Exiled contestant Shannon Bair left heartbroken on The Bachelor, but she's still got a smile on her face - and not just because she's a dental hygienist. 

Shannon, who was eliminated along with Megan Parris and that Lauren girl from N.J., says that despite the painful goodbye, she wasn't obsessed with Jason Mesnick as it came across, and called her departure a "happy ending."

Shannon spoke with Reality TV World about her experience ...

Q: What did you think when [Jason Mesnick] decided not to hand out the final rose? Did you appreciate him not wanting to lead anyone on, or do you think that he should've given someone another week?

Shannon Bair: I actually appreciated that Jason was being honest because I was being very honest with him and if there wasn't a love connection it's better to find out sooner than later. I was there for love and I know that he was as well, so I think that him being honest and not leading anybody on was a good thing.

Q: During your last one-on-one moment before the Rose Ceremony, you told him you had "so much to offer" and asked him not to eliminate you. Is it safe to say that by that point you knew you were in danger?

Shannon Bair: Um, yeah I would probably say that's safe to say. It was really hard because the time with him that I had was very limited and we didn't have a lot of one-on-one time. So to get my feelings out in the small amount of time that I had with him was difficult for me, and it was a hard situation to try and tell him everything I wanted to tell him in such a short amount of time and that's kinda how it came out. 

Q: Did you tell him that because you felt you had made a real connection with him or was there some other reason?

Shannon Bair: You know what, it's basically that I don't know that the things I said to him at that point were actually coming from the heart. I was pretty emotional and I was very tired and I think my emotions were coming out. Now when I look back on it, I didn't feel that connection with Jason.

Q: When we talked with Megan last week, she said that, given her own pre-Rose Ceremony conversation with [Jason], she was questioning whether or not he was really there for love. What are your thoughts about that?

Shannon Bair: It's very hard to say in a situation like that, you know, what people's intentions are. There's been rumors that people go on the show for publicity and to furthered their career in acting, or whatever the case may be. With Jason, I do feel that it was hard to connect with him in that setting. I never felt like I had his undivided attention.

Continue reading Shannon Bair's interview ...

Matt Richenthal is the Editor in Chief of TV Fanatic. Follow him on Twitter and on Google+.