'Bachelorette' Hannah Brown Says She Had a 'Really Hard Time' Over Whether or Not to Get Engaged (Exclusive)

The blonde beauty says she also considered quitting the show.

Hannah Brown is "happy" with the way her season of The Bachelorette ended, but that doesn't necessarily mean she got engaged. 

During a sitdown interview with ET's Lauren Zima on Tuesday, the 24-year-old interior designer admitted that she had a "really hard time" deciding whether engagement was something she wanted at the end of her season. Host Chris Harrison told ET shortly before Hannah's finale filmed earlier this month that he wasn't sure if there would be a proposal. 

"If I don't feel like I can give everything to a person and that it was really true, I won't [get engaged] and it's really hard to feel that way when you have to compartmentalize relationships," Hannah explained. "You get set back when things go wrong, and I had a lot of breakdowns. It was a really hard time."

"I knew it was going to be hard, but not as hard as it was," she added.  "And just emotionally, physically -- you think it's gonna hit one part where it's like, 'OK, that was the hardest thing.' And then it's like, 'OK, again? When is it gonna get easier?'" 

Hannah said she went through "a few very pivotal breakdowns" during her season, which had her questioning "most of the time" whether she'd get a happy ending. She even considered quitting the show, like Colton Underwood did last season on The Bachelor (he later came back to pursue a relationship with Cassie Randolph, who had left him). 

"I don't think there was a certain moment [that made me want to quit]. It was more just, 'This is hard. This isn't going to work.' Not as dramatic [as his fence jump] -- it was more a conversation of like, 'I don't know if this is going to work for me,'" she shared. 

"It was truly the hardest thing. I didn't want to let other people down, but I didn't want to let myself down," Hannah said. 

As for Chris' comments about a man not getting down on one knee, Hannah said she saw where he was coming from. 

"It was so emotional and look, I will be the first to say that I was a pain in the butt to deal with, because for Chris too, he's like, 'Oh god, how are you today?'" she recalled. "'How are you feeling today, Hannah? Do I need to sit down?' And so I was just really emotional and I think it was because of the relationships I had with the guys and how those affected me and what was going on between the men in the house." 

Hannah also agrees with the host's assessment that this season might include the most drama between the men than ever before. "I think the reason there is so much drama is because they are so invested [and] care. And when you're passionate about something or someone and how you feel, then you have emotional reactions and responses, which I think this really important." 

"Or you scream," she added, laughing. 

Regardless of the challenges this season, Brown's leaving her time as the Bachelorette "happy for the opportunity that I had." "I'm excited for everyone to see the growth and what I learned and what my experience is," she expressed. 

The Bachelorette airs Mondays at 8 p.m. ET/PT on ABC. Join ET's Bachelor Nation Facebook group here

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