The Bachelorette star Kaitlyn Bristowe has felt the need to address Nick Viall's participation this season.

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"Enter Nick. Talk about uncomfortable. He just walked right into the lion's den, and I could feel the tension through the TV. It was actually pretty tough for me to watch because I really saw with my own eyes how much the guys cared. [Joshua Albers] was so sweet when he questioned Nick calling me a 'cool chick,'" Bristowe wrote in her People blog.

"He is such a good, ol' fashioned country boy. I never ever meant to be disrespectful to Joshua or any of the other guys by having Nick stay. I just had to follow my heart, and my heart told me to give Nick a chance."

Bristowe admitted it's "such a strange world" to express how she needed to "explore" all her options when the guys were only there for her.

"Actually in this case, NOT all of them were there for me and they TOO explored options. (If you recall there were two Bachelorettes!) And I am so sorry that a lot of people see a problem with this. But there was an attraction with Nick, and I had to pursue it. I was still getting to know these guys, it didn't feel too late, and this was something I just had to do," Bristowe said.

It was especially "tough" for Bristowe when Shawn Booth questioned her decision to allow Viall to enter the group. Booth said right to Bristowe's face he had taken a couple steps back and didn't understand why she wasn't able to see through Viall's "bullsh-t."

"It's hard when you have such a strong connection but are still getting to know someone. And yes what Shawn and I had was strong, but it was still so early. My biggest fear was ruining something I had with someone like Shawn," Bristowe wrote, adding that her conversation with Albers during the week's group date was also difficult to deal with because he was suggesting the guys were lying to her about being okay with Viall's presence.

"My conversation with Joshua wasn't what I wanted it to be. We weren't really moving forward in our relationship, and I wanted to!" Bristowe noted.

Viall got the group date's rose, and Bristowe ended up eliminating Jonathan Holloway, Ryan Beckett and Corey Stansell at the Rose Ceremony.

"All in all, it was a hard night, with a number of tough conversations, but I knew who I needed to say goodbye to. Nick had nothing to do with that choice; my decision would have still been the same regardless of Nick's arrival. Those three guys who went home are great guys, but I knew they were not the right fit for me. And I'm sure they know I wasn't right for them either. It really does go both ways," she explained.


About The Author: Elizabeth Kwiatkowski
Elizabeth Kwiatkowski is Associate Editor of Reality TV World and has been covering the reality TV genre for more than a decade.