Bachelor in Paradise's Justin Glaze Recalls His Reaction to His Ex Susie Evans Rejecting His Rose

Justin Glaze has some explaining to do!

The reality star, 31, appeared on the Bachelor Happy Hour podcast on July 15, just one day after shocking viewers by giving his rose to ex-girlfriend Susie Evans in episode two of Bachelor in Paradise. Things only got more awkward when she declined to accept it and returned to stand beside Lexi Young, who had a heart-to-heart with Glaze about continuing their relationship moments before the ceremony.

“During the conversation, I was like, ‘Man, this sounds great, this is everything I want to hear,’” Glaze told hosts Joe Amabile and Serena Pitt. “And then, I kind of took a step back and I was like, ‘Wait a minute, we have the roses tonight.’”

Before Evans arrived, Young had already expressed concerns that Glaze was not entirely over the breakup, which occurred four months before filming began.

When she suggested they put a pause on their relationship and pursue other connections, Glaze insisted that he was only interested in getting to know Young, 30.

“I didn't want to press her or anything like during that conversation because you know, it all sounded good, but I do remember kind of being like, ‘Okay, just 24 hours prior, you wanted to put a pin in this and it wasn't even just about this,’” Glaze recalled. “And I was like, I understand that you admittedly spiraled a bit, but it wasn't that it was just about the Susie factor. It was all the other things that got thrown out that were calls for concern on her end.”

Glaze also revealed that both he and Young knew Evans would be joining the BiP cast, so they weren’t shocked when they saw her.

In fact, Young and Evans, 31, talked about her discomfort, and Young walked away feeling like a weight was lifted off her shoulders, so she told Glaze that any doubts she had were gone.

“I was like, ‘Okay, so post this conversation with Susie, that I wasn't there, so I don't know what transpired, but post that conversation, now you have no hesitation about us?”” Glaze explained.
“‘Like none of them anymore?’ So that was kind of like a ‘huh?’ moment for me of like, how sudden of 180 it was.”

Glaze realized he and Young never built the foundation of a relationship, despite the time they'd spent together the past few days.

Looking back, Glaze said he didn’t feel like Young had ever shown much interest in him, issues with Evans aside, so he wondered why she was quick to change her mind about wanting to explore other people.

“It'd be different if I was really feeling like she was also pursuing me and something was there. But the whole time, it kind of felt like pulling teeth to get something from her. I mean, it's little things, right, like this was the first time that she threw a leg up on me or was kind of physical and touchy with me, right? And I was just like, man, like this is what I want. But where has anything like this been this whole time?”

With all these thoughts in his mind going into the rose ceremony and no opportunity to have another conversation with Young, Glaze shared that he felt he had to stay loyal to Evans and the promises they had made to each other.

“It was such a split-second decision,” he admitted. “But in my brain, I was like, ‘Okay, well on one hand, there's this person that I've known for four or five days that isn't really giving me any rhythm here. I can't really get a true pulse as to how she feels about me. This person could really flip-flop and play me tomorrow when new guys come in. Aside from that cocktail party conversation, I have no real reason to believe that she really wants to pursue something with me long term.’ So there's a ton of question marks here.”

Glaze wanted Evans to have more time with the group.

Evans didn’t have the opportunity to get to know other people in her short time there and only had one date with Jeremy Simon, who ultimately gave his rose to his original connection, Bailey Brown.

“I have this person that has been my best friend for an entire year, who has continued to be my best friend through dating her for over a year, who I have so much love and admiration and respect for, who is one of the most selfless people that I know, who I feel I got the short end of the stick and often does in life when she tries to put herself on the back burner and do things for other people,” Glaze gushed of Evans.

“And I have an opportunity to embody one of the most admirable characteristics that I know she has that I strive to have, and I could give her this opportunity to ultimately self-sacrifice and give her a chance at life because I don't think she got a fair one.”

When Evans turned down the rose, Glaze said he was very surprised.

“I kind of blacked out,” he said. “I just felt numb after that and just wanted to escape, like I just wanted to disappear. It was just such a hard feeling to describe.”

“I feel bad for how that all went down,” he added. “I mean, I stand by the choice that I made, I don't have any regrets about it. But I do feel bad, and I do wish that we could have had a conversation beforehand. We weren't allowed to, because at that point, I really would have been like, ‘Hey, here are my concerns.’”

New episodes of Bachelor in Paradise air Mondays at 8 p.m. ET on ABC.