Hey, here's a very normal question that I could totally have predicted would come out of my mouth today: Does Nick Viall like dolphins or something? I started clicking through the bios for the Season 21 contestants, which were released Wednesday, and right away noticed four separate women who listed the animal as their favorite. And that was just in the first four names. Four out of four. I had to get to the bottom of it, because seriously, you guys, this is an epidemic. There's either something in the water they're giving these women during casting, or Nick offhandedly mentioned at some point that he liked the playful little marine mammals, and everyone pounced on it like a... dolphin on a school of anchovy. (Do dolphins eat anchovy? I guess I should ask the cast of The Bachelor. Apparently they're the experts.)
The thing is, try as I might, I can't find an interview where Nick mentions dolphins even a little bit at all. The search results are currently all jammed up in regards to Nick's season of The Bachelor with references to contestant Alexis Waters, who is not only an "Aspiring Dolphin Trainer" but actually dressed up as a dolphin for her first meeting with Nick, out of the limo. (And yes, of course, she also selected a dolphin as her favorite animal, just like the rest of her contestant brethren.) But even clicking a few pages back, I was unable to find a single reference to Nick and dolphins, so I truly have no idea where this phenomenon might have come from.
But a phenomenon it truly is. Out of 30 contestants, five women ultimately answered the question "If you could be any animal, which one and why?" with a very confident "dolphin" — Alexis, Angela, Astrid, Briana, and Lauren. It's truly baffling to me. The only thing I can think is that dolphins are pretty widely known as one of the only animals other than humans that has sex recreationally, and Nick is one of the only contestants who's ever been open about his sex life on the show, so maybe the women were trying to appeal to his sexuality and all had the same thought about how to do so? That's my best guess.
Or you know, maybe it's just a coincidence that one-sixth of the contestants on The Bachelor all feel a kinship with Flipper. Either way, you already know you're tuning in to the premiere on Jan. 2 to find out.
Images: ABC; Giphy
