Justin Glaze is not second-guessing his decision to give a rose to ex Susie Evans over Lexi Young on Bachelor in Paradise.
“I feel bad for how that all went down,” Justin, 31, admitted on the Tuesday, July 15, episode of the “Bachelor Happy Hour” podcast. “I mean, I stand by the choice that I made. I don’t have any regrets about it, but I do feel bad, and I do wish that we could have had a conversation beforehand. … We weren’t allowed to.”
In the Monday, July 14, episode of Bachelor in Paradise, Justin sent shockwaves through Costa Rica when he chose not to continue pursuing a relationship with Lexi, 31 — and instead save Susie, 31. Things took another turn when she declined the rose, leading Justin to walk off camera and the episode ending on a cliffhanger.
“Initially I had no clue [why Susie declined the rose] because I thought that it was clear as day to me where my intentions were and what I was trying to do by offering that up,” he explained. “I was really, really taken aback. I remember just like I kind of blacked out, like I just felt numb after that and just wanted to, like, escape. I just wanted to disappear. It was just such a hard feeling to describe.”
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While the exes spoke when Susie first entered the beach, Justin explained that he wasn’t able to convey the intentions behind his gesture to her before the rose ceremony.
“I have to put myself in her shoes, like, ‘Oh, she’s probably expecting me to give this rose to Lexi, right?’ If I know Susie, of course, here I am trying to do something selfless for someone who is selfless. What would this selfless thing be for her to do? Not accept the rose because she wouldn’t want to step on Lexi’s toes,” he added.
Justin continued, “She wouldn’t want to take a rose for somebody, from somebody that she feels like deserved it. Because she doesn’t really know the ins and outs of — I told her a little bit about what my concerns were — but she doesn’t know the ins and outs of the relationship with myself and Lexi. So when I thought back on I was like, ‘Oh, she’s probably just doesn’t want to step on her toes.’”
When asked whether there was “any part” of Justin that thought he and Susie could rekindle their romance, he said no.
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“I hadn’t thought too too far ahead, but I knew that the next week guys were coming in,” he said. “There’s no girls, right? I didn’t know exactly what I was gonna do, but I knew I wasn’t gonna, like twiddle my thumbs for the next two or three days whenever the next row ceremony was. … I was gonna send myself home. I wasn’t just hang around the beach, like, I was getting out of there.”
Justin claimed that there was more to his relationship with Lexi that viewers didn’t see on camera. Justin alleged he was doing “all these little things” to try and pursue her but opted to take a step back because he “didn’t want to be doing too much” if he didn’t feel like it was “being reciprocated.” After filming, Justin claimed that he reached out to Lexi twice — and received no response.
“Post-show, there’s a lot of things that I knew were confusing to her that she didn’t understand, and I wanted to have the opportunity to kind of fill her in on what led up to that decision and kind of tell her what my concerns were,” he explained. “I had also heard some things post show that confirmed my intuition and some suspicions that I had.”
He continued, “So I kind of wanted to just put it out there, like, ‘Hey, this is what I was feeling during the show. This is also what I’ve heard. These are all the things that led me to the decision that I made.’ And just have that dialogue. But I totally understand not wanting to have that conversation, I guess. I respect that from her. But I tried.”
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Justin and Lexi have since seemingly interacted for the first time via social media, after he replied to a user who claimed he didn’t have to “lead another very sweet girl on” if he “still [has] feelings” for an ex.
“I had no intention to lead anyone on. I was very intentional with who I pursued. But unfortunately the same interest was not reciprocated for days, where I was then informed that this person didn’t have interest in dating someone that didn’t live where she lived, was unsure if we wanted the same things out of life, etc (this part of the conversation wasn’t shown) as well as telling me to pursue other women as she wanted to pursue other men, prior to ending things with me,” Justin wrote in the comments section of his recent Instagram post. “The conversation before the rose ceremony was the first time I received any sense of interest from her, and I found it concerning that all of the reservations from less than 24 hours ago were no longer there… minutes before we lined up for the rose ceremony.”
He continued, “I chose to self sacrifice for someone I deeply care about rather than take the chance of continuing to pursue someone who I didn’t feel was genuinely interested in me. Hope you can try to understand it was a difficult situation to navigate for all parties involved.”
Lexi replied that Justin’s comments were “simply not true.” She added, “As someone who claims to value communication, I suggest you reflect on how you show up in that space, because this narrative isn’t it. I won’t let you twist my words or rewrite my truth. We both know the reality of what happened.”
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Lexi concluded that she hopes Justin takes “the time to grow and heal” so he doesn’t “repeat this kind of behavior” with someone else in the future. “Wishing you clarity and accountability on that path,” she wrote. “Please don’t share my story or use my words that are simply not true.”
Justin subsequently responded to Lexi’s claims. “Luckily cameras were present for the conversation…’You’re in LA growing your business and I’m in Atlanta growing mine, and I have no plans of leaving Atlanta’ as well as ‘I’m not sure we even want the same things out of life’ weren’t apart of the reservations you communicated to me? To which I responded hey I would love to talk about these things but you haven’t given me a chance to? To which you apologized for projecting on me? None of that happened?”
Justin claimed that he “absolutely” values communication and shared that he will “still apologize” for what transpired despite allegedly receiving no response from his attempts to reach out to her after the show.
“You’re now using the points I raised about us having a relationship to justify not pulling me aside before the rose ceremony and sharing your concerns? I’m fully aware of what was filmed and what has happened off camera in LA. People talk,” Lexi replied. “I asked you directly to come to me if anything changed, and you chose not to. That lack of respect speaks volumes. I didn’t reach out after the show because, frankly, there was nothing left to say. I’m moving on with my life. Wishing you clarity and healing.”
Bachelor in Paradise airs on ABC Tuesday, July 15 at 8 p.m. ET. Episodes will continue airing on ABC Mondays at 8 p.m. ET.
