Second time’s the charm forBecca Kufrin.
Aftersplitting from fiancé Garrett Yrigoyen— who she got engaged to during the finale of her season ofThe Bachelorettein 2018 — Kufrin, 32, headed toBachelor in Paradiselast summer and metThomas Jacobs.
Last month, Kufrin announced herproposal to Jacobs, 29 — and now, she’s opening up to PEOPLE about their engagement and why, this time around, it “feels right.”
“It feels like we can live in it and actually celebrate it,” theBachelor Happy Hourpodcast co-host says. “Before, there was so much publicity and attention that it just felt weird. It felt off in the past.”
“Whereas this one, it really feels like it fits us and it’s more quiet and intimate,” she adds.
Kufrin says both her engagement and breakup with Yrigoyen, 33, received a lot of attention fromBachelorNation. While she understands the fandom, she also wishes that people would’ve been more understanding about her situation.
“I wish people would’ve been more respectful of my time and privacy,” she says of going through the public breakup. “I wish people would have butted out a lot more.”
Thomas Jacobs Instagram
Another aspect of Kufrin’s life that hasreceived mixed feedbackwas her recent gender role-reversed proposal — but the former Bachelorette says it hasn’t stopped her and Jacobs from enjoying the moment.
The newly-engaged couple celebrated their one-year anniversary of meeting onParadiseearlier this week. To mark the occasion, they headed to one of their favorite restaurants, where they set up “a little picnic on the beach” and watched the sunset.
“There’s so many exciting things happening in our life with obviously the engagement and home buying, so we’re trying to keep it pretty mellow,” Kufrin says.
Craig Sjodin/ABC via Getty
Speaking to her decision to propose, Kufrin says she hopes it will empower future Bachelorettes to do the same with their suitors on the ABC reality show.
“I hope that if any female on the show wants to propose to a man, hell yeah, go for it!” she says. “I definitely want to see the option of having men’s engagement rings on the show. For so long, they’ve brought thebeautiful extravagant diamonds for the women from Neil Lane, but I hope he’s making some men’s rings, too.”
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The Bachelorettewill switch things up a bit with its upcoming season, as it will feature two female leads for the first time.
“To be able to have somebody to lean on, to offer advice and to ask for advice, I think that’s special,” Kufrin notes. “But I also wish that they still have their own time and energy that is dedicated to each of them. I hope that they both find a partnership and what they went on the show to find, which is love.”
Craig Sjodin via Getty; Paul Hebert via Getty; Craig Sjodin via Getty
Kufrin also realizes that having Recchia, 26, and Windey, 31, choose fromthe same group of mencould cause competition between the women.
“I hope that there’s no animosity and no pitting of woman against women on the season,” the Minnesota native continues. “I hope the drama stays between the contestants and not the women themselves.”
And now that the series has cast two women as leads onThe Bachelorette, Kufrin urges ABC to have two men lead an upcoming season ofThe Bachelor. “I think it’s all about equality,” she says.
RELATED VIDEO: Becca Kufrin Says Thomas Jacobs Jokingly Proposed to Her with a Paper Clip Ring
Looking ahead, Kufrin says she’d like to see a female host return to the reality dating show at some point.
“I would love to see that once again, just because they can add a different side of things,” she explains. “I know thatJesse Palmercurrently is hosting and I think he does a great job, but I would like to see more diversity in that regard.”
Through her own journey with the franchise, Kufrin says she has learned to “ask the hard-hitting questions and to really make sure I find somebody who was aligned with my morals and values, which I luckily was able to do inParadisewith Thomas.”
“It’s crazy to think that I went from being engaged from the show to going through a very public breakup, to then going on another show which I never thought I would do, to now finding my partner on the show and being engaged once again,” Kufrin shares. “It’s been a wild ride.”
Despite that, Kufrin notes, “I wouldn’t have changed anything because it all got me to this place and led me to my partnership with Thomas.”
source: people.com
