'Bachelorette' Tayshia Adams, fiancé Zac Clark chat engagement secret: 'Neither of us like lying'

If you need to find someone to keep a secret for you, try asking "The Bachelorette" star Tayshia Adams or her new fiancé, Zac Clark.

"'Secrets' is my middle name, I guess at this point," Adams tells USA TODAY over a Zoom call from Orange Country, California, with Clark by her side. Their love radiated warmth from the screen the same way it did during Tuesday night's finale.

It was difficult to keep the secret not only of their engagement, but the fact Adams was asked to be "The Bachelorette" in the first place. She replaced original lead Clare Crawley after Crawley found love and got engaged to Dale Moss.

"Neither of us like lying," Clark says.

But "we're pretty good at it now, to say the least," adds Adams.

Adams sent rival suitors Ivan Hall and Ben Smith home before Clark proposed to her in an emotional sequence in the finale.

"I will pat both of us on the back and say we were pretty open and authentic in the process," Clark says. "And I think you saw that in the proposal. That was a special moment and a lot of hard work, and for me, tears went into that."

Viewers saw Adams' authenticity in full force during the finale when it came time to send people home. 

Adams discussed sending third-place contestant Hall packing after not seeing eye to eye on religion. "We utilized fantasy suites for what they're meant for, and it's just to dive in a little bit deeper, and have those tough conversations about where you really see your future family going and what you want for each other in the long run," she says.

Smith made a surprise return after Adams had already settled on Clark and Hall as her final two. But would she have sent Hall home even if Smith hadn't reappeared?

"There are no rules," Adams says. "So if I truly felt like, I wanted all three men to meet my parents, I would have done exactly that."

Adams, who is Black and Mexican, believes the show is committed to showing real love stories, whatever that may look like. Both she and new "Bachelor" Matt, whose season bows on ABC Jan. 4 (Mondays at 8 EST/PST), are a testament to that.

"I think we're just at the beginning of starting to change," Adams says. "And I'm happy to be a part of it." Rachel Lindsay was the series' first Black "Bachelorette" in 2017.

As for their holiday plans, the pair plan to head east for Christmas and New Year's and spend time with Clark's family. They plan to be a bicoastal couple between California and New York.

No matter where they are, Clark appears just happy to be with his love.

"I feel like the luckiest guy in the world sitting next to Tayshia," he says.

'The Bachelorette' finale recap, part two:Tayshia gets a proposal; does she say yes?

'The Bachelorette' finale recap, part one:One of Tayshia's final three men leaves, another makes surprising return