by David McAlpine

Even though Jillian eliminated him before the final rose ceremony on The Bachelorette, 30 year-old Reid Rosenthal, a realtor from Philadelphia, Pennsylvania took his chances and proposed on the season finale. Jillian’s answer, however, didn’t change, and Reid went back to Philadelphia still a single man. Today, Reid spoke to the media in a conference call about why he went back and how he’s holding up now.

Q: David, RealityWanted: Last night (on the “After the Rose” special), you seemed pretty emotional and it sounded as if you wanted to say something more to Jillian. Do you regret not saying anything more?
A: Reid: You know, I don’t regret it because if it was meant to be, it was meant to be. If there was something she wanted to talk about with me, she could have gotten in contact with me. She seemed like she was very happy and, being friendly with Ed, I didn’t think it was my place to ask questions.

Q: Are you getting back into the dating scene yet?
A: Probably pretty soon. I’m definitely open to sharing my feelings a little sooner in the relationship after this whole experience.

Q: You have a lot of fans out there, what do you think about being the next Bachelor?
A: I have been thinking about it, and I’m not sure yet. I never really stepped it up to the next level before in relationships, but I really trust the process. The downside of it is that it’s a ton of work transitioning back and forth, plus you have that “Bachelor” stigma for the rest of your life. You’re that guy, which I don’t know if I’m ready to do. Thinking about it makes me excited about 65% of the time.

Q: Do you think being on the show will change how you act in a relationship?
A: I don’t think it’ll change it in a major way, but it made me realize that you have to tell people how you feel. You might have a physical connection, but girls need to hear it and that small amount of knowledge is a drastic thing.

Q: What was up with the outfit when you proposed to Jillian?
A: I was making a fashion statement! No, I’m just kidding. I was in a huge rush to get back, I didn’t have a chance to do laundry, I didn’t have any clean clothes, I didn’t know what was my suitcase! There wasn’t a lot of time and I thought I would have some time to shower and change, but I didn’t. I guess I looked really bad and I had to put on one of Chris Harrison’s jackets.

Q: Was coming back all your idea?
A: I think the producers saw that I was sincere. I kept calling when I got home and I think that producer let me come back, but they let me do it own my own terms, so it was definitely all me.

Q: How long did it take you to realize you wanted to come back and propose to Jillian?
A: Maybe 3 days passed and I was just thinking that whole time. I think I sabotaged myself during those 3 days and thought I was the best guy for her. I knew I wanted to spent tomorrow with her, but I wasn’t 100% wanting to get married to her soon. I still thought our relationship was 15 times better than her relationship with the other two and I thought it was my job to come back and get her. I honestly thought there would be no competition once I told her how I felt.

Q: Did you know she was going to pick Ed when you arrived at the final rose ceremony?
A: No, I didn’t. I almost thought it was like a test on her part, and I guess it wasn’t. I don’t think I trusted hat she had those feelings for Ed. I guess I thought the first time I thought there was something there was at the Spain rose ceremony and she was looking at him like she hadn’t before. Typically I was the guy who she did that with, so I was like, “Oh man.”

Q: Now that it’s been a couple weeks, do you feel like you have closure?
A: I think at this point I definitely have strong feelings for her, but everything happens for a reason and I’ve always thought that way, so that helps me have closure right there.

Q: On the “After the Rose” special, you started to ask Jillian about the fantasy suite dates, but never finished the question. What were you going to ask her?
A:I was going to ask who she had the most fun with on the fantasy suite, me, Ed, or Kiptyn. But just because I stopped myself, it came out like I was asking about the thing that everyone was talking about with Ed.

Q: Do you think everyone was falling in love with and as crazy about her as they seemed?
A: Probably not. There were some guys who were probably acting a little bit and some fell in love with her faster than others and didn’t last as long. There were some guys who I thought I knew and then, later, I found out that I didn’t really know them at all and I was kind of surprised.

Q: Have you gotten any requests to date since you’ve returned home?
A: It’s hard to get back to everyone. I’ve kind of given up on Facebook and I’ve got someone helping me sift through everything and filtering through all my clients to figure out who’s real and who’s not, but people still call my voicemail and leave me really funny messages. One girl left me a funny rap about me and Jillian, then at the end said, “I can’t believe I just did that, I’m so embarrassed.”

(Image courtesy of ABC)

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