Juan Pablo & Nikki Sound... Hopeful?

Following The Bachelor finale on Monday night, Juan Pablo didn't seem too willing to talk about his relationship with the woman who received the final rose, but now both Juan Pablo Galavis and Nikki Ferrell have given an interview to People. According to the magazine, the couple has declined to do additional press and if you watched the post-finale "After the Final Rose" special, this should come as no surprise. Juan Pablo was very insistent that his relationship with Nikki is private, even though they met each other on a television series and the finale special was part of that very show. He also cancelled an interview with Good Morning America on Tuesday and Chris Harrison was sent in his place.

In the People interview, Juan Pablo is his usual defensive self. Some of the things he says make sense, but after seeing how he was on the show, it's hard to believe that he suddenly has pure, rational intentions. Juan Pablo says, "You go on [The Bachelor] thinking if there is the connection, you propose. But I don't feel there's a need to propose to somebody if I don't feel 100 percent. I didn't know Nikki. I want to know more, a lot more." That totally makes sense. Using The Bachelor as a way to meet a potential partner instead of someone you're going to marry immediately isn't wrong, it's just that Juan Pablo didn't exactly seem interested in getting to know the women while he was there so the change of heart sounds less sincere and more like one of his excuses.

Juan Pablo goes on to say, "It's hard because [viewers] saw a character on TV. At [sic] lot of things about me were not shown. I'm not a bad guy. People who know me, know who I am." His family knows who he is and they didn't sound too stoked about him either. Even if you give him the benefit of the doubt and believe that the good parts of him weren't shown — and it's likely that more and more positive moments were edited out as the show went on and the producers realized that everyone thought he was a jerk — he actually did say some pretty terrible things on and off of the show. Saying "Woo! Glad I didn't choose her!" when Clare left wouldn't have been less bad no matter how many positive aspects of Juan Pablo were shown.

As for Nikki, like Juan Pablo's opinion on not proposing, it sounds like it makes sense, but given the context it's not so great. "Had he gotten down on one knee, I absolutely would have said yes. But having a ring on my finger wouldn't stop us from breaking up. What's going to keep us together is having a real relationship. I'd rather have him propose when he feels it's right."

She's right, a ring is meaningless if the relationship isn't real, but can you really have a real relationship that starts with one person madly in love and one person feeling like you don't know each other? Also, Nikki sounds like she's giving a lot of the power to Juan Pablo. It doesn't seem healthy for Juan Pablo to "propose when he feels it's right," this should be a decision they make together.

Bachelor couples rarely work out, so if these two somehow make it, then great for them. It sounds like they're starting off with a very uneven relationship which will only make it harder. And just look at his face on that cover! He's definitely still up to something.

Images: ABC, People Magazine