“All the time, I look back and say, ‘What if?’ ” she told us. “It’s like ‘what if,’ because I laughed when my co-workers came into my office and said you should do ‘The Bachelor.’ And then when they offered me — ‘The Bachelorette’ — I told them no.”

As to why she changed her mind, the first African-American Bachelorette, 35, said, “It was a mother coming up to me saying, ‘I heard you’re going to be on “The Bachelorette.”’ My daughter stopped watching the show, but she’s gonna start watching it again because there’s [minority] representation, and I said, ‘OK then I have to do “The Bachelorette.”’ I wasn’t even thinking about the bigger picture. But now I don’t even recognize myself, like, ‘Who am I?’ One decision just sent me on a path to change my whole life course.”

She’s also co-hosting MTV’s “Ghosted,” and Season 2 premieres Wednesday.