SPOILER ALERT! This post contains details from The Bachelorette: Men Tell All.
Jonathon Johnson made it to fantasy suites before he was eliminated during Tuesday’s episode of The Bachelorette.
During his final moments with Jenn Tran, and on stage at the Men Tell All, Johnson looked back on his experience with fondness, expressing no ill will toward his ex.
In fact, Johnson tells Deadline that seeing how her connections had unfolded with finalists Devin Strader and Marcus Shoberg “gave me all the closure I needed.”
Johnson spoke with Deadline about reuniting with Tran at the Men Tell All as well as navigating those last few weeks of production through hometowns and fantasy suites. He also teased whether he’ll accept Jesse Palmer’s invitation to jet off to the coast of Mexico for Bachelor in Paradise.
Read the interview below. In case you missed it, here’s a full recap of Tuesday’s episode.
DEADLINE: How did it feel to see Jenn again and get to have that conversation with her? Did you feel like you needed closure after your exit?
JONATHON JOHNSON: I think watching the episode back gave me all the closure I needed. When it was final three, you had Jenn in love with Marcus, Devin in love with Jenn, and then her and I are in this weird, like, we could be in love, we might not be in love limbo. Feelings are involved in both those other relationships. There had to have been a reason that we couldn’t get there. Maybe we’re just really good friends. We’re also attracted to each other, but we weren’t in love with each other, and seeing the relationship she had with those other two was the closure I needed to be like, it just wasn’t as strong for the two of us, and that’s okay.
DEADLINE: She had some choice words for some of the other men.
JOHNSON: Oh my God, yeah. She was cooking.
DEADLINE: But when she got to you, she really only had positive things to say, and it seems like you both are really on the same page about where you stand. Were you expecting that? How did that feel?
JOHNSON: It felt good…the tension kind of died down before she came out, and she comes out guns blazing, and I’m like, ‘Oh, yes, we needed this.’ But I wasn’t even nervous for ours. We had such a playful, fun relationship all the way through. I wasn’t worried. We never had any bad blood or beef or anything. Everything with us was just positive, happy. There was never a dull moment. The word dull was used, but for her and I, it just never was like that. So I wanted to share with her how much she helped me, and how much I loved her, and how much love I have her as a person, and she did the same. It felt incredible.
DEADLINE: During hometowns, your family seemed a bit skeptical at first of the whole process, but eventually they come around, and your mom is so supportive of your relationship with Jenn. What was that process like for you?
JOHNSON: It was the fuel I needed to have the epiphany that I did. My family means the world to me. We don’t have the perfect family life, and she doesn’t either. So it was really cool to share that and then come to it, but then hearing how deeply your family cares about you when you don’t really think that much about it that often — I mean, it depends on the family, but for me, it’s just not something that’s a commonplace for us to be like, ‘I love you so much, and I want to make sure you have the perfect girl.’ It’s just not a conversation we have. So to have them have that with me was incredible.
DEADLINE: So, you got invited to Paradise. Are you actually in?
JOHNSON: Let’s do it. I had no idea. Nobody gave me a heads up or anything. So I was sitting there shook in the moment, and all I said is, ‘I guess I’ll see you on the beach.’
DEADLINE: What would be most exciting for you about that experience?
JOHNSON: I think a vacation is always nice. So can’t complain there. But also, there’s some really incredible people in Bachelor Nation, and if I have the opportunity to meet some that the producers of the network think are potential good matches, I cannot wait to just go have fun and potentially come back with somebody that just lives in the same realm. It’s a weird thing to have yourself…out there for everyone to see and to be with somebody that also just understands that, but is just a good person, has a good heart and just wants to have fun, that’s all I’m looking for.
