'Bachelor' Joey Graziadei Meets with Kelsey About The Note: EXCLUSIVE

Maria Georgas may not have received Bachelor Joey Graziadei's final rose, but she might be ready to accept a proposal from ABC. 

Asked about fans clamoring for her to hand out the roses as the next Bachelorette, the executive assistant told E! News' Francesca Amiker, "I'm in awe of it. I always wanted to be on the show, but not once did I ever think I could get the opportunity to be the Bachelorette."

Mostly, she continued, "It's amazing that people think that I can do that. So I'm just appreciative of that. And it makes me happy."

Particularly because signing on as the lead would give the 29-year-old a much-desired do-over. 

Admitting she'd even consider a return to The Bachelor, Maria told E!, "Maybe the second time I'd do it better. And I would get my head in the game. Well, actually, I'd get out of my head. That's probably what I would do better for the next time."

photosThe Bachelor Season 28 Contestants

Meaning, count her among those yelling at their TV set when she pulled Joey aside to give him a too-little-too-late declaration of love. 

"There's sometimes I watch back and I'm like, 'Oh, Maria, don't grab him to talk to him at the Rose Ceremony. What are you thinking?'" she acknowledged. "But when you're in it, you kind of just got to do what you've got to do."

Disney/Jan Thijs

Not that she was really operating from a place of strategy. 

"I wish I had one," she shared. "My mouth has a mind of its own. And I just speak my mind. It's not something I planned to do. I was just like, let me go in there and be myself and roll with the punches. And that's what I did."

Which explains the mid-date freakout before hometowns that had Maria declaring she was hopping the next flight back to Ontario, Canada—alone. 

Despite coming off a successful one-on-one in Montreal, she had started to fear her connection with the tennis coach wasn't quite as strong as the others. "I know what I signed up for," she said. "I don't know what was going through my mind. But I was willing to say like, 'Okay, I will let you continue your great relationships with everyone else. I think that I'm not going to be able to catch up.' It was overwhelming and everything accumulated into me trying to run away."

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While she's happy Joey convinced her to stay, "I was really going to go," she said, stressing that it wasn't some sort of manipulation tactic. "I was not in a good headspace." Looking back, she continued, "I wish I just took a second to myself to take a couple deep breaths and [tell myself], 'Don't do anything that's going to jeopardize this.' Hindsight is 20/20." 

She's been doing quite a bit of Tuesday morning quarterbacking as she watches herself each week and, actually, she feels pretty good about how she handled the house drama. 

Though she made it clear "I don't stand or respect any of the backlash that's been going on to my fellow girls in the house," she thought she did a decent job of being there to make friends, even when facing off against Sydney Gordon and Lea Cayanan. 

"People who were fighting me and trying to come for my character, I just couldn't stand for," Maria explained. "I wish that we were able to come to common ground in the moment. I wish I was able to make that happen. But I don't think there was anything I could have done to change things."

Disney/John Fleenor

She's more of a lover than a fighter type—aside from the black belt she holds in Taekwondo. A hobby that earned her a pretty sweet first job as a tween. 

"One of the dads that has a kid in Taekwondo with us was working on the movie The Pacifier and so he got us all an audition," she explained of her role as Firefly #1 in the 2005 Vin Diesel flick. "It's not like I was, 'I'm going to be an actress!'"

Nor is she pining to give Hollywood a shot now. 

"I mean, never say never, but no," she said. "I'm just shy for acting. I'm okay with being myself but then having to act like something else, I can't. I'm not good at that." 

Despite fans bringing up her childhood gig "as if I'm a movie star, I'm Jennifer Aniston," said Maria. "That is the one and only acting credit I have. But it's a pretty cool one, huh?"

Perhaps as cool as being named the next Bachelorette? Before that big announcement comes, though, check in with all the past standouts from the ABC franchise. 

photosView More Photos From Bachelor & Bachelorette Status Check: Find Out Who's Still Together