Brendan Morais is opening up about his exit from The Bachelorette.
Just one week after fans watched him end his relationship with Tayshia Adams, the commercial roofer from Massachusetts appeared on the Dec. 29th episode of The Viall Files podcast and reflected on his decision to leave the show.
"I feel confident in the decision I made, for sure, and staying true to myself and how I felt in the moment," he said. "In hindsight, I definitely...I don't regret anything, but I'm still sad about it—absolutely still sad that that's the way it played out."
For those who missed the episode, Brendan said goodbye during fantasy suites week. He told Tayshia he didn't take the idea of proposing lightly, especially after his divorce, and that "there's a big part" of him "that's still broken" and "still needs time to heal."
But during the podcast, Brendan questioned if things could have turned out differently had he had more time with Tayshia.
"I feel like if I had more time and I could've removed Tayshia from that bubble and really see how our lives meshed together, yeah, [I] definitely felt like we could have dated and potentially more," he said. "But, you know, when you're protecting yourself and when you don't want to get hurt again, you do, you know, things that self-sabotage what could be an amazing thing. So, I definitely think it could've played out differently if a few things had changed."
In fact, he admitted he often asks himself "what if?"
"I have certain regrets as far as if I opened up a little bit more and I allowed that beautiful love story to kinda come to fruition where...No question about it I self-sabotaged the situation," he said. "And, you know, coming off I've been divorced for three years now or so, and it was a really, really hard time for me. And it was definitely a lot of moments where I'm like, 'Am I ever going to get married again? Am I ever going to, you know, fall in love again and give someone my heart?'"
Ultimately, Tayshia ended her season by accepting a proposal from Zac Clark, and Brendan said he feels like "what was meant to happen happened."
"Just knowing how in love Zac was with Tayshia and seeing the mutual love they had for each other, I'd say she would have chosen Zac anyway," he said. "But if I ended that whole journey where it was me and Tayshia and knowing I had even one percent of doubt about the whole thing, you know, I probably couldn't live with myself knowing that she may have missed out on the opportunity of falling madly in love with this guy who completely loves her in every way. So, for that, I'm grateful in how it played out and it was meant to be."
While host and Bachelor alum Nick Viall said he wished Tayshia and Zac nothing but the best, he couldn't help but wonder: Would Brendan date Tayshia if she and Zac ever broke up?
"Oh yeah, yeah, I absolutely would," Brendan replied. "100 percent."
Although, Brendan noted he hasn't spoken to Tayshia since he left the show—aside from reaching out to congratulate her on the engagement.
As for Tayshia, she's looking forward to starting this next chapter with her fiancé. "Zac is my person," she told People. "And this just feels so right."