Kenny Braasch is talking it out!

The Bachelor Nation star stopped by the “Talking It Out with Bachelor Nation” podcast for a candid discussion with co-hosts Mike Johnson and Bryan Abasolo.

Mike and Bryan asked Kenny about his journey to getting engaged to his fiancée Mari Pepin, who he famously met on Season 7 of “Bachelor in Paradise.”

Before his time on the Bachelor Nation shows, Kenny said he wasn’t actively looking for a relationship or for marriage.

He said, “I was content doing my own thing. I wasn’t searching. I didn’t start to really think about it until I went on ‘The Bachelorette’ and realized I wanted to settle down and get married. When I went on Clare and Tayshia’s season is when it entered my mind that marriage was something I would do. Prior to that, I was just working and it wasn’t on my mind at that point.”

Mike and Bryan asked Kenny about what his dating life was like before “The Bachelorette” and if he’d ever had a serious girlfriend.

Kenny opened up to the co-hosts and said, “I was single for a long time. Around a year before ‘Bachelorette,’ I was dating a girl for around a year. It was pretty serious, but not to the point where I ever thought about marrying her and she ended up moving to L.A. from Chicago and it fizzled out. That was the only serious relationship in the last 10 years prior to ‘Bachelorette.’”

So Mike and Bryan wanted to know what it is about Mari that made him want to take the leap and get engaged.

Kenny said, “There’s something about Mari, and it’s weird because she’s only 26, but when we’re together it feels like we’re both my age. It’s hard to explain. When you meet someone that you get along with, can live with, and enjoy being around all the time, that’s how you know. We don’t really fight. Previously, I always felt like a relationship added more stress to my life, so that’s why I didn’t want to be in one. But with Mari, there is no stress. She actually enhances life.”

He went on, saying, “We are going out and enjoying life together, seeing shows, going to dinner, and I never did any of that before. I was just a homebody. She just expanded and enhanced my life. I don’t know how to fully explain it.”

And while he can’t fully put it into words, Kenny said Mari is his best friend and she brings him a sense of peace he didn’t know before meeting her.

Kenny also shared some of what he’s learned about himself over the past year of being with Mari.

He shared what his fiancée has taught him, saying, “Mari is very calm and level-headed if there’s any BS or drama arising. She’s really calm and I’m usually more hot-headed when it comes to work stuff and whatnot. Since being around her, when stuff happens with work, I have learned to handle some of the bad situations a little calmer, which has been nice. Even in ‘Paradise,’ she could’ve lost her sh*t on me a few times, but she handles her business very well and very calmly.”

And while Mari and Kenny recently moved in together in Chicago, she’s currently going back and forth from Chicago to Puerto Rico to compete in the Miss Mundo Puerto Rico pageant.

Mike and Bryan asked Kenny how long distance has been for him and thankfully it hasn’t been too hard on their relationship.

Kenny said, “It’s not bad. We talk all day, but she’s busy as hell and I’ve got work to do too. So neither of us is just sitting around. We are staying busy. Then she’s home for a few days before having to go back. It’s really not that bad. Sometimes I feel like spending too much time together can be bad too, so we actually have a nice balance right now. Distance is not the end of the world; we’re making it work.”

We’re glad to hear it, and we love Kenny and Mari’s love!

To hear more of his conversation on the “Talking It Out with Bachelor Nation” podcast, check out Kenny’s full episode below.