The producers of The Bachelor really threw a curveball at us, huh, Bachelor Nation? Instead of choosing Chase or Luke from JoJo’s season of The Bachelorette as The Bachelor, Nick Viall was announced as the lucky guy who gets to find redemption with 25 women, one of whom is hopefully the love of his life. But is Nick on The Bachelor for the right reasons?Bachelor Nation has seen many sides of Nick, but I’m convinced he’s doing this because he wants a companion, not because he wants publicity. The hosts of Bustle’s Bachelor Nation podcast, Will You Accept This Podcast?, agree with me on this one. In fact, Bustle Senior Entertainment Editor Kelsea Stahler and Romper TV Editor Allison Piwowarski went as far as to call Nick a peanut butter M&M, aka the best M&M the world has to offer.
Nick was vilified for his time on The Bachelorette, because during the After The Final Rose ceremony, he asked Andi, "If you didn't love me, then why did you make love with me?" They had sex when they were in the Fantasy Suite, and it wasn’t cool when he called her out on national television. It was stupid, but I think Nick was hurt and humiliated and felt the need to lash out — it’s a natural human emotion, not that it excuses anything. I hated Nick at this point.
But when I watched him on Kaitlyn Bristowe’s season of The Bachelorette (yes, he did it again), Nick was a new person. He was totally in love with Kaitlyn, he proposed, and she smashed his heart into a billion pieces. The look on Nick’s face when Kaitlyn stopped his speech showed that he was actually in all of this for love. A man who just wants to be famous will never look as pained as Nick did in that moment.
Of course, Nick did have a little stint on Bachelor In Paradise, too. He went on one date with Amanda Stanton and had a little thing with Jen Saviano. I’m not really sure why he did Bachelor In Paradise — perhaps to get his name back out there, perhaps to just hang out with all his friends (a lot of his Bachelor Nation besties were in Paradise this time around). All of his pain worked out for him, because America saw a new side of Nick. Now, he's the Bachelor and he gets to find love on his own terms.
I maintain that a person wouldn’t put him or herself through the rigmarole that is being on The Bachelor/ette if he or she weren’t in it for love. To actually be on the show, you have to think for at least just a second that it could lead to love. A fame-seeker would likely have tried another route after failing twice on the same show. The fact that Nick is ready to pick himself up again, dust himself off, and try to find the love of his life is telling of his dedication to his future. He is putting himself and his family through the pressures The Bachelor again, and that’s not a thing to be taken lightly. Nick is definitely on the Bachelor for the right reasons, and I can’t wait to see it all come to fruition.
For everything Bachelor Nation, check out previous episodes of Bustle's Bachelor Nation podcast.
Images: Rick Rowell/ABC
