Tyler Cameron Reveals Why He Said No to ABC When Asked to Be the Next 'Bachelor'

Tyler Cameron could have been the Bachelor.

"It was something we talked about," the Bachelorette runner-up told ET's Lauren Zima on Tuesday, in his first on-camera interview, a week after Peter Weber was announced as the next lead. So, why did Cameron say no?

"You shouldn't go on the show if you have a girlfriend," he said matter-of-factly, in a nod to Bachelorette Hannah Brown finding out her former fiance, Jed Wyatt, had a girlfriend on the show. Cameron is currently dating Gigi Hadid.

"My heart wasn't 100 percent there, and that's something you have to be fully invested in. I was on the other side as a contestant, which is a much easier role than being the lead of the show," he noted. Cameron explained that his dad's health -- which almost prevented him from appearing on The Bachelorette -- also played a factor.

"My dad was very sick and I was very nervous and scared," he shared. "I sat on it, thought on it, and my heart wasn't in it."

Cameron's father -- who fans met during his Jupiter, Florida, hometown date on Brown's season of The Bachelorette -- is "doing much better now." The 26-year-old is now balancing his work as a contractor in Florida with pursuing his modeling career in New York City, where he recently got an apartment and has been working on new campaigns. "He's bouncing back," Cameron said of his dad. "It's tough because when you're in New York, you can hear it in his voice when he's not feeling good and when he is feeling good. So lately, every time I call him, he's been sounding good, so that's awesome."

"He's been an amazing support system through this. There's times where I want to just go home and see him and hang out and he's like, 'No, stay up there, do what you gotta do,'" he added. "Hopefully I'll get him up to New York soon. He wants to see the leaves change and all that."

Fans had hoped that Cameron, who seemed to be the total package on The Bachelorette, would find love again as The Bachelor, but he's confident Weber will do a great job.

"I think Peter's going to be amazing. I'm excited to watch Peter. He's just -- he's got so much joy in that smile, and he's got that subtle swagger... he's great," Cameron raved, predicting that the 28-year-old pilot will fall in love on the series.

"I think he will fall hard for somebody. He may fall hard for a couple people because we saw it with Hannah. It's tough. It's a very hard position to be in. I think he's got a genuine heart. It's going to hurt him to say goodbye to people, but he's a class act," Cameron shared. "Look at his family. He comes from an amazing family."

"Peter, keep killing it brother. I'm proud of you. I'm so stoked for you," he said in a message to Weber, who just started filming his season. "Go find your girl."

As seen on ETOnline