BiP’s Tyler describes the relationship with Brittany after meeting Shanae

Complicated in paradise. Tyler Norris had a great meeting with Shanae Ankney during the Tuesday, October 18, episode Bachelor in Paradisebut he also couldn’t shake his feelings for Brittany Galvin.

“She has that smile,” Bachelorette season 19 alum, 26, told exclusively Us Weekly on his relationship with the model, 25. “She’s obviously beautiful, and talking to her was so easy. The first night I talked to her for hours – I just got lost in the conversation.”

The New Jersey native explained that finding that relationship with someone he just met really peaked his interest in it Bachelor season 25 alum. “When you have that connection with someone where you can talk about anything and everything and it’s so easy, I think that’s the wow factor for me,” he said. Us.

The small business owner said he had a “great time” with Shanae, 30, but his relationship with Brittany was still at the forefront of his mind.

“I had to keep an open mind,” he said Us, explaining why he decided to date the recruiter after developing feelings for another woman. “I was invited to a meeting and, obviously, I will not refuse. Shanae is beautiful, why not? … But you really know if you really like someone after you get the chance to go on a date with someone else, because at the end of that date all I wanted to do was see Brittany.”

Tyler couldn’t reveal what will happen on the beach in the coming weeks, but said he is “very happy” at the moment.

Bachelor Nation fans got to know Tyler during Rachel Recchia and Gabby Windey‘s season of The Bachelorette, which ended in September. The pilot, 26, broke up with him during the week in her hometown, shortly before she was due to meet his family.

Despite the end of their romance, the former couple are now on good terms. “We talk here and there,” he said Us a native of Florida. “She’s actually a pretty good friend of mine now. The biggest thing is that I met so many of her friends from her season at the beach, so I became close with them [too].”

He does not, however, have any updates on Rachel’s rumored relationship Aven Joneswhich returned during After the Final Rose to try to convince the flight instructor to give him another chance. “That’s a good question,” Tyler said Us when asked where Rachel and Aven, 28, stand now. “You’ll have to ask her!”

Bachelor in Paradise airs on ABC Mondays and Tuesdays at 8:00 PM ET.

With reporting by Mandie DeCamp