ET spoke with the 18-year-old TikTok star via Zoom.
Josh Richards is opening up about where his relationship with Nessa Barrett stands today.
In a new interview with ET, the TikTok star reveals whether he sees himself ever getting back together with his ex. Shortly after the two called it quits this summer, Barrett was spotted kissing Chase Hudson, following his breakup with Charli D'Amelio.
"No, we're not back together," Richards, 18, confirms to ET's Katie Krause. "Just like I said with Chase, I've forgiven her for it. I wasn't dating her, so it wasn't my choice what she goes and does. Like, that's totally up to her. It's totally fine."
"I was just still in that fresh [breakup] stage so I was probably a little bit jealous," he continues. "I definitely was jealous but, yeah, we're friends, and we hang out, so that's awesome."
Richards tells ET that Hudson was in no way responsible for his and Barrett's breakup. He says they both just "kind of felt like we needed to grow up."
"We were in a very serious relationship but I don't think that either of us were in the right mindset," he explains. "Like, I was very, very busy with work all the time ... and she was starting a bunch of new projects."
"It got really like, I guess, mentally stressful and stuff like that," he adds. "So we were like, why don't we both go our separate ways for a little bit, grow up and then take it from there?"
Despite their ups and downs, Richards still remembers his time with Barrett fondly.
"My favorite thing about Nessa, I think, is just like our humor is very similar. When we joke around together, so that's why I wanted to keep her as a friend," he says. "Because I think she's very funny and I just laugh very hard when I'm around her."
As for whether their romance could ever be reignited, Richards admits he's not sure right now. "I'm not gonna say, like, a no or yes," he shares. "I think that right now we're just friends. That's kind of how we're doing it."
"I think that I'm going to stick to just being single for right now, but if there's ever a person that I have a connection with, I will definitely try to date them," he continues. "I hope that whatever happens, it's going to be the best for me and the person involved."
Richards also spoke about his new role as the Chief Strategy Officer for Triller, a social media app which Griffin Johnson and Noah Beck have also backed.
"Triller is a music-based platform that's just very creator friendly," he explains. "They're rolling out a lot of new things that I will be overseeing as Chief Strategy Officer with the monetization. They feel like creators need to have that feeling of their content being valued. And with that, we're going to be enrolling a new live streaming platform with a monetization with that as well. They have partnerships with many labels including Universal, Warner and Sony, which allows us to actually use that music without having to pay any licensing fees."
"I definitely will be the inside guy for the creators," he continues. "What we experience as creators will definitely feel a little more comfortable speaking to a fellow creator. Obviously, I'm going to care about my content as a creator just as they will. So anytime they have concerns, they need improvements, they have an idea, I'll be able to hear them out, have a conversation with them and then report that back to the team."
Richards told ET it's possible many fellow TikTok creators will use the app, including Barrett.
"I think she will definitely be on Triller," he teases. "You'll definitely see her there."
Watch the player at top for more from Richards' exclusive interview with ET!
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