Why 'Bachelorette' Rachel Lindsay Chose Bryan: 'Peter Reminded Me A Lot Of My Ex'

Rachel Lindsay, America’s first Black woman to be named The Bachelorette, has found her Prince Charming in fiancé Bryan Abasolo and she’s very happy with her decision. 

Speaking candidly about their new engagement and plans for the future on this week’s episode of ESSENCE Yes, Girl! podcast, the 32-year-old Texas lawyer and her future groom, Bryan Abasalo opened up about the decision that divided Twitter.

While dishing on how they managed to keep their love a secret before the finale aired and to where they most-likely won’t choose to live after saying “I do”, Linday admitted that she knew fan favorite Peter Kraus wasn’t going to be the one early on during this season of the hit ABC reality series. 

“I’m very big on learning on my last relationships,” Lindsay shared. “So my last one, not the last one with [The Bachelor star] Nick [Viall], was a 5-year relationship and there was a lot of back and forth and I was really settling for a lot. My heart was big, I was trying to fix it, I wasn’t reading the writing on the wall, I was making excuses and I was creating a relationship in my head that wasn’t really there. I promised myself I wouldn’t do that before [the show] and I was kind of faced with that again this season. Like, Peter reminded me a lot of my ex and I was doing that. And then I was like reading the writing on the wall, it wasn’t there and I realized that earlier in than you saw in the season but the show has to play out.”

During the three-hour live finale on Monday night, viewers and fans of the series took to social media to voice their grievances over Lindsay’s decision to choose Abasalo over Kraus, but all of the talk hasn’t phased the newly engaged couple, who say they are tuning out the white noise to focus on building a normal relationship.

“I feel like initially people are kind of against us a little bit, so I do feel like people are going to be watching and waiting to see if something is going to happen, but I’m all for it, bring on your phones,” said Lindsay.

To find out if Lindsay thinks she will be a bridezilla or not, how she really felt about Abasalo touching her hair onscreen, and the last thing they argued about, listen and subscribe (for free) to the full episode above.

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Okay Rachel, this one's for you. Dating in the past, what did you learn that you carried into your experiences on the show and helped you make a better decision? Past lessons or mistakes? I'm very big on learning from my last relationships, and so my last one Not the one with Nick, was a five year relationship and there was a lot of back and forth and I really was settling for a lot. You know, like my heart was big, I was trying to fix it. I wasn't reading the writing on the wall. And, I was trying to make excuses. And, I was basically creating a relationship in my head that really wasn't there. And I promised myself that I wouldn't do that before. And I was kind of was faced with that again on this season. Peter reminded me a lot of my ex, and I was doing that. And I was reading the writing on the wall. It wasn't there and I realized that earlier than you saw in the season, that the show has to play out. [BLANK_AUDIO] [NOISE]