert has mixed feelings about being in the limelight. “I hate attention so that whole thing is very foreign to me,” he told Iaconetti. “I don’t really like it very much, but I’ve tried to embrace it as much as possible.”
Bachelor in Paradise season 4 premieres on ABC Monday, August 14, at 8 p.m. ET.
