Melissa Sounds Off On ‘Bachelor' Split

Fans may be in an uproar over "Bachelor" Jason Mesnick's dumping of Melissa Rycroft on national TV – but Melissa said she doesn't want anyone to feel sorry for her.

In a statement released to Access Hollywood on Wednesday, Melissa said she has no regrets over her "Bachelor" experience.

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"This was definitely one of those experiences that changes your life, and makes you so much more aware of who you are and what you want out of life. Strange as it may sound, I am doing really well," she said. "I'm back in Dallas, pursuing the teaching thing, and attempting to get my life back to normal (if it was every really normal to begin with). I still have my same life mottos: Live life with no regrets, and keep smiling no matter what happens… I don't regret anything that happened over the past few months; because I know I wouldn't be where I am today had none of it happened."

In a separate interview with People, Melissa admitted that heading into the taping of the "After the Final Rose" special, where Jason broke off the engagement, she knew things had changed between the couple.

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"The few times we did see each other, we were trying to find what it was on the show that attracted us to each other," she told People. "I had to step back and ask myself: 'Why do you feel you have to fight to save a relationship that maybe isn't as great as you thought it was?'"

And while Jason had previously told reporters he was contractually obligated to keep Melissa in the dark about his break-up plans until the two were on TV, in a new interview with the Los Angeles Times, the "Bachelor" said he ended the relationship a week before the taping.

"If you watched carefully, she wasn't wearing her ring," Jason told the LA Times.

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So if Melissa knew about the split ahead of time, had the two gone over how they were going to act for the dramatic TV reveal?

"No. Her response had been, 'How do you want me to react to that?'" Jason added. "I wasn't going to coach her. I just told her that we were going to talk about things again [on the show] and however she felt is how she was going to react. I'm never going to tell anyone what to say."

But regardless of what she did or didn't know prior to the taping, Melissa said she has moved on and is just fine with how it all played out.

"I don't want people to feel sorry for me or that I was a victim in all of this," Melissa told People. "I am okay."

Yet, she added, her reality TV days have to an end.

"I have, however, decided to move on from my reality television days, and get some sense of normalcy back to my life…. I think it's time for me to move on from my television days, and see what my future holds back in Dallas," Melissa added in her statement to Access.

Related Content from AccessHollywood.com:
PLAY IT NOW: Inside 'The Bachelor' Finale, Part I
PLAY IT NOW: Inside 'The Bachelor' Finale, Part II

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