Nick Viall as The Bachelor

Chris Harrison Praises Bachelor Nick Viall For His Sincerity; Chad Johnson And Robby Hayes Call Nick Fake And Pompous

Am I the only one who feels like the announcement that Nick Viall will be the next The Bachelor is getting more attention than any other Bachelor-related news in a while? It became official last week and people are still talking about it. Chris Harrison continues to insist that Nick is the best choice. However, The Bachelorette cast-offs Chad Johnson and Robby Hayes aren’t feeling it.

They sound a little bitter to me. After all, the trend for this franchise has been to pick the star for the next season from last season’s pool of contestants, which includes both Chad and Robby. Not to mention that Luke Pell has been doing a press tour of complaints after he was rudely shafted from the role at the last minute. With so many differing opinions about Nick, I have a feeling that a lot of people will be watching The Bachelor next season.

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Personally, I’m pumped Nick will be the Bachelor. The only thing that bothers me is that it’s too late for me to try out. With that said, I have some inherent bias when it comes to anything Nick-related. I am so #TeamNick. The franchise host Chris Harrison agrees with me on this one and has adamantly defended the two-time Bachelorette runner-up.

Chris explained to Entertainment Tonight that the decision to go with Nick at the last minute was not meant to be an insult against Luke. “It’s not an indictment on Luke that he’s not the Bachelor. That doesn’t make him a bad guy. We can just only have one person and, at the end of the day, it’s very important for us to have someone who is sincere. Who is sincerely going to go through this and, I hate to be cliche, for the right reasons try to find love?”

Love him or hate him, it does seem like Nick fell hard for both Andi Dorfman and Kaitlyn Bristowe during his two seasons on The Bachelorette. He does seem to be on a quest for love. Sure, that happens to overlap with reality TV fame in this case, but if you can find a wife and be famous, why not do both? 

Both Andi and Kaitlyn have publicly supported Nick in the role. Andi tweeted, “Congrats, Nick. It’s been a long road but you’ve always been genuine and real about wanting to find love. Now it’s your turn! Best of luck!” With a rose emoji at the end, of course. If someone Nick dated and publicly upset (when he made it known that they slept together in the fantasy suite) thinks Nick is sincere about finding love, then that’s a good enough endorsement to me.

Not only was he on The Bachelorette (twice) but he was also on Bachelor in Paradise this summer.

Watching Nick on Bachelor in Paradise made a lot of people curious about Nick’s love life again, minus the part where the Bachelor announcement came a week before the BIP finale and we had to watch Nick grapple with decisions about a relationship that (obviously) wasn’t going to work out since he’s about to star in another reality dating show. Even the people who dislike Nick seem interested in watching him, at least to a certain extent.

There are also rumblings from some supposed “inside sources” that Luke emphasized promoting his country music career a little too much when planning out his prospective time on The Bachelor.

The “source” revealed, “All Luke asked about and seemed to care about when planning his role as the Bachelor was his country music career.” Once again, I don’t feel like promoting your career and passion necessarily takes away from a sincerity to find love, but I can see why that might be up for interpretation. Maybe Luke just wooed me through the TV screen, but I felt like it was sincere and natural whenever he whipped out his guitar to serenade JoJo Fletcher on The Bachelorette

Of course Chris Harrison is supporting and promoting the decision to cast Nick, but some people in Bachelor Nation are not happy. I’m really not shocked about this though. Chad previously said (several times) that he wanted to be the Bachelor and Robby has been accused by many people of “being fake.” If anyone is going to speak up against the casting, it makes perfect sense that it’s these two.

They both shared their opinions with In Touch. The highly controversial Chad said Nick “is totally fake. He’s already been on three shows. It’s not about him wanting a wife; it’s about fame.” And Chad would know since he is one of the franchise’s most infamous contestants who won’t stop talking about the show to get attention.

JoJo’s runner-up Robby came off like a sore loser when he said, “To be honest, I figured they might go after somebody a little younger, somebody that has a little more pep in their step.” Like you, Robby? Pretty sure we all saw the true subtext in that “opinion.”

Robby also said he met Nick and felt “he came off a little pompous and seemed bitter.” Well yeah, I would be a little bitter too if I got dumped multiple times on reality TV.

Chad also attempted to insult Nick, “Nick’s been playing his cards right and knows what to do and what not to do. He knows what looks good on TV – and he knows what doesn’t.” That sounds like something the franchise needs. 

Bachelor Nation seems to be more vocal than ever before. I’m sure that a lot of people will be tuning into Nick’s season and sharing their opinions.

TELL US – DO YOU THINK NICK IS SINCERE? DO YOU THINK HE’S THE BEST CHOICE TO BE THE BACHELOR?

[Photo Credit: ABC/Rick Rowell]

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