The Bachelorette's Luke Pell Reveals Why He Still Loves JoJo Fletcher (and If He Wants To Be The Bachelor)
ABC
WARNING: THERE ARE SPOILERS BELOW IF YOU HAVEN'T SEEN THE LATEST EPISODE!
A raise of hands please if you thought Luke Pell was going to make it to JoJo Fletcher's final two on The Bachelorette? Yeah, we thought so too.
Luke was a front-runner from the start, thanks to his insane chemistry with JoJo and ability to rise above the drama. That's why tonight's elimination at the top of the show (over dark horse Chase McNary) was so unexpected. Yes, JoJo said in last week's episode that she'd be letting Luke go—but when he pulled her aside to say he loved her, it seemed like she might change her mind. Nope! In one of this season's bigger twists, she still sent the war veteran home, which gave Jordan Rodgers, Robby Hayes, and Chase McNary round-trip tickets to Thailand.
In the six to eight weeks since Luke returned home, he's had plenty of time to process what happened. So, is he still in love with JoJo? Does he want to be the next Bachelor? And who does he think JoJo will choose in the end? At the taping of the Men Tell All special (which airs tomorrow night), he filled us in on all of that and more.
Glamour: The look on your face when JoJo said goodbye to you was total shock. I was heartbroken for you.
Luke Pell: Yeah, it’s tough.
Glamour: There's this pressure to say, “I love you,” but JoJo had to have known how you felt. I don’t think saying those words any earlier would have mattered. Have you stopped beating yourself up over it?
Luke: Yeah, I think that I had to look at the microcosm of being in the show and the journey we’re on there versus real life. I was open to our relationship from the beginning, but there was this realization that this is a lot more expedited process than [you’d normally go through]. [Saying "I love you" was] something that, for her, I needed to say earlier it seemed, and she kind of confirmed that tonight. That’s tough. I learned that. It’s a powerful word, but at the same time, I wasn’t going to say it on my first date like some guys did. I wanted it to be this moment that I tell [my future] kids about the first time I told their mom that I was in love with her. I wanted to be that perfect time, and I didn’t want to put that pressure on her early when she maybe doesn’t feel the same way [yet]. It’s a mutual thing, and that’s why I wake up everyday. I love the kids I don’t even have yet. I go to work because of that word [and those goals]. It’s a huge part of life.
