'Bachelorette' star JoJo Fletcher reveals what she did with her old engagement ring after Jordan Rodgers proposed for the 2nd time

• JoJo Fletcher told Insider that she knew Jordan Rodgers was the one during hometown dates in her season of "The Bachelorette."
• Fletcher, who starred on season 12 of the ABC series in 2016, said she squeezed Rodgers hand three times while they were eating In-N-Out to tell him that she secretly loved him.
• Rodgers re-proposed to Fletcher last August, and "The Bachelorette" star said "it was important for him to do it on his own."
• But the couple will keep the Neil Lane diamond ring that Rodgers gave Fletcher on the show, and might pass it down to their future children.

Clare Crawley has had "The Bachelorette" rumor mill spinning for months with whispers that she stopped filming the show early because she already knew she was in love with one of the contestants.

While JoJo Fletcher made it to the end of her season back in 2016, the "Bachelor" franchise star told Insider that she can relate since she realized Jordan Rodgers was the one long before she picked him in the finale.

Fletcher, who spoke to Insider while promoting eBay's new Certified Refurbished category, said she "knew without a doubt" that she wanted to be with Rodgers during the hometown dates, when she was visiting the families of her four finalists.

"When you meet family and you get to that point, it becomes very real," Fletcher added. "So I think that was probably the turning point."

Fletcher even gave Rodgers a sign during their date to tell him that she secretly loved him, squeezing his hand three times while they ate In-N-Out together in a hotel room.

Rodgers had asked for some off-camera time with Fletcher after she met his family, but the "Bachelorette" star said she does wish that fans "could have seen that intimate moment."

But, unlike Crawley, Fletcher said it never crossed her mind to end her season early

"When Jordan first came out of the limo, he really impressed me. He gave me butterflies. I knew I was immediately drawn to him," Fletcher said. "But I wouldn't say that I knew right away that we were going to end up together."

"I was very intentional about what I was coming on the show to do, and that was to really explore every type of relationship and every type of man to really know what is best for me," she added. "It was really a conscious decision to continue to go through it and compartmentalize and separate each relationship."

Even as her season headed toward the finale, Fletcher said she tried to stay in the moment with each man she was dating

Fletcher said it was important not to bail on the process, even though she had a good feeling on who her future fiancé would be because it's such a huge decision — one that would affect the rest of her life.

"I had some amazing guys and when I was with each guy in those moments, I think I did a good job of trying to focus on that relationship only," she said. "I think I owed it to myself, and I owed it to them, to continue to explore every relationship."

"Because, at the end of the day, we're talking about the rest of your life, you know? So it was really important to me to not close myself off, and to really just make sure I knew what was right for me at the end — and I think that's what I did."

Rodgers re-proposed to Fletcher last August, even giving her a new ring

And although on the season 12 finale of "The Bachlorette," Rodgers dropped down to one knee and proposed, Fletcher said when he fiancé re-proposed to her while the two were "touring possible wedding venues," she recalled, it was a special moment that she never saw coming.

"The idea of ever having another proposal never crossed my mind. It wasn't something that I never thought would happen because the first one was just as real and significant and meant so much to both of us," she told Insider.

"But I think it was important for him to do it on his own, and for us to have that excitement again moving forward," Fletcher added. "It was something he just wanted to do, and for me [it was great] not having any clue he was going to do it, not having any cameras around, nobody there. All we had was a shaky iPhone video from the venue tour guide."

"It was just so meaningful, it was so thoughtful, it was incredible — both of them were incredible. But the second proposal, just knowing he did it all on his own was just really sweet."

While Fletcher now wears the new ring that Rodgers gave her, she hasn't gotten rid of the Neil Lane sparkler that he proposed with on "The Bachelorette" finale.

"We still have it," she revealed. "That carries such sentimental value to both of us, and what it signifies and stands for, and the whole journey we had together."

But Fletcher said she and Rodgers — who had to postpone their wedding to 2021 due to the ongoing pandemic — still haven't decided what they'll actually do with the ring.

"Maybe it's something we pass down to our kids one day or we turn it into a different type of jewelry," she added. "We don't really know. But we just know it carries a lot of value to us so we definitely wanted to keep it."

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