'Bachelorette' Becca's Ex Tells All! Ross Reveals Regrets About 7-Year Romance's End
Jan. 4 2019, Updated 10:20 a.m. ET
It's been nearly nine months since bachelor nation watched current Bachelorette, Becca Kufrin, turn down her ex and former longtime love, Ross Jirgl, on national television. Shortly after, fans took to Twitter to demand he even be the next Bachelor! Now, the 28-year-old Stanford football coach is telling all exclusively to RadarOnline.com on that dramatic moment and his life since that fateful day.
At the time, Jirgl was struggling with the weight of possibly losing Kufrin forever. It was then that he decided to take matters into his own hands and book a flight to Peru to try and win her back.
"That was kind of a risk," Jirgl admitted. "I put myself in that situation and it had a very low success rate for the both of us. She comes from a great family — I didn't want to embarrass myself, my family, and her family in some way. Those were my hesitations going down."
"But I don't believe in a life of regret," Jirgl added. "And I would've regretted not going. Even if there is a slightest chance of getting someone that will make you happy, you got to take that risk. Life is too short not to."
Jirgl — who dated Kufrin for seven years — told RadarOnline.com that he has since moved on from that day, and hopes now — having taken that risk – that he was able to motivate other men in similar situations to fight for what they want.
"I hope that in some small way that I did inspire people," Jirgl said. "My message to the guys out there, is if you do have someone that you care about and love, to pursue her everyday. That's something that I at least learned from all of this that I could give to them. Fifty years from now at least I can say that I had the guts to get on that plane. And I went down there with the right intentions, and it's real love and it didn't work out for me."
"The only thing I regret is that it had to be shown on TV, and maybe I hurt her in some small way by doing that," Jirgl added."I didn't want it to be about me, and honestly I didn't want it to be about her either. I wanted it to be about us."
It wouldn't be long after Kufrin broke Jirgl's heart that she would later have her heart broken by former Bachelor Arie Luyendyk on television. But Jirgl revealed he never expected she would go back to him.
"I said everything I needed to say," Jirgl explained. "I didn't see that light in her eyes that was once there when I laid it all out. So even after Arie had done what he did, I had no expectations that she would reach back out to me. I think in Peru, we both finally went our separate ways."
Despite the heartbreak, Jirgl revealed that he now hopes his ex can find love.
"Leading into the spotlight that she's in now. I hope that she finds a quality teammate," Jirgl said. "A partner who is loyal, trustworthy — someone who is worthy of the great love that she can give. Someone that she can grow in life and in love with. I think above all, someone that can help her get to heaven."
"I fell in love with her heart, I fell in love with her soul, we definitely grew spiritually together. We lasted seven years, I don't think we would've lasted without that. At the end of the day I want her to find happiness."
While Jirgl doesn't regret getting on a plane to Peru, he says he doesn't want to be known solely as the ex.
"I got some charities that are close to my heart, and some things that I'm doing specifically with underprivileged kids in the athletic field," Jirgl said. "I am also starting to expand my reach to be able to positively affect as many people as possible. As a strength and conditioning coach at Stanford University, getting people stronger and conditioned is a small part of what we do. The biggest role that I play is to help people develop positive and successful life habits that lead to achieving their goals personally, professionally in addition to athletically. It is my full intent to use the platform that I currently have to be able to do that with a wider audience through writing, speaking engagements, and through social media."
When Jirgl isn't focused on his work or charities, he spends most of his time traveling, and recently took up a new hobby of flying planes. Whether Jirgl is still single remains a question. He told RadarOnline.com he is focusing on himself for the moment.
"Right now I'm going to focus on my career and I'm going to focus on helping people," Jirgl said — adding that he has no plans to watch Kufrin as she continues her Bachelorette journey.
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