Why Maria Georgas turned down being the next 'Bachelorette'

Maria Georgas has news for "Bachelor" fans who griped about her not being the new "Bachelorette": Georgas was actually offered the role. And she ultimately declined.

The 29-year-old Canadian, who competed for Joey Graziadei’s heart on the most recent season of "The Bachelor," opened up about why she decided against starring in "The Bachelorette" on the May 1 episode of Alex Cooper's ''Call Her Daddy" podcast.

“I was offered the role," revealed Georgas. "I mean, it was mine until I said it wasn’t. And yeah, it became very overwhelming to the point where I had to decline.”

The fan-favorite, whose relatability charmed fans of the “Bachelor” franchise, explained that she was initially cast as the “Bachelorette.” "It was to the point where I was doing fittings. It was set in stone."

At some point, however, Georgas realized she was not "mentally prepared" for the experience and dropped out. That's when producers announced Georga's fellow contestant Jenn Trann had been cast instead.

“(Jenn) was one of my closest girls in the house, and she was always verbalizing how badly she wanted this,” said Georgas. “When everyone around me was so supportive of me being in this position and everyone wanted this for me, I kind of took a second and was like, ‘Why am I not happy? Why am I not excited about this?’

“And it took me realizing that it’s just not my time, where I was like, ‘Guys, respectfully, I need to decline. I need to take a step back,’” she added.

Georgas recalled feeling "anxious" during her time on "The Bachelor," and felt overwhelmed by the idea that she would have to spend months, as Graziadei did, narrowing down her choices from the dozens of contestants.

“I was not in the right headspace for this,” said Georgas. “Because I know the extensive process it was to be on the show, right? So having a bunch of guys do the exact same thing and they’re there for me, I didn’t want to waste anyone’s time."

"Honestly, it was hard for me to jump right back into it," she said, adding that what she really wanted was to go home to Canada and "back to reality."

"I just wanted to take time off from all of this," she said.

The good news, said Georgas, is that Trann, who is the first Asian-American "Bachelorette," will be "perfect" in the role.

“She is the most perfect 'Bachelorette' in my eyes,” said Georgas. “I couldn’t think of anyone better to do this. She was so ready for it and that was enough for me to say, ‘Yeah, it’s not my time.’

This article was originally published on TODAY.com