Grant Ellis and Juliana Pasquarosa are no longer lone wolves.
After eight weeks and many globe-trotting adventures, “The Bachelor” season 29 leading man Grant narrowed down his 25 hopeful contestants to just one fiancée.
During Monday night’s finale, Grant deliberated over the “impossible decision” of who to pick between his final two: Juliana, a 28-year-old client service associate, and Litia Garr, a 31-year-old venture capitalist. After getting down to the wire, the day trader finally solidified his choice and proposed to Juliana in the Dominican Republic.
The move left Litia, the clear frontrunner, blindsided, and she confronted Grant about it immediately after their breakup, suggesting he led her on and saying that she’d have “a lot of questions” if she were Juliana.
Then, during the “After the Final Rose” segment, Litia shocked fans by saying that the Bachelor assured her that she was his No. 1 choice throughout the season, even up until the night before his final decision. In response, Grant apologized, saying that he “spoke too soon in a lot of situations” and went with his heart in the end.
While Bachelor Nation was astounded by Litia’s claims, Juliana said that the finale didn’t catch her by surprise.
“I think I did so well compartmentalizing our relationship and the fact that this is also a reality TV show,” Juliana told Business Insider on Tuesday in a joint interview with Grant.
“So I think that it wasn’t hard to watch back. Obviously, we had conversations ahead of this that prepared me for all of this, so nothing felt really hard to watch.”
Pivoting from a “somber” breakup with Litia to getting down on one knee in front of Juliana was also “a really weird adjustment” for Grant, but that comes with the territory of the show.
“You just have to focus on the goal, and that’s what I did,” Grant told BI. “I had to just adjust and put myself in the mindset of, ‘I don’t want my fiancé see any type of sadness in me from that.’”
Juliana, for her part, said that although she felt “really confident” in their connection on the show, stepping out of the SUV and learning her fate was still stressful.
“It is the most nerve-racking moment of the entire season,” she said. “I was nervous, and I went into it trying to just remain confident but also acknowledge the fact that there is a 50% chance that it’s not me.”
Now, with the reality TV show behind them, Grant said he and Juliana are actively searching for apartments in Boston, Juliana’s hometown, and gearing up for a trip to Aruba in May.
“We have it in the books, and so that’s really exciting,” Grant said. “It’s nice to know we have something coming up.”
In the meantime, they’re working on navigating their now-public relationship and learning how to be a couple in the real world.
“This is truly the first step of the next chapter, and we’re going to just take it head-on as it comes and we’re going to crush it,” Juliana said.
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