Prepare To See A New Side Of The Bachelor’s Grant Ellis

Allow Grant Ellis to introduce himself.

Yes, the 31-year-old day trader amassed plenty of fans during his time on Jenn Tran’s Bachelorette season — and more than 10,000 Bachelor applicants soon after — but his elimination happened earlier than is typical of future leads, so there’s still a lot to learn about him.

“When I like somebody, I’m really open,” Grant tells Bustle. “But at first, I’m very guarded, and that’s the way I’ve been my whole life. The show really challenged me to open up.”

In the Jan. 27 premiere, fans will quickly see a playful side to the Houston-based former basketball player. Grant opens up about his family, their past struggles, and his hopes for the future, and his honesty is creating exciting buzz about his season. In a preview of what’s to come, for example, he grapples with serious indecision about his final rose. The 11th-hour crisis reads as a genuine human response to the confusion that fast-paced TV dating can wreak.

“As a viewer, you might think, Oh, this can’t be real,” he says of the reality romance process. “But when you go in there with the right intentions, it’s very real. It’s a unique way to do it, but people meet people all types of ways.”

Below, Grant teases his thoughts on engagement and how to interpret his on-air indecision.

During Joan’s Golden Bachelorette season, she said engagement wasn’t a necessity. Where do you stand on that?

My mentality was that if the connection was there, I was going to propose. I haven’t been in lots of relationships. I’ve been in one long-term relationship, and after that ended, I waited for a while to see anybody. So I was ready and went into [the show] intentionally, but I also wanted to make things fun. I didn’t go in with the pressure of getting engaged. If things flow, they flow, and if they don’t, they don’t.

Looking back, is there anything you would have done differently?

No regrets, only lessons. You have to make decisions in such a short time frame, and the process is sped up, but it’s right up my alley. I would rather have done it this way than the traditional route in the “real world.”

We see in the teaser that you were torn about your final decision. How would you explain that ambivalence to your final pick, or reassure them after the fact?

One theme of the season is that the women knew how great they were. Everybody in the house got along. Everyone was smart, witty, and beautiful. They knew dating multiple people wasn’t normal, and it would be a hard decision for me.

Reassurance comes with time, and you have to prove that to somebody through affection and showing them that you’re thinking about them. So I don’t think it’ll be an issue, but if it is, it will heal over time.

You’ve spoken about feeling like a lone wolf in the past. Do you still resonate with that descriptor?

Being on the show definitely changes perspective. When the right person comes along, you change. There’s a time to be alone, and honestly, that period in your life shapes who you are. It builds calluses and makes you stronger. But when it’s your time to be with somebody, it’s your time. I don’t think that’s a bad thing. There was a learning curve.

What were you most excited to do once you got home from filming?

Obviously, see my family, get back to work. I love what I do — I don’t want to sound like a nerd, but I love the markets. And then just get acclimated to my life again, and get back in the gym and be around friends and my family.

This interview has been edited and condensed for clarity.