Back in 2019, the 31-year-old DJ made headlines when he posted his pre-show text messages with Caelynn Miller-Keyes while season 6 of Bachelor in Paradise was airing. In the messages, Blake and Caelynn, 25, arranged to hook up at Stagecoach one night after he had sex with fellow contestant Kristina Schulman.

“I don’t regret it. I’ll never really apologize for that,” Blake told Us on our “Here for the Right Reasons” podcast. “I’m never gonna regret [or] apologize for defending myself.”

The “Behind the Rose” podcast host went on to compare his situation to Rachael Kirkconnell allegedly not being allowed to respond to claims that she was racist during Matt James’ season of The Bachelor, which aired earlier this year. (Rachael, 24, apologized twice via Instagram weeks after the scandal first made headlines in January.)

“Do I wish that situation would have never happened, do I wish there was any other way? I mean, the way I look at is — remember how it this season, Rachael, like, they wouldn’t let Rachael put out a statement? That’s kind of what would have happened to me,” he claimed. “But I told them to F off. I was like, ‘No, like, I’m gonna fight.’ So no, I don’t regret that, I don’t. And I would do it again if I had to. I just wish it didn’t have to come to that, but it did.”

When asked whether he regrets joining the beach spinoff one year after competing for Becca Kufrin on The Bachelorette, Blake had mixed feelings.

“Oh gosh, for a long time, I did. But now, not really. I’ve become very passionate about mental health; we’re able to help a lot of people. I’ve kind of embraced that role in Bachelor Nation, which has been pretty fun and pretty cool,” he told Us. “And at the end of the day, like, all those people that were, like, ‘hurt’ by me, they’re freaking all happy and engaged or in relationships. So, it’s like, had I not gone down there, would it have happened the way it did? I don’t know. So no, I don’t necessarily regret it.”

While Blake left the Mexico solo, Caelynn met boyfriend Dean Unglert. Hannah Godwin, who was also dragged into the drama, ended up engaged to Dylan Barbour. Tayshia Adams, who went on a date with Blake on BiP, ended up as the Bachelorette for season 16 and is now engaged to Zac Clark.

For more from Blake, including whether he regrets anything from his time on Becca’s season, watch the video above!

This story originally appeared on: US Magazine - Author:Sarah Hearon