Ben Higgins has revealed that while his decision to eliminate Jubilee Sharpe seemed harsh and unexpected, their relationship had slowly been deteriorating.

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During a group date in Mexico, Higgins sent Sharpe home when she flat out asked him if he could still see a future for them. She was blindsided and hurt, but Higgins thought it was the right thing to do as to not lead her on any further.

"I know that in a relationship it is generally going to be more than just my wife and me alone together all the time. I want a woman who can be social and get along with others... I know my decision to let Jubilee leave may seem sudden and drastic considering just two weeks ago we had one of the best first dates I have ever had and I was then defending her actions to the other women," Higgins wrote in his People blog.

"But a lot had happened since then (in a very short time -- what else is new in this experience?), and I was starting to see some things that were very concerning to me."

Higgins explained that Sharpe had "pulled back" following their amazing one-on-one date in which they had taken a helicopter ride and relaxed at a spa.

"You only really saw me talking to her at last week's cocktail party in Las Vegas and telling her that I could tell that she looked scared out of her mind, but what led up to that was Jubilee really isolating herself. She wasn't opening up and communicating her doubts or concerns and from what I could tell, there was a real division between her and the other women," Higgins said.

"Then on the first part of this [group date in Mexico], she couldn't loosen up and have a good time at the Spanish lesson and then was really the only person that seemed to be having a miserable time and a problem with her teammate when we got to the cooking part."

Higgins tried to give Sharpe the benefit of the doubt considering group dates are difficult and so is The Bachelor process in general. He was also aware emotions heighten once real feelings grow and develop.

"My biggest issue so far was that Jubilee wasn't communicating any of this to me at this point. And it was obvious even from a distance that there was a problem with her," Higgins wrote.

"And instead of coming to me and telling me that there was a problem, she chose to be passive-aggressive and make snide comments here and there when the rest of us were having fun. Waiting for me to pull her aside and pull it out of her instead of coming to me and telling me there was an issue."

The Bachelor obviously expects there will be hard times in relationships, but his issue with Sharpe was larger than that.

"I have no illusions about relationships... My wife and I will fight or disagree or I will make mistakes. And what I am looking for in a life partner is someone who will love me through those moments. Even when she doesn't like me very much, she will love me still -- support me and communicate with me," he revealed.

So as much as Higgins "respected and admired" the war veteran and loved their first date, it was "no longer enough."

"When she looked me in the eyes and asked if I could still see a future with her, I could no longer honestly say yes. She is a wonderful woman. More than that, she is one of the most impressive people I have ever met in my life. But she wasn't my future wife. And as difficult as that was, I owed it to her -- and to myself -- to be honest in that moment and walk her out," he explained, adding that it was his "hardest breakup" yet.

Sharpe's behavior even influenced whom Higgins decided to give the group-date rose to. Although Joelle "JoJo" Fletcher comforted him when he needed it, Olivia Caridi represented how he wants to be treated by a woman -- basically the opposite of how Sharpe was acting.

"As for the rose, I really could've given it to JoJo. And in retrospect, maybe I should have. But after dealing with Jubilee making me feel the past couple of weeks like she wasn't excited to be here, I wanted to recognize the person that never made me feel that way," Higgins confessed.

"The woman that always put our relationship first. And a woman that did struggle last week. I didn't want her feeling what Jubilee had felt, and I wanted that rose to validate to her that I wanted her here and that I appreciated how she had bounced back from a difficult week."

The Bachelor airs every Monday night from 8-10PM ET/PT on ABC.

About The Author: Elizabeth Kwiatkowski

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