Thomas Jacobs knows his experience on The Bachelorette wasn't exactly rosy.
After feuding with some of the guys and experiencing a brutal breakup from Katie Thurston, the real estate broker didn't exactly leave the show as a fan favorite.
But in an exclusive sneak peek at the Aug. 30 episode of the Talking It Out podcast, Thomas reflected on everything he learned from the experience.
"You're not going to please everybody," he told co-hosts Mike Johnson and Bryan Abasolo. "One of the reasons why I think things went so sideways for me because I was running around trying to make everyone as happy as possible at all times and more often than not, if you're doing that, you're doing it at the sacrifice of yourself."
Another important lesson Thomas learned from his time on the show was to "never leave your foundational principals of who you are." When he went to film The Bachelorette in New Mexico, the 29-year-old reality star admitted to abandoning his true character.
"All of sudden, I'm emotionally charged, I'm just going to dive in into this like a bull in a china shop and it just didn't work because I wasn't true to who I was," he shared. "Anything that you do, how you show up here is how you show up everywhere and that's why in all of this, I wouldn't change a damn thing because of the perspective that it gave."
Thomas continued, "The reason why I don't have any qualms about going through the journey I went through is…I feel that I stayed levelheaded, I didn't call anyone out a name, I showed respect even when things were coming at me very, very directly and I can say that I'm proud of the way that things were handled and all I can do is try to share love with the guys."
This summer, Thomas is getting a second chance at love on ABC's Bachelor in Paradise. And although he's not ready to kiss and tell about his current relationship status, he tried to answer Bryan and Mike's burning questions.
"I will say I'm at a point in my life where I am extremely happy and I'm not wanting for anything else," he teased. "I wake up and the people that I'm surrounded with, those are the people I want to actively choose to be with and to continue to grow with and continue to surround myself with and what that leads to, we'll find out. But I'm enjoying every single second of it as we're going through it."
As for possibly becoming ABC's next Bachelor, Thomas said while laughing, "My personal favorite flower is a sunflower. I'm sticking to that side of things. I'm done with roses."
Bachelor in Paradise airs Monday nights at 8 p.m. on ABC. And listen to Thomas' full interview when a new episode of the Talking It Out podcast drops Monday morning.