'The Bachelor': [SPOILER] Opens Up About 'Devastating' Breakup With Arie After Saying 'I Love You' (Exclusive)
Tia Booth did not see that one coming.
Arie Luyendyk Jr. said goodbye to the 26-year-old physical therapist on Monday's episode of The Bachelor, just days after visiting her family in Arkansas.
Arie started off the episode with Kendall, who admitted that she "feels herself falling for Arie" -- which despite every other woman's profession of being "in love," seemed to be enough for the 36-year-old race car driver.
His time in Tia's hometown seemed to go relatively well; they raced cars, he got grilled by Tia's father, and shared little wieners with her family. Things got tough with Becca's family, but he survived the night with their support. At Lauren's, he had to excuse himself from the table, breaking a sweat because he was so nervous.
At the rose ceremony, however, things came down to Kendall and Tia, as he took Kendall away for a one-on-one chat to find out if she was really ready for engagement. Her answer wasn't totally convincing, but again, it was enough for Arie, who sent Tia home.
"This sh*t is what makes me put my walls up," Tia cried. "It is extremely hard for me to be vulnerable, because I've done it before and it's left me feeling like this, and it makes me not want to do it again."
"I'm tired of feeling not good enough for people," she expressed.
ET's Lauren Zima spoke with Tia at The Bachelor's Women Tell All taping last week, where she relived her "devastating" breakup with Arie.
"I was very surprised... and I did not expect to feel so emotional about it in that moment, but obviously I told this man I was in love with him," she shared. "I was invested. I could see a future with him, so it was very devastating to go through that."
The split was all the more devastating for fans after watching Tia's breakdown on her ride home, where she questioned her self-worth.
"I think that stems from past relationships, and throughout this whole process, I feel like I grew so much and learned so much about myself, and I'm disappointed in myself for reverting back to that... Seeing that, it made me realize, 'Oh my gosh, you deserve so much. You're worth so much more than a rose at the end of this thing,'" she confessed, adding that she has no regrets about her experience on the show.
"Honestly, the only thing I've been fretting about with all of this is my confrontation with Bekah," she said of her telling Bekah that she didn't think she was ready for marriage, which had the 23-year-old in tears before Arie sent her home last week. "[But] if I said that I regret doing it, and wish I hadn't done it, it would just be negating everything I felt in that moment. So I don't regret it. I wish I could have spoken with her first, but I didn't have the chance to do so."
As for how Arie's season will end, Tia has a few ideas. "I think people will be very surprised to see what happens," she teased. "But honestly, as long as Arie is happy, then that's all I could ask for."
"I still don't know exactly what he was looking for, but I hope he found it," she added. "I do."
The Bachelor airs Mondays at 8 p.m. ET/PT on ABC and the show's Women Tell All special airs Sunday, Feb. 25.
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