The videographer told ET if he feels bad about accepting a rose from Rachel, while he was focused on Gabby.
Logan Palmer had some major explaining to do on Monday's episode of The Bachelorette. On the "Men Tell All" special, the man who switched from Team Rachel Recchia to Team Gabby Windey shared his perspective on everything as he sat down in the hot seat in front of host Jesse Palmer.
"I saw two wonderful people, and although I felt more moved by one connection, I thought, 'Maybe there’s potential in the other one that I haven’t seen before,'" Logan said of initially agreeing to vie for Rachel's heart, before admitting that he should've done things differently from the beginning.
"Looking back, after Rachel gave me the rose, I would’ve liked to pull them both aside and said, 'I am very open to exploring things with Rachel, but I have to be honest, the connection that moved me was with Gabby,'" he said.
Though he gave it a shot with Rachel, he soon discovered that it wasn't going to work out. At that point, Logan said he "was constantly battling two things: it was me not wanting to make these women’s journey, which was already so difficult, more difficult, versus me telling my truth and following my heart."
Things really started to take a turn when Logan accepted a rose from Rachel with the sole goal of talking to Gabby.
"I saw this moving connection with Gabby, so I accepted a rose," he admitted. "If that’s seen as a b**ch move, then so be it, but I thought it was worth exploring if it means spending the rest of my life with someone."
When ET spoke with Logan after the episode, he revealed that his decision to accept Rachel's rose that night instead of having the tough conversation with her was largely due to things that had gone on earlier that evening.
"That was the night that Hayden had said those things and it was a very emotional night, very tough night for Rachel," Logan told ET of the controversial contestant. "Adding on to that night with a rejected rose, although perhaps it was the more honest thing to do, it felt like it wasn't the right thing to do... The best comprise I could come up with is, 'I am going to accept the rose and I am talking to her first thing in the mooring, no matter what anybody says'... That situation was hard."
The move wasn't, however, an effort to stay on the show at any cost, Logan said during the episode.
"There was a huge part of me that thought, when I stepped away from Rachel and told Gabby how I felt, that she would send me home," he said. "It wasn’t the easy choice. It wasn’t jumping over because it was convenient. It was anything but convenient."
In the end, though, Logan doesn't regret moving over to Gabby's side, though he wishes he had done so "in a more graceful way that didn’t affect so many people."
He is bummed, however, that his move was all for nothing, as, shortly after he switched sides, he had to leave the show when he tested positive for COVID-19.
"I put a lot on the line right before I had to leave," he told ET of breaking things off with Rachel to pursue Gabby. "I was hoping I would have a chance to see that pay off in a way that I got to further my relationship with Gabby and it never got to that point."
"It was pretty gutting at first, but two months go by and you realize that person has been able to move forward and they have been able to be happy... I've gotten to take steps forward in my own life," Logan added. "You figure everything happens for a reason."
When Rachel came out later in the episode, Logan once again apologized for how he handled everything.
"I wish I didn’t wait for the perfect time and the perfect place, and that’s a lesson I’ll take home," he said. "I’m still learning and growing, so I appreciate the both of you for giving me an opportunity to do that. I’m trying to be better."
Following Logan's apology, Rachel told ET that seeing him "was obviously tough" given everything, but acknowledged, "Everyone has their own truth and feeling and I just wanted him to know that I was open, and it did hurt me. I think we were able to both communicate how we felt and ultimately, I think that's just how we're going to leave it."
Meanwhile, Logan told ET that facing Rachel and Gabby on "MTA" was "quite the experience."
"It was just a mixed bag of emotions. You put everything into trying to win over these two women, and you don’t see them for two months, and then there they are in front of you," he said. "... I think a lot of people see that I was coming from a place of honesty and my heart was in the correct spot. That's was I wanted people to see, that I wasn’t trying to hurt anybody."
Logan seemed to accomplish that, as his fellow contestants praised the videographer for showing up and speaking out, unlike some other controversial contestants. Mario Vassall told ET that Logan was "genuine," Meatball said he appeared to be "very sincere," and Tyler Norris noted, "I think overall he just followed his heart and that's exactly what I would have done."
"Deep down I think Logan's a great guy," Jesse agreed. "... Logan showed up tonight knowing that he was gonna have to face the music, knowing that he was gonna have a lot of tough questions, but to his credit he did, and he spoke his truth... Looking back on it all, Logan feels like he would probably do it the same way all over again, because, for him, it was a genuine way of acting it out."
Logan, Jesse revealed, will continue his self-growth efforts on the beaches of Mexico when he appears on the upcoming season of Bachelor in Paradise, which will premiere Tuesday, Sept. 27 at 8 p.m. ET on ABC.
The Bachelorette airs Mondays on ABC. Keep up with the historic season by following along with ET's coverage of the series.
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