When The Bachelorette premieres tonight, Jo Jo Fletcher will begin her search for love with 26 bachelors from which to pick.
It took some soul searching on her part to return to the franchise after the heartbreaking finale on Season 20 of The Bachelor. Ben Higgins had told Jo Jo he loved her, but then rejected her, instead choosing to propose to Lauren Bushnell. The experience left her crushed and confused, but wiser.
“It definitely taught me what I deserve, and what kind of men are out there,” the 25-year-old real estate developer told reporters in a conference call for the new season. “But as a girl who’s had her heart broken, you always are scared of heartbreak. I came into this promising myself that I’d be open-minded and let my walls down and be vulnerable, but it’s also a fear because it’s a two-way street at the end of the day. I could choose someone and love someone, but they would have to choose me back. And that’s something that I’ve always thought about. ”
Jo Jo says she learned a lot from her season on The Bachelor, she even thinks now that she’s experienced being on the other side, she understands how Ben could have said “I love you” to two women.
“There were maybe situations that I could have done better at, but overall, I did exactly what I felt like I needed to do in every situation and I don’t regret anything,” she said.
She still speaks highly of Ben, calling him “a phenomenal and amazing man,” so she did use him as a bit of the standard for what she was looking for. But at the same time, she told herself she was looking for a greater love than what she shared with Ben.
“That last weekend with Ben taught me a lot about what a good relationship should be like as far as respect between each other, that feeling you should have and the type of man you would want when you think of your husband.”
As yet another white Bachelorette, Jo Jo did comment on the variety of men she has to chose from, saying, “I think there is a little bit more diversity in my group. To be honest, I can’t remember all of the other seasons before me, so I don’t know how much diversity was there, but I can definitely say I have a very diverse group of men. They come from very different parts of life, and they all bring a lot to the table.”
When all is said and done, Jo Jo says her time on The Bachelorette was probably one of the greatest experiences of her life, but also one of the hardest.
“There were so many highs, but definitely a lot of low lows,” she admits. “It was a lot more than I think I expected, in every sense you can think of… I will say that the way that everything played out and how it ended, I am happy right now, and I’m pleased with how the season went down.”
The new season of The Bachelorette airs tonight at 9:01 p.m. ET/PT on ABC.
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