The Bachelorette 's Tyler Says Rachel Dumped Him 'with the Most Class' Ahead of Meeting His Family

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The Bachelorette's Tyler Norris understands what Rachel Recchia had to do.

At the taping for the upcoming "Men Tell All" special, the former contestant spoke to PEOPLE exclusively about the pair's breakup, which aired on this past Monday's episode of the ABC hit.

"Watching, obviously, my journey back wasn't easy. It brought up a lot of like different emotions, but it made me realize that there's nothing I would have done differently," Norris, 25, said at the recording for "Men Tell All," which will airing next Monday. "I went in with a full heart. I went in with, you know, hopefully finding my person at the end of the day. And it wasn't Rachel and I can live with that."

Recchia, 26, ended her relationship with Norris before meeting his family during hometowns week. The moment in question occurred after Norris admitted to being "so in love" with the co-lead, who felt as if their connection wasn't strong enough to go forward.

Addressing his thoughts on how Recchia approached their breakup conversation, Norris said, "I respect how she went about it."

"I mean, she did it with the most class and did it the way that you're supposed to, and didn't string me along," he said.

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But Norris said he initially felt as if "everything was going so great" beforehand, so he wasn't exactly expecting a breakup to occur.

"I had a chance to show somebody my hometown, and I love my hometown. I love the Jersey Shore. So getting a chance to show that [to] somebody else, I was like super excited. It seemed like everything was going so great," he recalled. "But then seeing how she felt making the decision that she did, I understood it."

Craig Sjodin/ABC via Getty

Norris continued, "It hurt — you know, it still hurts watching it back. When you put your whole self out there for somebody and just hoping for the best, and it doesn't work out, [it] doesn't work out, but wasn't easy. It wasn't easy watching it back."

However, Norris added that he is "super happy" he got the chance to talk with Recchia again.

Going into next week's episode, Recchia still has one last hometown date with Aven Jones. Fellow contenders Tino Franco and Zach Shallcross are also still in the running for Recchia's heart.

Craig Sjodin/ABC via Getty

As for co-Bachelorette Gabby Windey, she just completed three hometown dates with Erich Schwer, Jason Alabaster and Johnny DePhillipo.

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The Bachelorette airs Mondays at 8 p.m. ET on ABC.