Greg Grippo is ready to talk about it all.
The Bachelorette contestant spoke about his breakup with Katie Thurston and their confrontation on After the Final Rose during the Aug. 10 episode of Nick Viall's podcast The Viall Files.
Greg was one of Katie's final three suitors but left the show after he professed his love for her during their hometown date and felt like he didn't get the reassurance he wanted. The two faced each other for the first time since their split on After the Final Rose on Aug. 9, and Katie accused him of gaslighting her, acting during the show and never wanting to get engaged. Greg insisted that his feelings for her were real and he had planned to get engaged. He also apologized for the way their relationship ended.
The way it ended is that Greg eliminated himself from the show in a notoriously explosive manner, even by Bachelor standards, telling Katie (among other things), "I don't give a f--k about the rose."
While speaking to hosts Tayshia Adams and Kaitlyn Bristowe before their sit-down on After the Final Rose, Greg said he didn't have any regrets. Now, he told Nick, things have changed.
"You know, the first time I watched it, I watched it in the back [of AFR] and it was coming from my own place of hurt when I was watching that still," he explained on the podcast. "I sadly wasn't looking at it through Katie's lens in that exact moment. Looking back on it, watching it for the second time with all the viewers, yeah, [I] came off like an ass. Came off like a petulant child at times. And I regret it. Because you know, at the end of the day, she didn't deserve that. I definitely projected all of my insecurities and my anger in that moment on her. At the end of the day, it just wasn't fair to her."
Nick then asked if Greg wanted to hurt Katie because he was hurting. "As much as it sucks to say, I gotta admit," he said, "yeah, that's a fair characterization....I initially left after AFR because I really wanted to end it all on a good note between us. I saw how hurt she was and so I really tried to watch it back the second time with her lens. Yeah, I mean, I was ashamed how I reacted in those moments. She didn't deserve it, plain and simple. It wasn't fair to her. I acted like an ass."
All in all, Greg called it a "humbling and very painful" experience. "I'd rather people say, 'Oh he was acting' than to look myself in the mirror and be like, 'You know what? I still have work obviously to do on myself,'" he said. "I projected a lot on her. And it was my own fears, my own insecurities, it was my own sadness, it was my own anger. And a lot of that has to do, you know, with what I haven't processed," including the death of his father.
Looking back at his time on the show, Greg acknowledged his romance with Katie "wasn't the healthiest relationship in the world" because he was "depending on her for happiness at the time and that wasn't fair to her at all." Now, he wants to be in a place where he's completely happy with himself before entering another relationship.
As for Katie, she spoke about what their After the Rose exchange was like for her during an interview with Entertainment Tonight.
"People don't understand that you're allowed to be in love and happy, but still be angry with how someone treated you," the marketing manager, who is now engaged to Blake Moynes, said. "In the moment with Greg, I was very sad and I felt like it was my fault. And then watching it back, I was angry."
"This was the first time I got to see Greg and kind of address the anger that I had," she added. "In terms of closure with my emotions for Greg, that's not there. I'm very happy. But people do need to recognize that you're entitled to your emotions and your anger. When you have the opportunity to speak up on them, I'm going to."