Every rose has a thorn! Jen Saviano had no clue when she broke up with Nick Viall during Bachelor in Paradise that she was really splitting from the next Bachelor star. The entrepreneur, 26, opened up about the awkward situation during the After Paradise series finale on Tuesday, September 6.
“I’m good. I’m doing good,” she told cohosts Sean Lowe and Michelle Collins. “Nick is the Bachelor — there’s definitely mixed emotions about that — but I’ve moved on, and I’m doing good.”
Last week, ABC announced that Viall, 35, was its next leading man for season 21. The Milwaukee native was previously the runner-up during Andi Dorfman and Kaitlyn Bristowe’s Bachelorette seasons 2014 and 2015. Though he was viewed by many as the villain both times, he became a fan favorite on season 3 of Bachelor in Paradise, where he met Saviano. Ultimately, though, he couldn’t commit to their relationship.
“I wanted to say I was in love with you, but something in my heart just said I can’t,” he told Saviano during the BIP finale, which aired on Tuesday. “Sometimes you wish you could tell your heart what to do, and if I could, I would tell it to choose you. I just feel like something’s telling me to say goodbye. I’m sorry. My biggest fear is that I’m going to regret it.”
“It’s impossible to not think that … maybe it’s me. Maybe I am in my head too much,” he added to the cameras. “The scary part is if I’m incapable of saying ‘I love you’ to anyone. I just need to figure out how to do that again.”
Viall spoke out about his emotional goodbye to Saviano in an Instagram post, too. “It’s not easy saying goodbye to someone as incredible as @jensav11,” Viall posted via Instagram on Tuesday. “One of the most beautiful, graceful, and intelligent women I’ve ever met. So lucky to have had her in my life. She deserves the world. #bachelorinparadise.”
Saviano, meanwhile, did what many would do after heartbreak — she ordered lots and lots of pizza. The reality star, who appeared on Ben Higgins‘ season 20 of The Bachelor, shared a throwback photo that was taken shortly after the split. In the pic, she was eating a slice of pizza and held a bottle of wine while still in her BIP hotel room.
“When you get dumped… Here’s what you do: you order an XL pizza, bottle of wine & watch How To Lose a Guy in Ten Days… because you know, I’m good at that,” she captioned the funny Instagram snapshot. “#bachelorinparadise #goodtimes #singleAF.”
