We watched Rachel Recchia’s challenges on The Bachelorette, including a difficult split.

Yes, she broke up with Tyler Norris.

And, in a new interview, he admits that he felt blindsided. He had thought that things were going so well.

But Tyler is quick to emphasize that Rachel dumped him in the classiest way possible. No regrets.

Tyler Norris was of course part of filming the “Men Tell All” special.

While there, he spoke to People about the ups and downs of his time on The Bachelorette.

“Watching, obviously, my journey back wasn’t easy,” he acknowledged.

“It brought up a lot of like different emotions,” Tyler expressed.

“But,” he emphasized, “it made me realize that there’s nothing I would have done differently.”

Tyler affirmed: “I went in with a full heart.”

“I went in with, you know, hopefully finding my person at the end of the day,” Tyler continued.

“And it wasn’t Rachel,” he acknowledged.

“And,” Tyler declared, “I can live with that.”

As we all watched, Rachel ended things with Tyler before the family meetup during Hometowns.

There was some pain, because Tyler had confessed that he was “so in love” with her, praising their time together.

But, upon reflection, Tyler says: “I respect how she went about it.”

“I mean, she did it with the most class,” he then praised.

“And,” Tyler continued, she “did it the way that you’re supposed to, and didn’t string me along.”

We have all watched some grim examples of leads who chose to do things differently.

Tyler did feel blindsided, because he had felt that “everything was going so great” before the split.

“I had a chance to show somebody my hometown, and I love my hometown,” he noted. “I love the Jersey Shore.”

Tyler continued: “So getting a chance to show that [to] somebody else, I was like super excited.”

“It seemed like everything was going so great,” Tyler reflected.

“But then seeing how she felt making the decision that she did,” he emphasized, “I understood it.”

Still, Tyler expressed: “It hurt — you know, it still hurts watching it back.”

“When you put your whole self out there for somebody and just hoping for the best, and it doesn’t work out, [it] doesn’t work out,” Tyler accepted.

“But wasn’t easy,” he continued. “It wasn’t easy watching it back.”

Tyler did note that he was “super happy” to have had the chance to talk to Rachel again.

Of course, Rachel still has one upcoming hometown date: Aven Jones.

She is also still juggling finalists Tino Franco and Zach Shallcross.

Tyler made it pretty far. But these seasons can be tough on leads and contestants alike. Breakups are hard.

Meanwhile, Gabby Windey has wrapped up her hometown dates with Erich Schwer, Jason Alabaster, and Johnny DePhillipo.

This season has shown the complications and the ups & downs of having co-leads. It has been interesting.

How many potential co-leads have friendships that could survive sharing a dating pool as they have? Even as close as they are, there have been challenges and hurt feelings.

Tyler Norris Praises Rachel Recchia: She Dumped Me in the Classiest Way! was originally published on The Hollywood Gossip .