EXCLUSIVE: 'Bachelor' Standout Corinne Olympios 'Misses' Ex Nick Viall 'as a Friend': 'I Did Love Nick'

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Corinne Olympios may have left The Bachelor in tears after her breakup with Nick Viall, but she's still got a lot of love for the 36-year-old businessman.

ET's Lauren Zima caught up with the Miami native at the Four Seasons Hotel in Los Angeles, California, on Thursday, where she opened up about her time on the show, and said she's "always down" to hang out with her ex.


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"I mean, we did have like, a good connection you know, for a while. I did miss him a lot in the beginning. I miss him as a friend now," Olympios said of Viall, noting that they haven't "really" communicated outside of the show. "He's just a really cool guy. I can't say a bad word about him."

"I miss him as a friend. I mean romantically, I'm not really sure if he is engaged or whatever, but he did move on from me to get engaged to someone else, so my heart kind of accepted that and I've moved on from that," she explained. "But friend-wise, yeah. I'll always be… if he wants to talk or anything, hang out, I'm always down for that. He's a great guy."

Looking back on their relationship, Olympios said she really did love Viall -- but she's not sure if she was "in love" with him.

"I did love Nick and you know, I cared a lot about him. I don't know if I was in love with Nick yet -- it was definitely getting there -- but I'm glad he let me go when he did then, if he didn't see a future with me," she shared before noting it was "surprising that he didn't take me to fantasy suites with all of our sexual attraction to one another."


WATCH: 'Bachelor' Standout Corinne Gets Sent Home, Responds in the Most Wonderfully Corinne Way Possible

Olympios' pre-fantasy suite departure was surprising for many fans as well -- including former Bachelorette Ali Fedotowsky, who predicted to ET that Corinne would reach the milestone -- though Viall had plenty of opportunities to experience the blonde beauty's "sex charm" and "platinum vagine." 

"What was he thinking? He missed out," Olympios joked. "I mean, if you have a sterling silver vagine, that's the worst."

While the 24-year-old's sexuality made headlines each week, it was her empowering limo exit that showed a different side of the reality star. "I am done trying to impress these men. I'm going to be me, and whatever happens, happens. But I will never kiss up to a man ever again in my life," she told producers in the limo, before taking one last Bachelor nap.

"I mean, women just find it really empowering," Olympios said of the response she's received to her declaration. "I mean, that's just honestly how I felt, and I was kind of, you know, bringing back a little bit more of my past relationships in there too. I just feel like women – well, me at least, like I always put my man first and you know, I really just feel like women need to like, realize that they also need to be put on a pedestal."


WATCH: Corinne Olympios Parties With 'Bachelorette' Bad Boy Chad Johnson: 'We're Just Misunderstood'

"Cheers to women!" she added.

At the end of it all, however, Olympios wouldn't change a thing.

"I like to live my life, you know, confident in myself and the decisions that I make. I'm a woman, I'm mature enough to make decisions," she revealed. "I learned from my mistakes. I didn't mean any harm by it, I didn't mean to offend anybody, I didn't mean it for me to come out looking like [promiscuous]. I just could have gone about it in a different way, but, you know, when you're trying to be like, sexy and cute and you're trying to do something funny and cute and it doesn't come out right, come on!"

"I mean, I'm only human. I can't help if it looked a certain way," she added. "I tried."


EXCLUSIVE: 'Bachelor' Star Corinne's Mom Defends Her Daughter's Promiscuous Behavior, Addresses Those Engagement Rumors!


The Bachelor
airs Mondays at 8 p.m. ET/PT on ABC.

Hear more about Olympios' experience on the show in the video below.