I've been trying to give him the benefit of the doubt all season, because I'm deeply appreciative of his interest in their intelligent, outspoken selves, but seriously? Why did Nick Viall choose Corinne The Bachelor's two-on-one date? I try not to be judgmental, but that particular decision was almost a spit-take at the Rhiannon house, and I don't think I'm alone. Corinne is easily the most talked about contestant this season — even my friends who don't watch the show have texted me needing an explanation for the adult human woman with a nanny — and many expected to see her eliminated on Monday night's episode. But, instead, Corinne's nemesis Taylor was the one who went home, while Corinne earned the rose and another week of safety on the show. So what. Is. The deal?
It might surprise you, but the more I've thought about it, the more it makes total sense that Nick kept Corinne and eliminated Taylor. Up until now, Corinne has reliably been getting the villain edit, but this past week's episode marked a change of tone where things became a little more hazy — at least for me. All of a sudden both women were saying really problematic things both to and about each other. I was seeing a lot more of Corinne's perspective on Taylor's sour attitude and condescension, to the point that even I began to question if Taylor was as right about Corinne as she felt she was.
But since Nick doesn't see any of the footage that we do, he just has to base it on chemistry. Guys, he undeniably has more with Corinne, no matter how much immature, inappropriate stuff comes out of her mouth.
Even if he didn't, what is the one point they've driven home more than any other this season? That this isn't Nick's first rodeo. This his fourth time on a Bachelor Nation show, so, by this time, he probably has a pretty good idea of what makes good TV, and it isn't always being liked.
On his first season of The Bachelorette with Andi Dorfman, Nick squared off with the eventual winner, Josh Murray, and spoke openly about his sexual relationship with Andi pre-breakup. In his second season, this time with Kaitlyn Bristowe, Nick not only joined the season late, which irked his fellow competitors, but repeated his previous pattern of butting heads with the eventual winner, in this case Shawn Booth. It was only in Bachelor in Paradise that Nick finally began to turn things around and seem to commit himself to being liked.
So it doesn't surprise me at all to see him developing a soft spot for Corinne. It's hard to be disliked by the other women, especially when it's for — among other things — sexual openness. Nick is a sex-positive Bachelor, who's been through the wringer when it comes to his reception both on and off the show. That's something that he and Corinne have in common that other people might not be able to understand, and that's certainly part of the reason Nick's attraction to Corinne keeps growing.
I don't think the two of them will end up together, but, ultimately, she's a more intuitive match for him than Taylor. It just took seeing them side by side on the two-on-one for me to figure that out.
