For Ben Smith, vying for Clare Crawley—and then Tayshia Adams'—possible love is all he intended to do.
For Bachelorette fans, the 30-year-old Army veteran is known as the runner-up of the recently wrapped 16th season. In an unexpected twist, Smith famously was eliminated, only to return and profess his love to Adams. She brought him back into the competition, but ultimately sent him home before it was time to propose and got engaged instead to Zac Clark.
During a recent appearance on Kaitlyn Bristowe's Off the Vine podcast, the host brought up speculation that Smith has intentions of becoming the next Bachelor, which he quickly shot down, noting that he had never watched the show before nor did he apply to be on it.
While he eventually decided to go on the show because "something might happen that's great," he clarified to Bristowe, "I never had any intentions of doing anything more."
The reality star also elaborated on how he ended up returning, explaining that he did not expect to talk to Adams. Instead, he spoke with the show's host, Chris Harrison, after seeing him in the gym and asked to chat. As Smith recalled, "I had zero thought that I would get to come back."
Another subject he cleared up was his "I love you a lot" Instagram bio and often signing off on Instagram posts with an "I love you." No, it's not because he initially didn't tell Adams he loved her on the show. "It was never that," he told Bristowe.
Instead, Smith explained how he had gone through a rough period in his life after leaving the Army. While he had been "overly expressive" about his appreciation toward his fellow soldiers, he was "selfish for awhile" after leaving. Now, the veteran has an opportunity with his platform to tell people he loves them. As he explained, "This is like me seeing other people where they're at and I understand that maybe other people don't have as much love in their life as I happen to have now, so I'm gonna give it every chance that I can."