'Bachelorette' 's Blake Horstmann Opens Up About Being 'Blindsided' by Becca Kufrin

"It was a big blindside," Blake Horstmann tells PEOPLE

He was set to get down on one knee and propose to Becca Kufrin on the season finale of The Bachelorette, but instead, Blake Horstmann was left brokenhearted when she chose Garrett Yrigoyen instead.

“It was a big blindside,” Horstmann, 28 tells PEOPLE exclusively. “I truly thought that if it came down to me proposing, that she wouldn’t say no. I thought what we had was real.”

ABC

After leaving the show, Horstmann admits it was “incredibly hard” to get over the heartbreak. “It made for some really hard days, but I had a great support system,” he says. “My family was amazing. We talked through a lot of things and they were there for me.”

Now, Horstmann says he’s finally getting over his former love. Seeing Kufrin at After the Final Rose taping, “I was able to get a little bit of closure,” he says.

• Watch the full episode of People Features: Becca Kufrin and Garrett Yrigoyen – Everything Led Me to Him streaming now on PeopleTV.com, or download the PeopleTV app on your favorite device.

Adds Horstmann: “She’s an engaged woman and I want to respect that,” he says. “And she’s very happy and I’m grateful for that. There’s no point in focusing on it when there is no future there.”

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As far as dating, Horstmann says he’s still open to finding The One. “The experience didn’t scare me off the idea of finding love,” he says. “If anything, I know just how capable of finding love I am.”

And yes, he would be open to (maybe) another go round looking for love on reality TV.

“It would be the hardest thing I’d do,” says Horstmann of a potential role as the next Bachelor. “But I know this can work and if the opportunity presented itself, it would be something I would consider!”