The Viall Files - E304 Greg Grippo Tells All

Episode Date: August 11, 2021

Today we are joined by Bachelorette contestant Greg Grippo. Nick asks him all the questions you want the answers to and nothing is held back. What is the real story about acting school? Does he have regrets now that he is able to watch it all back? How did he end up on The Bachelorette? What was said in the moments we did not see? Was there anything that could of been said that would have made him stay? Greg answers the hard questions right up to the end so don’t miss a minute of this episode.  “I was depending on her for happiness and that wasn’t fair ….” Please make sure to subscribe so you don’t miss an episode and as always send in your relationship questions to [e-mail] to be a part of our Monday episodes.  For merch please visit www.viallfiles.com today! THANK YOU TO OUR SPONSORS: Echelon: http://www,echelonfit.com/FILES to get an Echelon E-X-3 bike risk FREE for 30-days PLUS FREE shipping and assembly. Article: http://www.article.com/VIALL for $50 off your first purchase of $100 or more.  Vizzy: http://www.vizzyhardseltzer.com/VIALL To find out where you can purchase Vizzy BetterHelp: http://www.betterhelp.com/VIALLFILES listeners get 10% off their first month.   Episode Socials:  @viallfiles @nickviall @greggrippo See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

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that is E-C-H-E-L-O-N-F-I-T.com slash F-I-L-E-S for this free offer. Echelonfit.com slash files. What's going on, everybody? Welcome back to another episode of The Vile File. Thankfully, hopefully wrapping up this season. Bit of a dumpster fire. Good TV, but obviously intense. And it's a lot. But we got one more, I think, important conversation.

And I won't spoil anything, but we do have Greg Grippo on with us. We just finished the interview with Greg the morning after AFR to get his thoughts on all things about his experience, answer some of the burning questions that have been out there, both as it relates to his breakup with Katie, AFR, and some of the internet rumors that have been floating out regarding Greg. We thank you so much for tuning in. If you're new to the show, to hear Greg's response,

we appreciate you tuning in and giving us a chance. I don't know if you know this about us, but we are recently People's Choice nomination podcast for all the people who have been listening to the show we thank you very much for nominating us but uh we have three shows a week we have uh if you're interested in people's personal relationships stories bad breakups questions about their personal lives and sex stuff sex weird sex stuff uh we have a very fun and uh introspective show on Monday called Ask Nick. We give advice. People find it really interesting and helpful. If you're into that kind of stuff, give us a shot. I think you'll really enjoy it. We obviously recap The Bachelor when it's on. And then we have on Wednesday our interviews with public figures, actors, musicians,

all sorts of people, as well as experts of all kinds. So subscribe, rate us five stars. We appreciate it. If there's nothing else, I think let's just get to Greg. Greg, welcome. Hey, Nick. Thanks for having me. We really appreciate you coming on. Well, let's just dive into it, all right? Why not? Okay. So we all watched last night. We all watched AFR.

I want to start there, and then obviously we'll want to hopefully get some context and maybe have you provide some insight on the things that we didn't see but i do want to start with uh when you were asked by caitlin and taisha uh if you had no regrets you you said no you said everything happens for a reason i think for a lot of people you know that was kind of hard and disappointing to hear even for myself to be totally candid with you um you know i was able having been in your shoes able to empathize with you know why you might have felt angry and mad and and why you wanted to leave in that moment you know for me that made sense nevertheless you know how you kind of went about it to be honest you you kind of look like a dick and seemed cold and dismissive. So again, while I was able to empathize why you might have felt the way you did,

didn't necessarily like how you went about it. So I guess my first question right off the bat is, do you still feel that way about not having any regrets or has that position changed for you? No, there's definitely been some change. You know, the first time I watched it, I watched it in the back and it was coming from my own place of hurt when I was watching that still. I sadly wasn't looking at it through Katie's lens in that exact moment. You know, looking back on it, watching it for the second time with all the uh the viewers um yeah came off like an ass came off like a petulant child at times um and i regret it because you know at the end of the day she didn't deserve that i definitely projected a lot of my insecurities and

my anger in that moment on her and at the end of the day it just wasn't fair okay well we we appreciate you you know being honest about that you know i want to ask you some more questions just about how you handle it um just because obviously you know a lot of people were you know triggered by by what they saw a lot of people felt like when you got angry as you know some of us have that not only were you you know trying to leave but almost wanted katie almost to hurt as well because you were hating would that be fair to say or or not you know as much as it sucks to say i gotta got to admit, yeah, it's a fair characterization to a way to look at it. Again, watching it back for the second time.

I mean, I was confused after I initially left after AFR because I really wanted to end it off on a good note between us. But I saw how hurt she was. And so I really tried to watch it back the second time from her lens. And yeah, I mean, I was ashamed about how I reacted in those moments. She didn't deserve it, plain and simple. It wasn't fair to her. And I have to look in her eyes. Okay.

What do you think, you know, watching that back and watching that fight with Katie, what would you say is something, if anything, have you learned about yourself that you maybe didn't realize and potentially hope to change? Yeah, I mean, this has been both a humbling and a very painful situation that I've been that, you know, I've been watching. It's just, it's humbling to know. Yeah, I'd rather people, you know, to bring up like the acting stuff,

I'd rather people say, oh, he was acting than to look myself in the mirror and be like, you know what? I still have work, obviously, to do on myself. I projected a lot on her. And it was my own fears, my own insecurities, my own sadness, my own anger. And, yeah, a lot of that has to do, you know, with what I have in process. You know, even my brother put it during my hometown. I haven't really talked much about my dad.

You know, I tried going to therapy right out of the bat and only went for a limited amount of time. So after your father passed, you did get some therapy. Yeah, I grew really close with that guy. His name was Ron. He was an incredible guy. He was like mid-80s. He reminded me of Yoda, honestly. He had so much wisdom to him.

He was so great to me. And he taught me so much about life in those moments and about what's important in life. And I saw him twice a week for about 10 to 12 months. And sadly, on the back end of that year, he actually got diagnosed with stage four and ended up dying within that week. And yeah, so that was also like a painful thing to go through.

Oh, I'm really sorry to hear that. Did you then stop therapy after he died? I mean, I did. Sorry for asking. I had a hard time hearing you. He died of cancer? Yeah, stage four. Okay.

And I'm sorry if when your father passed, and it's okay if you're not comfortable talking about it, but I don't know. Do we know how your father passed or what happened there? Because it seemed like it came out of nowhere. Like what happened? If you're okay with talking about that. It was bizarre.

I think that they showed a little bit of what I told Katie. We were at the Knicks game one night and woke up the next morning with a call that he got rushed to the ER. Next thing you know, I'm getting a call a few hours later with the diagnosis. They said he had a few months to live um it was too late for him to really do treatment so we tried to treat him like go the holistic route um and yeah i mean i went vegan with him for a solid six months that was that was that was tough um but you know i wanted to do with him um and it that whole you know it was it was it was just

heartbreaking he was just such a big guy and he just lost so much weight um to the point where you couldn't walk at the end of it but he was incredible um missing a lot but obviously i have a lot to uh you know still work on myself with. Because there's obviously a lot of pent up anger there. Yeah. And still sadness about it all. So you feel like you probably, you know, like you just said, you probably haven't fully processed the loss of your father. Truthfully, yeah.

I mean, it's hard to say, you know, looking in the mirror and being like, you know what, I projected so much. And especially looking back on my relationship with Katie, maybe it wasn't the healthiest relationship in the world because I was depending on her for happiness in that time. And that wasn't fair to her at all. And I want to be in a position where I'm completely happy with myself before I get into another relationship because that's where it's going to be healthy. And it just wasn't healthy with her because of how much i projected onto her in these moments yeah that's um it must be obviously a hard thing to own up to so i do want to for thank you for for being honest about that yeah um you mentioned acting katie mentioned acting yeah the internet's been talking about acting. So can you shed some light on where is this coming

from? Did you take acting classes? Where did you take acting classes? If so, how long did you take them? Let's just get it out there. What exactly are people talking about? And let's hear it from you in terms of the intensity or extensiveness of your acting career? Awesome. Finally, you know, right up right off the bat of college, you know, well, first off, I played basketball my entire life, didn't really do anything else. And then right out of college, got a life insurance job out in Boston for Bay State Financial. And I was miserable. I was studying for a series six, I got my life accident health exam. I was there for about, you know, a few months to six months. And I was just like, what the hell

am I doing? Like, let me, let me just do something creative. You know, I felt like there's a lot more to me. And I didn't know where to go in life. I really didn't, but I knew I just wanted more. I wanted to take a chance on myself and acting was always something that, you know, I wanted to see if it was for me and ended up finding this amazing school. First off, you got to read, I had to read his book, The William Esper Studio. It was incredible book. And, you know, when going there, it was, it broke down a lot of walls of mine, a lot of insecurities. it broke down a lot of walls of mine um a lot of insecurities uh i mean you go up there and you're it these people were incredible and like they they were just incredible actors and here i am like first time stepping into this like unbelievable studio and i'm just like a deer in headlights but my dad actually got sick you know four months into my schooling there and i ended up missing so

much and you know the first year i did two years of acting school there. And the first year it was no like character, no like scripts, really. You know, it's just all trying to be present in the moment. It was kind of like life, you know, like life building, you know, methods and. And being able to just be really present in moments with people. And that's what I really appreciated about it. But you know, the second year, you know, it got down to really serious shit reading Shakespeare. And I missed so much time because I was, you know, everyone's married and has, you know, two, three kids now in my family. And I was the one that really had

to step up and help my mom and my dad. I missed a of time and i just didn't love it haven't been an audition in my life so like when this came out i was like yeah whatever you know i have it on my page i have the instagram on my page i'm not hiding it it is what it is i've been on audition in my life what do you mean on your page like you had like that you like i had a picture i had a picture in front of the studio oh okay on instagram that yeah that i went to um i didn't think it was gonna blow up like this and i mean i told katie afr like i really wanted to reach out to her when this was all coming out but i didn't want to step on blake's toes at all or or because you know i figured that they were engaged at that moment

um and Blake's an awesome guy and I just like didn't want to cross any boundaries yeah that makes sense I I've heard from you know my in-depth research team and who knows what's true on the internet so I just want to ask you there was a claim that you had your acting schooling on on LinkedIn and had deleted that. Is there truth to that? And if so, why did you delete it? It's embarrassing because I don't even use LinkedIn. I mean, no, I never put it on LinkedIn to begin with. I read that.

I'm like, guys, you don't put your acting school on LinkedIn. That's not what – you just don't do that. I thought it was funny when I read that, honestly, because that's the last thing you do is put your acting school on your LinkedIn. I just thought it was, you know, stupid. Okay. Article, all right. You know what?

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There's also been a lot of, I guess, accusations or people trying to figure out when you first applied. Did you sign up? Did you have a friend sign up? How long ago was it? And walk us through what sounds like a pretty lengthy kind of casting process for you to finally end up on Katie's season. Yeah.

Yeah, it's been a journey for me to get to this point. I first got the call. I remember I was walking to New York. I was just grabbing lunch. And all of a sudden, an L.A. number calls me. I pick up, and it was somebody from casting. How did they get your information? Did you sign up?

No, my sister Samantha submitted me. Okay. I found that out after they called me, but I thought it was my buddy pranking me at first. I'm like, no, who the hell is this? They were like, so-and-so from The Bachelorette. I'm like, no, seriously, how did you get my info? And that was actually for,

I believe it was for Becca Kufrin, her season. All the way back to Becca Kufrin? Yeah. So, ended up actually telling them. How many years ago was that? Three,

two, three. Okay, anyways, I'm sorry, go ahead. I was extremely young at the time and um i believe they called me i believe they do that stuff in like the fall um when they first

call you yeah it's like late fall i mean when you tell that story i mean i was in san francisco on a work trip and i kind of had a similar reaction my friend signed me up a while ago and i was like what i don't you know so yeah so yeah, it was, uh, it was like late. It was early November at the time. So yeah. So, um, and I'm sorry. Go ahead. Um, didn't even go through the next steps.

Just told him it wasn't the right time for me. I was extremely young. Um, I wasn't ready to, uh, be on the show at all. Um, and actually ended up happening. My dad was then six, three months later. So I ended up, you know, I ended up having to be home regardless. They then reached out to me for, it was Claire season. Ended up calling me, had no idea, obviously, who the Bachelorette was going to be. They threw out some names.

I ended up getting announced that it was Claire about three days before I was leaving. My bags were packed. I was ready to go. On Claire's season? Yeah. Okay. I'll always remember when she was announced on GMA. I was like, I don't know if she's going to like me.

I don't know if it's the perfect fit. Casting was just like, I don't know if she's going to like me. I don't know if like, where is like the perfect fit. But, you know, casting was just like, you know what? Age is just a number, you know, let's, you never know. And yeah, I'll give anything a shot, really. I'm just like, you know, who knows? Maybe we'll hit it off. You know, you just never know until you know. I went there and it was, it was what?

Two or three days. You sit in that hotel room before uh first night and kofit hit i was i was watching curb your enthusiasm the whole entire time because of what was going on in the news and i didn't really want to watch the news because of how like sad it was everything that was going on sure so i had no idea so they they came into my room the producers and they're like don't panic i'm like about what and they're like the world't panic. I'm like, about what? And they're like, the world's shut down. I'm like, oh, you gotta be kidding me. So they sent us back home

and I believe it was like five months on the line. They restarted that season. And I remember them calling me back in June, asking me if I wanted to do it. And I had a long talk with my family, had a long talk with producers. I wanted to do it if i truly saw myself with the girl um and i just didn't feel like it was going to be you know a good result you know a good

result you know you go on this tv show and you know you kind of lay it all out there you don't know what to expect but i just felt like it wasn't for me at that point interesting i mean i guess in a way according to you like you you actually gave it some consideration about who the the bachelorette was yeah yeah most definitely i mean i wanted to be like my full authentic self in this you know when i got leaked this time around that it was katie i was pretty excited um and all of Matt's girls seemed really great. So they ended up actually – I was like, there's no way I'm ever going to do this again after player season. I was just like, this is it.

And then they actually ended up calling me on my dad's anniversary. And I'm like, of course, you guys call me on this day. And they're just like, hey, why don't you give this a shot again? I didn't think I was going to do it until the very last moment, honestly. I just hopped on a plane and got over there. Interesting. I mean, I think back, I suspected it was going to be Andy, but I agreed to come on before I knew it was Andy.

Yeah. And again, I think that I'm just thinking for me personally, I find that interesting that you actually didn't come back on. But again, you were. But yeah, no, thanks for walking us through that process in terms of coming on. Hopefully they, hopefully that clears things up for some people. Not sure what they think about it, but yeah, thanks for,

thanks for sharing that. One thing, obviously people also, the question had people were wondering, you know, we saw a pretty kind of timid guy in you, right? Kind of an aw shucks guy. You're a very good looking guy. You're tall. You're handsome. It's hard for people, even for myself, to think, well, this guy, I mean, come on. It's not like he doesn't know he's attractive.

Did you see yourself when you watched it back? Did you see yourself in that show? Are you a shy guy? Are you a confident guy? Are you good at talking to women? guy are you a confident guy are you good at talking to women you know what tell us about the you know what you think is the real greg in life versus what you saw and maybe they both could be true but shed some light from your perspective on that yeah i mean it's funny because you know everyone all of you know my good friends all my, you know, my good friends, all my friends that, especially like them in acting school, you know, they were all texting me throughout this or like, this is

incredible. Like, all I see is like you up there and, you know, they're really happy and proud that I'll just be myself. But I mean, I kind of came into this knowing everyone's going to have their opinion no matter what. For me, I mean, yeah, at times i can be confident you know but at times i definitely sit there like a deer in headlights i mean at afr i mean i was scared out of my mind going into that place with like full audience uh having to talk to katie and especially the first night i mean you walk out of that limo and boom like cameras everywhere there's like you know the bachelorette there i mean i was scared out of my mind um but no i mean i feel like just like everyone everyone has a lot of layers to them i i couldn't help it

that i was scared in certain moments i really couldn't i just you know wanted to be myself to earn this i feel like i gave it my all yeah one thing i forgot to ask you so i'm backtracking a little bit so i apologize but you obviously you mentioned you have some regrets now, and you mentioned AFR. AFR was filmed three or four weeks ago, is that correct? About three now, yeah. And that was before last week's episode aired, so before we saw some of the reactions from people, how people were triggered last night.

Yeah. For the people who hear that you are now sorry or you have regrets and you see it, why should people believe you in terms of why don't, for people who are gonna say, he's just saying that because he knows people are mad at him, he has the benefit of hindsight now why should anyone believe that's actually how you feel yeah i mean it's fair if they don't believe me truthfully

um again when i watched the back for the second time and i try to see you know what katie saw in those moments i i just felt uncomfortable i i it was a very painful and humbling experience. Again, I'd rather people say that I was acting in these moments than having to be like, shit, I can do so much better. And the way I, you know, did talk to Katie in those moments, there's, it sucks how I reacted. I, it sucks that I triggered so many people. Um, and it's And it's really humbling to know that I can be so much better. I'm just trying to look at this in some sort of senses. I'm trying to gain some sort of something positive out of this. I'm just trying to learn from this and realize that I can do better you know not in order to be in the relationship that i strive to be in and it's i do have a lot of work to do on myself truthfully yeah i mean for all the people like who are going to question oh whether i'm being you know honest or not i mean yeah that's fair that's fair okay better help uh well uh nothing a few things are more important than our mental health. We talk about it

so much on this podcast and certainly as it relates to our discussions on this episode itself. Whatever you are, might be struggling with, whether it's a tragedy, a loss of a parent or a friend or just anxiety from work or just the daily grind of life. Maybe you just need someone to talk to about whatever. I had an emergency therapy session with my therapist, Darlene, this morning. There few things feel better than just getting it all out. And BetterHelp is there to help us do that. It makes it super easy to connect with a professional licensed therapist. They make it super easy. Again, you just go to betterhelp.com. You fill out a quick questionnaire identifying what you're

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In fact, so many people have been using BetterHelp. They're recruiting additional counselors in all 50 states. This podcast is sponsored by BetterHelp and VileFiles listeners get 10% off their first month at betterhelp.com slash V-I-A-L-L-F-I-L-E-S, VileFiles. We always talk a lot about this show. Listen, so much is recorded, very little is shown. Let's focus on the breakup with Katie. Are there things that you feel were relevant

or maybe just for the lack of time to help explain how you felt? Because one thing Katie said at AFR, she questioned your intentions. She questioned whether you really cared about her or loved her. You know, not only Katie felt this way, but a lot of Bachelor Nation, like, if you really loved her that you wouldn't have, you know, like, that's not love. Right. So right. First first how do you respond to that how do you feel about that and then as far as uh the fight between you and katie um i'll leave it open-ended in terms of were there things that we just didn't get to see that also provide context to how you felt

the way you did yeah so um what was the first question again i'm sorry i was just like i was just listening to the end of that uh yeah no no problem i was kind of bouncing around but i guess my first question is how do you respond to the people who felt like um that can't be love you don't act that way to someone you love um and again katie questioning you know you know minus the acting part let's just focus on why would you say i love you to someone and then act that way gotcha gotcha um yeah i mean i'm just it again, like, regardless of how I felt in those moments, the way I acted towards her after they were completely wrong. But, you know, with when I started questioning our relationship, yeah, on that couch, when I did, you know, tell her exactly where I was at in this. It's it was tough because I said that what I said and, you know, said, and buried my soul in those moments.

And I could just tell. It's just something that I was kind of scared that the typical viewer just wouldn't be able to see when it translates well on TV. But no matter who it is that's bearing your soul out to the other person um i feel like you can kind of see it in their eyes their body language anything and in those moments i just felt like it wasn't me i my intuition was screaming at me in those moments um yeah people only see you know the these you know 15 minute interactions you know when in reality you, this show's gone on for what, 12 weeks? So, I mean, we had a lot of moments, especially after our second one-on-one,

we had this moment where after the rain, we had like roads on, we were sitting by the fire and mics were off, no cameras, producers left to have our alone time for a little bit. And I was like, listen, I just wanna let you know producers let's have our own time a little bit and i was like listen i just want to let you know um this is just completely real i just want to tell you all without the mics and cameras like that i'm completely falling in love with you um and again she she didn't want to say it in those moments and that's completely fair for her

i didn't know that um but i just felt like even in that moment I was just like okay something might be something might just it just didn't feel like it was me truthfully and watching it with Blake I was happy for her when you say it wasn't you you mean like she wasn't you weren't going to be her guy at the end is what you felt that's what I truly felt in my gut

yeah that's what I truly felt and watching it back with you know her moment with blake i was like wow i was so happy in those moments for her because she like asked for air i was like yes like that's that's like you know any guy or you know women like that's what any person wishes for uh when they're expressing their love to their person i was really happy for her in that moment because they seem great together uh blake is an incredible guy and i know that they're expressing their love to their person. I was really happy for her in that moment because they seemed great together. Blake is an incredible guy,

and I know that they're going to be happy after all this. Do you still stand by how you felt about Katie when you expressed it? And would you still call that love? Or how would you characterize your feelings for Katie reflecting back at that time? Yeah, I've been doing a lot of reflecting on this truthfully. You know, a lot of soul searching throughout this all.

And I have to really look at myself in the mirror. And it definitely wasn't the healthiest kind of love. You know, whether it was bonding with her over, you know, loss of my father and really trying to feel connected in that way, especially because I just don't, you know, communicate what happened to me in the past to just anyone. It sucks because I did project so much on her in those moments, but it wasn't healthy. And you shouldn't rely on anybody for your own happiness. And that's sadly, you know, what I feel like I did at the end there. And I want to get into a place where I am truly happy.

I don't need to depend on anyone else to be in a healthy relationship. Did you ever feel like the front runner? And how did Blake showing up affect your, I guess, you know, thoughts on where you stood with Katie? Like, Did it affect you at the time, or were you still kind of – it was still relatively early. What did that situation feel like to you, and did you feel like the frontrunner either before that time or even after? I apologize for using the word frontrunner because I know that wasn't your favorite term.

But where do you feel like you stood with Katie throughout the season and what changed for you? I know you mentioned, obviously, that alone time, but I guess what I'm trying to get at is Blake showing up. How did that impact you, if at all? It is interesting being able to see every single relationship and how they formed.

I didn't know Michael A and her connection was that strong, truthfully. So I watched it throughout the season. After getting that first impression for us, after getting the first one-on-one, I definitely felt like I was in a very good position. You know, I knew there were great other guys there. You know, Andrew and then Blake walks in and I was kind of like, oh, shit. Like, I could just definitely see him and Katie just hitting it off. And, yeah, it brought a lot of doubt into me, truthfully,

which sucks because, you know, you don't want to be insecure in a relationship, and that's sadly how I was being throughout a lot of the season. Yeah, towards the end there, you know, especially watching it back, I remember telling Mike Lay before that last group date that he was on before Hometowns, just how much he meant to me as a person, you know, thanking me for everything. He let me know going into that how big of a conversation that was going to be for him and her. And I knew if he was going to get that group date rose, I was like, Michael A. I was saying in my DMs, I was like, Michael, I was saying in my DMs,

I was like, Michael A is going to be one of the final two guys. I just know it if he comes back with a rose. And he did. And I was kind of like, well, maybe I'm not, you know, the top guy here anymore. You know, you got Blake, you got Michael A, you got Andrew, you got Justin. I want to go back to that fight with Katie or break up.

You left abruptly filling the gaps for us how much time um because you know we don't really know there's always been a lot of questions also yeah maybe start there was it abrupt as it looked did you just kind of like in a dickish way to say fuck it i'm out'm out? Was there a long pause? What was the moment that made you just abruptly walk up and walk away rather than more gentlemanly say, I'm sorry, I wish you the best, I want to leave? Why did you just get up and leave and, as you mentioned, throw a temper tantrum or act like a child

i did i did um i had to like complete ass to her um again i hate watching that guy suck to watch back yeah i uh i don't know if there was an exact moment um it's it was everything that was leading up to it it was um that hope that hometown really made me upset uh truthfully and you know about a day and a half went by i just remember being a field position in my hotel room just uh you know producers just knocking on my door i couldn't even move they were just like feeding me chicken fingers and french fries for an entire day just like wouldn't eat um after your hometown yeah after my hometown yeah that's a good thanks for bringing that up how many days between your hometown and when you knocked on katie's doors was it the next day was it five days like how how long did you have to think about it and yeah

what what was the timeline there it was a day it was a day and a half. And I was being, you know, I felt like my mind was in a million places in these moments. I mean, here I am in New Mexico. I can't go outside. I'm like losing my shit. I'm like, when can I talk to her, please? Like, I need to talk to her. I was just so eager to try and get on the same page as her. And it didn't come off that way at all.

I came off angry. It came off again, like a passionate child. It was very, you know, immature for me. And I never want people to try and justify how I acted because we can't normalize that behavior, especially talking to a woman like that. It was hard to watch back, and I was pretty ashamed of it all. And, again, it's humbling to realize I need to step away from this and know that I can do so much better. But yeah, I went to that room.

So you didn't knock on her door with – when you knocked on your door, you didn't think – you were you thinking i might leave if this doesn't go well like what was your thought uh when knocking on the door for me um i reached a point where i was like you know what there was a rose ceremony that night and i had no idea also that michael a left i thought there was i was one of four guys i had no idea also that Michael A. left. I thought that there was, I was one of four guys. I had no idea. And I went to that room and I'm like, or before the room, I'm like, there's no way I can sit in a rose ceremony tonight. Like, I can't even like get out of bed. There's no way.

Like, I got to talk to her. And also for me, you know, and again, I should have been communicating with her rather than playing every single scenario in my head. Because in my honest opinion, I was like, you know what? What's going to be the difference between two nights ago when I told her I loved her and two or three days later when we're doing our fantasy suite date? And I didn't know what was going to change in those moments. I knew in order for me to get to that place, I needed to really feel it from her.

And I get everyone's point of view where they're like, she gave you so much validation. She did throughout it all. And until I just, my personal opinion, it just felt like until until that last moment, I just was completely rattled and shooken up because of how badly I just wanted it to be real.

It, you know, I know what I signed up for. Well, I wanted to ask you a question, do you? Like, what did you think you signed up for? And as you went through that process what what did it feel like what did it did your expectations for what you signed up for meet your reality especially as things escalated and got serious down to the final four

yeah i mean i was telling my buddies i'm like be prepared for me to be back in uh you know nine days i'll see you guys um expectinging, I don't know, there's going to be, like, these, like, incredible, you know, which there were. And I was just kind of expecting, honestly, I was just going into it just saying, like, screw it. Like, let's just kind of see what happens. But I want to, not so much, like, how far you thought you were going to go and things like that, but, like, did you think about the show?

Like, how much, how familiar were you with the show? And regardless, like, what did you think about the show like how much how familiar were you with the show and regardless like what did you think you were signing up for like you're like hey it's a tv show like you mentioned that you know you didn't think you know for me like big reason why i signed up at the time was i was like oh i've never been to europe i get to travel you know and then when i and when i showed up i was like all right if i'm going to do this i'm going to be open to the experience and then kind of went there but for you like what you know you already kind of answered why you came and all that but what was your expectation of the show what did you think you were signing up for in terms of the show and what that experience

might be like and then again when you were in it you know final six final four what what was that like for you i was kind of looking at it like this is a crazy unique rare way to meet someone been single for a long time now and i kind of just looked at it as you know what the hell let me just give us a shot um i thought it you know you go on these incredible dates with the girl you know, what the hell, let me just give us a shot. Um, I thought it, you know, you go on these incredible dates with the girl, you know, it's just a beautiful girl. It's always, you know, looking, you know, beautiful every single night or some cocktail party or some rose ceremony. And I was just like, I'm, I feel pretty lucky to be able to, you know, experience this, um, all that stuff, you know, especially after the first, I was rattled because I'm like, Katie's like this figure in my eyes. I was just kind of rattled throughout it all.

But after that first date, after being able to share that bond experience, it kind of settled me in, especially getting that second one-on-one. I just was looking at her as Katie at that point. And it just, uh, it shifted for me. You know, I was, it got very real for me very quickly. Um, especially when my family got involved, that was, you know, it wasn't a show to me anymore at all. Sure. And it was hard for me to wrap my head around that. It truthfully was as everyone saw. Yeah. And that wasn't, me to wrap my head around that. It truthfully was, as everyone saw. Yeah.

And that wasn't, obviously that wasn't fair. You know, I didn't think it was going to get to that point. And I was scared of leaving. I didn't know what to do. Is there anything in the breakup with Katie that Katie said or did that we didn't get to see that further told you that you weren't going to be it? Was there anything else that we didn't get to see? Or did we get to see the meat of why you made your decision? I'd say that you guys saw the meat of it. Truthfully, it was just my intuition maybe i was i was

obviously way too harsh on her in those moments in that room but it was just the way that we were talking to each other in those moments um i wasn't communicating well at all my head was wrapped up um and it not being the show, which what we were in, I just, it's really hard to pinpoint everything. I just felt like I could read her in that moment and I just didn't feel like we were on the same page. And after, again, watching her and Blake in those moments, I was like, yes, that's it. That's what every guy hopes for in those moments.

It's hard not to be happy for it really is sure uh let's pivot to afr um same question i guess um obviously that we know that was taped where you know we've been used to a live show uh how long was that conversation in in real time and again um is there anything that was said that we we didn't get the benefit of seeing ourselves yeah i definitely um ended up addressing the whole background of my acting rumor and not just me being Meryl Streep. Yeah, I think everyone thinks you listen to my podcast. I'm like, everyone refers to Meryl Streep. I know.

Yeah, I mean, let's give Meryl Streep the credit here. Seriously. The goat. Yeah. So that was discussed further at AFR, but just didn't make the cut. Yeah but just didn't make the final cut there. Um, how long did the whole conversation last? Gosh,

I wish I could tell that I could have blacked out up there. Okay. It was fair enough. I, I truthfully don't know. I remember getting back to, uh, I remember going outside and I was,

I was completely rattled. I was like, oh my God, what the hell just happened? Yeah, that I would understand. Anything else other than the acting stuff or anything else that Katie said to you? No. I think one thing I wanted to get across is just like, you know, I'm just extremely happy for them. Again, I had a lot of time, obviously with Katie, but I also had a lot of time to get to know Blake and he's an incredible human. And I really think they're going to have a successful marriage.

I was very, very gracious of you to say at AFR uh again Katie question your intentions question you know how you felt about her and you seem startled by that accusation and in a way you kind of contradicted yourself right um because they're and I think bachelor nation a lot of people are in disagreement back and forth when you went to leave like a do you feel like again you stand by your feelings for katie were you in love with her and when you got to the point again we you've been very um you've made it clear that you don't like how you handled it. Were you, you know, Katie feels like you gave her an ultimatum. You feel like she didn't. Like, what do you think about that in terms of like, what was your intention by wanting to get the validation versus, I guess my question is, is there anything you think Katie could have said after you were outside that would have gotten you to stay?

Or had you decided, I want to leave? I think, yeah, that moment like replaced my head a lot. You know, I didn't want to give her an ultimatum. I didn't want to give her an ultimatum. I just really wanted to feel like we were on a two-way street here because I'm really passionate about finding, just like she is, was finding my person. And I just wanted to feel like we were on the same wavelength in that time, the same position, because I want to have a successful marriage

as my parents did. And that's what I grew up watching. And this was nothing but real to me. It probably, looking back on it now, wasn't the healthiest kind of love on my end. Again, definitely projected a lot onto her. And I definitely need to work on myself in that aspect. I felt like, you know, I said it there, I reached my breaking point at that point. And I didn't ever want to have to ask how she felt. I wanted to see

it. I wanted to just see it. And I wanted possibly, it was going to be, you know, possible future fiance of mine to want to be able to express, you know, just realness to me in those moments. And I just, I just reached my breaking point in Mexico at that point. So it's fair to say that once you were at your breaking point, like no disrespect to Katie, that you just, you, there wasn't something she could say because you had decided it wasn't going to be you. I felt like it wasn't going to be me in those moments. I mean, me leaving, it was one of the hardest decisions ever. It was tough.

I remember calling my mom. She's like, what the hell happened? You know, she thought I was just going to like tell her that I was, I just got engaged. And I couldn't go back to the city right away. I didn't want to be alone in my apartment alone. Had to spend it at my family's house for a solid two months after I got back. And I kept on telling them, I'm like, so so you know, guys, like, there is a slight possibility, like, we may get together still.

Like, there was some ounce of hope. Why did you feel that? Because I just felt like how real it was for me. And I know it was real for her as well. And, you know, especially leading up to those moments I just wanted to believe you know if we were meant to be we're going to find a way at the end of the day no matter what no matter if it was the show no matter if she had to end it I just felt in my heart you know if we were meant to be it was going to happen and when did you come to the point where

you just accepted that it wasn't you yeah I look had to it was a punch in the gut, but, you know, that couch was tough. I was on an all-time high, you know, because I haven't told anyone that I was in love with them in the longest time. So I was, yeah, you shouldn't go into it having expectations. I kind of felt it right then and there that probably wasn't going to be me and then going back to the room i just wanted to hear something else other than you know that i was a front runner and i was going to be here next week yeah no i get that and i'm not trying but you mentioned that you kind of you know i get it like listen we break up and you wonder and you process, like, did I make the right decision? What if we romanticize?

You know, we've all seen the notebook. But like, what made you accept, like, all right, this was the right decision. Or Katie's going to be with Blake or Michael, whoever you thought at the time. Was it before you, you know, were you at home? Like, you know, you said, like you know you said oh you kind of prepared your mom like maybe there's still a chance or whatever when did you get to the point where you said Katie's gonna be with someone but me in your mind after you left I was trying to contact producers left and right when I got home trying to figure out what was happening and they wouldn't really tell

me much obviously they can't I was I was desperate to try and find you know what was going on um and I think it got to a month or so and I was just I just kind of figured she was either with Blake or Justin in my eyes especially you know hopping back on Instagram she looks happy and I was like damn she's definitely with someone okay i appreciate you asking these questions i know it's probably not easy uh to go back there let's try to lighten it up and what's the story with brie oh god oh god i couldn't believe waking up the next day to that. Bree is just a friend. She pretty sure she has a boyfriend even.

How did you guys even come to hang out? I guess, you know, just through the show, connecting through the show. She was in my part of town. I'm in Hell's Kitchen right now. And she was grabbing dinner. She was like, I don't know what you're doing. Do you want to have food with my friends and I?

I said, yeah, screw it. It was just nothing but friendly, honestly. What did you guys do? We had a lot of food. She knows how to pick a good spot. We ate a lot of pasta a steak okay it looked like you were trying to saw a picture of you trying to get into some sort of nightclub did you where'd you guys go did you get in yeah so interesting as somebody says we didn't get in because we got in okay um i was like holy shit the internet's

not totally right um how are people reacting to you in public what's that like for you it's been awkward for me you know i don't um i think especially with like everything that was going on this week um again you know been doing like a lot of soul searching it's kind of been like that was kind of one of my first nights out and uh in quite a bit and yeah i don't know i just i think i just feel awkward sometimes being recognized just awkward but yeah i have no problem you know if anybody come up to me obviously it's always like flattering um yeah no it's a it's a weird thing who are some of the guys that you were closest with and are are you still close with any of the guys who do you talk to the most post show talk to justin a lot talk to justin andrew almost every single day um those are my

guys um talk to a guy connor b a lot funniest guy in the house, in my opinion, is Trey. He cracks me the hell up. Trey? Yeah, Trey. I would honestly cry every single night from laughing at him. He's hilarious. All those guys are incredible. Even Christian, who left so early, still keep in contact with him.

Aaron's hilarious. All these guys are incredible. Oh, yeah, yeah. You loved Christian. Yeah, Christian's funny. funny yeah i have a question um i just like you talked a lot about my guy uh you talked about like how humbling this was and how like you want to grow and i was wondering if there is anybody in your life um or just anyone that you're aware of who handles conflicts conflict really well that you're trying to model your growth off of? Honestly, my brother-in-law. He has been through a lot in life as well. He lost his brother around six years ago. So especially after expressing to him, us watching back these episodes, he's handled himself super well through it all. And he's been able to look at life in a different lens.

And he's been helping me out really a lot with this all. And he's been supportive of me, know revisiting therapy getting the help you know that I need to get over the passing my father and it's again it's been humbling like I said and painful but I try and I'm trying to look at this you know it's nothing but positive from all this is there are you back in therapy or are you beginning the process or is that something you are committed to doing? Yeah, the show has been great. You know, they have given me, you know, a therapist for the past few weeks now.

And I've been able to talk to somebody on the show's end. But, you know, I have somebody in the city now that I'll be listening once every week. Oh, that's great to hear. I'm really, you know know that's never easy. We were big advocates of therapy and mental health on this show. So congrats to doing that. And obviously, especially after experiencing the loss of your past therapist, it sounds like there's some trauma there.

Who would you like to see at The Bachelor? well, Andrew S is my guy he's charming he's funny as hell he's a handsome guy I call him Michael B. Jordan in the house that's my guy that's my vote

and obviously I was about to say the most beloved guy in the world, Michael A those are incredible candidates and I think that they would knock it out Andrew over Michael? I was about to say, the most beloved guy in the world, Michael A. Those are incredible candidates, and I think that they would knock it out of the park. I don't think you could go wrong with either one of those guys. Okay. Any of the guys that you know that have been announced for Paradise that you're excited to watch?

Yeah, Connor B. and Aaron. I am excited for for those two um yeah what's up with that cuddle session with connor b you guys seemed like i mean if i were ever going to question your true intentions with katie it was because you were something was going on with connor b that we didn't get to see yeah um i remember the first time uh we we cuddled and broke that barrier when Tasia and Caitlin woke us up for that rodeo date the first week. And all of us were freezing. And he's like sitting on the couch with his blanket. And I kind of just like, I didn't ask. I kind of just like sat right next to him, put the blankets over uh put the blanket over me too and I farted underneath the blanket and that's that's

what really kind of grew us from there a Dutch oven began yeah what's that it's called a Dutch oven yeah exactly yeah uh well we appreciate you sharing that very intimate and rather gross story. That's the truth. Nick hates farts and poop. Just brought us together, man. Greg, I really do appreciate you being so candid with us. I know that not all these questions were easy to answer and uh we appreciate your candidness uh we're gonna end things on a lighter note uh

we like to play this game with our guest called do you know me well um it's super easy don't overthink it um i'm like can greg do this has greg ever done this etc etc uh simple yes or no questions are accepted and uh you are welcome to elaborate and share any anecdotal stories that might remind you by answering this question but no pressure if there's no story to tell, are you ready? Do you know me with Greg Grippo? Question number one. I like this question. It says something about people, I feel like. Has Greg ever taken an Uber pool?

Yeah, God, yeah. Okay. Correct answer in my mind. A man of the people. Yeah. Right after I got done filming The Bachelor, I used to do Uber pools. Totally.

I'd sit shotgun, though. Did you really? Were to do Uber pools. Totally. I'd sit shotgun though. Did you really? Were people like, oh shit. I would sit shotgun. You know, it was a good deal. I was like, it's like a third of the price. Also, on the way over at Night Out, it's like very social. There's some camaraderie in Uber pool sometime.

Nice, nice. Thanks, Chris. nice nice thanks christian any uh uber pool uh experiences did you meet any friends in an uber pool um no not not lifelong lasting honestly uh definitely some funny times though does greg have any recurring dreams no i honestly i haven't been dreaming too much. Ever? Like as a kid did you have a reoccurring dream? Oh my god I mean I used to be like the biggest scaredy cat in the world as a kid. My brother showed me Chucky when I was like seven years old and I wasn't able to go sleep at night that's all that that doll's the only damn thing I ever thought about at night. Um, so definitely like Chucky coming to get me. Are you the youngest Greg? Youngest before. Do you think you were spoiled? Yeah.

That's honest. all right that's awesome carry on can greg name all four beatles gosh um i can why am i like blanking right now like when you're on the spot with this you're like shit why can't john lennon um paul mccartney um first names are fine um come on greg come on greg oh my god i'm gonna get i'm gonna get heat for this one what are the other two oh george harrison ringo star ringo star thank you uh we wanted to ask you if you knew four countries in africa like we asked katie but that did not go well and we we we empathize with katie because like you just mentioned it's tough to put someone on the spot but she got some unfair heat for that yeah yeah thank god for thank god

for blake it comes full circle um has greg ever thrown up in public? Yeah. Yeah, I have. Yeah. Definitely. I have a weak stomach. I have a very weak stomach. And my friends know how to get me. Yeah. Just like thinking about stuff.

I don't know. I could just... It's happening. Nice. Has Greg ever used a fake ID? Yeah, yeah, absolutely. Got one when I was a sophomore in college. What state was it?

Gosh, what was it? I believe it was Connecticut. Yeah, hell yeah. Didn't work. I got taken within the first month. Yeah. The guy was kind of like, this isn't you. Get the hell out of here.

Two more questions. Can Greg play an instrument? I wish. Especially with Connor B's jam sessions every single night, I'm like, Jesus, this guy is awesome. I used to be able to play the flute as a kid. All right. I haven't played in quite a bit. That's an instrument.

Final question. Has Greg ever been injured during sex? Um, like, like, like I have to go to the hospital. No, not necessarily.

Just like, did anything require a bandaid or like a sore back the next day? Yeah, of course. Or like, did you bump your head? I don't know. Get a rash? Oh, God, no. No rashes.

You know, a little knee burn? Rug burn. Rug burn. Might have definitely pulled a hammy or two. Okay. What's your Uber score, Greg? I think it's around a, I got to look. I honestly don't know.

How do you look? Go on your account. Let's see. Really? Okay. I'm glad I'm not the only one. And then like the little three dots in the upper left corner, Really? Okay, I'm glad I'm not the only one. And then like the little three dots in the upper left corner, if you click on them next

to your, like under your name and picture. It's not letting me sign in because of the airplane mode. But I want to say it's right below five. My picture is really cool. It's a dog that has a George Washington leg on it. It's like this guy's a party. Yeah. Do you always talk to your Uber drivers? Yeah, I like communicating with them.

Better man than me. I usually select silent ride. God. What? I feel like that's very cold. You know, you're in the same space as someone. Don't you like to be like, hey, how's it going? How's your day?

I'm not like, I don't like it. Yeah, I mean, I'll be like, hey, how's it going? But I'm not trying to learn about if this is a side job or what their career path is or explain to them what I do. I know. I know I don't, I I'd rather just say hello, whatever. And,

uh, enjoy that silent ride. If someone will bring it up, I will engage, you know, I'll answer their question, but I don't ask a lot of followup questions. Totally. So,

yeah, I'm just being candid here. Sorry. I have my weaknesses. Greg, I really would thank you for coming on. Again, it sounds like this experience was, as you put it, both painful and eye-opening. And I think I speak for at least everyone in this room and hopefully the people listening.

We do wish you the best of luck and we do hope that you can make this experience positive in the long term. So thank you for coming on. We appreciate it. And maybe we'll get a chance to meet in person. For those of you listening, thanks so much for listening. Don't forget to subscribe if this is your first time listening.

Rate us five stars on iTunes. We'd certainly appreciate that. Again, we have three shows a week. If you're tuning in for the first time, listen to Greg. If you're interested in listening to people's relationship stories, troubles, problems, and getting some helpful takeaways and some relatable stories that might relate to your own personal life.

Check out our Ask Nick's that happen every Monday. We recap The Bachelor, Bachelor in Paradise, all things Bachelor on Tuesday when it's on. And on our Wednesdays, traditional episodes, we always have a variety of public figures actors experts and all sorts of types of people so come back for more if you like what you heard today we appreciate you listening other than that we'll be back on Monday. Have a great day.