Rachel Lindsay and Bryan Abasolo React to Peter Kraus Not Being 'The Bachelor' (Exclusive)

The couple also offered their advice to Arie Luyendyk Jr.

"Who?" 

That was former Bachelorette Rachel Lindsay's reaction to Arie Luyendyk Jr. becoming the next Bachelor -- but now, she couldn't be happier. 

ET's Lauren Zima exclusively sat down with Lindsay and her fiance, Bryan Abasolo, at one of their favorite date night restaurants, Terilli's in Dallas, Texas, on Wednesday, where the couple reacted to Peter Kraus not being Bachelor No. 22. 

"I had the same reaction of the announcement when Nick was announced. 'Who?' Because I didn't watch the show!" Lindsay confessed of Luyendyk, who was revealed to be the next Bachelor in September, after not having appeared on a Bachelor franchise show since Emily Maynard's season of The Bachelorette in 2012.

"I didn't know who Arie was, but...I've seen a couple of things about him. He seems like he's in the right place, ready to meet someone and I think that that's important," Lindsay said. "I'm excited to see his season." 

Lindsay, like most Bachelor Nation fans, was shocked to learn that the next Bachelor wouldn't be her runner up, Peter Kraus -- but as she told ET, she wasn't necessarily "relieved." 

"It didn't bother me either way," she insisted, despite telling ET the day after her finale that she didn't think Kraus was the best candidate to find love on TV. 

"Honestly, we didn't mind at all," Abasolo echoed. "Peter is a good guy, and he deserves to find love, so we wish him the best along with anybody else." 

"I actually watched Arie's season with Emily. And he seemed to be a very funny, charismatic guy, so I thought he was a good choice as well," he added. "It was their decision."

Lindsay and Abasolo might not have "minded" that Kraus wasn't the Bachelor, but they're certainly happy to have "the focus on someone else." 

"I think what's going to be nice is that we can watch it, and just watch it. Arie isn't linked to us, so we can have a very objective opinion, and no one is going to read into it," said Lindsay, who admitted she hasn't spoken to Kraus, but would be "cordial" either way. "I'm happy to just watch it and not be judged by every single thing that we do in regards to that season." 

Lindsay's dramatic breakup with Kraus wasn't contained to her season of The Bachelorette -- when the show ended in August, the Dallas attorney and her new fiance found their relationship put under a microscope by fans wondering what went wrong with her runner up. 

"I felt like people were questioning my integrity, my reputation, and then really attacking Bryan, when they really didn't get to know him, and the focus was taken away from our happy moment and place don the drama," Lindsay said. 

"It was a lot of backlash on social media, but I think it just made us stronger. We were very communicative and we definitely talk about all the issues that come about and all the press that's out there negatively," Abasolo added. "We express our feelings to each other and move on." 

Lindsay and Abasolo definitely have moved on. The couple couldn't be more in love, revealing to ET that they now live together in Dallas, Texas, three months after The Bachelorette finale. 

"There is this Bachelor bubble that you're in when you are on the show, and you're eating all these nice things and you are traveling to these nice places and having these extravagant dates and... it is so easy to get caught up in that world," Lindsay revealed. "When you are trying to find a partner, you need to find the person who can work outside of that world. And I think a lot of times people don't do that." 

"For me, that was really important. When I was like figuring out for myself, I thought, 'Who makes sense with me outside of this? Who can I get along with and spend the rest of my life with in real life?' There were guys that were like, we work in this world, and we would never work in real life," she added. 

"Oh, trust me, she had that list in the fantasy suite week, she asked her questions," Abasolo confirmed. "Real life questions, not like, 'What destination are we going to?' But real life questions like, politics, credit score... It really turned her on, though."

"He has good credit," Lindsay confessed. 

The couple has far more than just financial advice for Luyendyk, however. 

"I would just say, 'Know you. Know who you are, know what you want, and go in there and let it all hang out. Put your heart on your sleeve and just, if it happens for you, great, if it doesn't, it's a learning lesson. And your perfect match will be out there somewhere.' That's the attitude I had,"" Abasolo said. "If Rachel would have gone with someone else, I know I did everything I could to show this woman how much I cared for her. And if that wasn't enough, she wasn't the one for me. But, luckily for me, she was, and here we are."

"When you're in the lead position, you're kind of out there by yourself. You can't talk to family, you can't talk to friends. You really have to know who you are, know what you want, and not let anyone else make the decisions for you. You can't make a decisions for someone else," Lindsay advised. "You can't settle, you can't compromise. You have to know what you want." 

Lindsay definitely found what she wanted. See more on her and Abasolo's relationship in the video below.