In an interview with Momlogic, The Bachelor’s Jason Mesnick says he now realizes he shouldn’t have proposed to Melssia Rycroft in The Bachelor finale, but in the moment, he thought he was doing the right thing.

Jason has become Public Enemy No.1 for ditching winner Melssia for runner-up Molly Malaney on Monday night’s “After The Rose Special.”

“Melissa definitely knew before going on [the show],” Jason told Momlogic.com when the Web site asked him if Melissa knew their relationship was over before the post-finale reunion special. “I mean our last conversation was: ‘Are you gonna to wear the ring? Because you know we’re not together.’ And I think that she probably had some hopes still that maybe I was gonna change my mind, ’cause she was really upset. We didn’t talk a couple of days before we shot. And that’s okay. No matter what I said, she was going to be upset. We’ve talked about not being together over the phone but I had to tell her stuff in person, too. I’m not as cowardly as it might seem or as much of a jerk as I might seem for doing it on camera. But that was my only chance to do it.”