BiP 's Joe Amabile Says Ex Kendall Long's Return 'Never' Made Him Doubt Serena Pitt Proposal Plans

Joe Amabile is ready to build a future with now-finacée Serena Pitt — and nothing is going to get in their way.

Amabile, 34, and Pitt, 23, got engaged during Tuesday's Bachelor in Paradise finale. Moments before their whirlwind romance took a major step forward, Amabile's ex Kendall Long — whom he met on the summer spinoff's fifth season in 2018 — returned to the beach to speak with him following her initial exit this season. After an emotional conversation, she ultimately gave the couple her blessing.

While the surprise return clearly caught Amabile off guard, he eventually got down on one knee and romantically proposed to Pitt.

The Chicago native tells PEOPLE he "never" had doubt about continuing through with his proposal plans after speaking with Long.

"No, it never made me question the proposal at all. I was really only focused on Serena and the ring in my back pocket," Amabile, who split from Long, 30, in 2020, says. "So when Kendall came down, it was unfortunate timing. It was a quick conversation, and I wish her the best. But I was just ready to see Serena and do the damn thing."

RELATED: Bachelor in Paradise's Joe Amabile and Serena Pitt Won't 'Rush Down the Aisle' After Engagement

As for Pitt, she says she "was really just shocked in the moment" after Amabile informed her of Long's brief appearance.

"I just wanted to make sure he was okay," says Pitt. "He seemed completely steady about the whole thing, so I was like, 'Okay, you know what? It happened, let's move forward and keep this day about us as much as possible.'"

Craig Sjodin/ABC; Matt Winkelmeyer/Getty

Now that their engagement is no longer a secret, Amabile and Pitt are ready to enjoy being a "normal" couple and enjoy everyday life experiences together.

"We can't wait to just be normal and go get a nice dinner," says Amabile, to which Pitt adds, "We're going to go out and walk around. We're in Toronto right now, so [we will] go see the city there a little bit and we have dinner reservations tomorrow night at a nice restaurant, so it'll be like our first date night."

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The Bachelor Nation pair are also in the process of figuring out where they will ultimately plant roots. For now, they are splitting their time between Amabile's Chicago hometown and Pitt's native Toronto, Canada.

"Right now, we're only an hour away by plane. We're going to go back and forth from Chicago and Toronto," the Click Bait podcast host says. "And we'll either get a place in Chicago and Toronto. Or we're thinking of possibly New York. We're both open to wherever life takes us."

Craig Sjodin/ABC

Pitt adds that "location is definitely a big thing when you live in two different countries, so there were multiple conversations about that and we definitely feel confident we're on the same page."

Though it will be "a year or two" before they dive into wedding planning, the duo is grateful for how their Bachelor in Paradise journey turned out.

"I think we're both such logical people that this show really works for us because it pushes you to really tap into your feelings and talk about your feelings," Pitt says. "Because the proposal was such a shock to me, my response was just so genuine and not based on logic, just really following my heart and how I felt about Joe."

"And I think that's really how we got here today, was [by] kind of letting the logic part of us chill out a little bit and really just, kind of, following our hearts," she adds. "And I'm glad we did."