During last week’s Bachelor in Paradise follow-up episode, After Paradise, avid watchers across the country speculated with nervous excitement as they waited for the next Bachelor to be announced live and on-screen. Would it be the hunky heartthrob Luke? The monotonous yet occasionally romantic Chase? Maybe even a wild card like Robby; he did have a few weeks (which is years in Bachelor world) to recover from almost proposing to someone then getting swiftly rejected on national television. He’s ready for a life of advertisements and promotions – ahem, love – right?
The big reveal, the moment we all had been waiting for, finally arrived. The co-hosts, a former Bachelor who looks like every other guy on the show and a woman who I’ve never seen before, practically jumped up and down as they introduced the newest star of the Bachelor franchise. To a chorus of collective nail-biting, wine-sipping, and couch-leaning, out walked . . . Nick Viall?
That’s right, ladies and occasional gentlemen, the two-time Bachelorette villain has been crowned the up and coming Bachelor. Before you continue the name calling and the fist shaking and the signing of an actual PETITION to pit Luke Pell against Nick for the season premiere, let’s pause and acknowledge the quirky, funny, unconventionally scruffy man that many of us came to love in the past month. I admit that I’ve gotten caught up in the nemesis-turned-protagonist agenda that Bachelor in Paradise was so obviously pushing, but I ain’t even mad about it. I adore Nick, and here’s five reasons why:
1. He’s unapologetic.
Nick clearly isn’t afraid to speak his mind and stand up for what he believes in, as shown by his upfront conversations with Amanda and his ability to remain unfazed by Josh’s macho-macho displays of possession and excessive affection (who growls while they kiss people, anyway?). When Josh exhibited the temper he claimed he didn’t have and dramatically rounded up the show’s cast to ask who was warning Amanda away from him, everyone shrunk back awkwardly – except Nick, who casually raised his hand and basically gave away that it was him.
2. He’s honest and keeps it real.
Nick: This isn’t love, it’s infatuation.
Ashley I: *sobs and mumbles unintelligibly about her epic romance with Jared*
Nick: You will never be with Jared.
Ashley I: Shh!
3. He’s older and more mature.
Unlike the younger twenty-something contestants that precede him, Nick is 35 and handles situations in a noticeably more adult fashion. Instead of crying or flexing when he doesn’t get his way or *gasp* someone else takes his reality television partner of two weeks on a date, Nick always just shrugs things off. While previous Bachelors and Bachelorettes seem deluded by the false notion that you have to get married by 25 (what else to do when you’re young and bored?), Nick seems to have taken his time with love – until he agreed to four runs with the Bachelor franchise, but we’ll excuse that for now . . .
4. He’s caring and warm-hearted.
Despite eventually losing Amanda to the pizza-loving former tiger Josh, Nick kept his cool and continued to look out for Amanda and her best interests. He treated the twins, Emily and Haley, like younger sisters throughout the show and the resulting friendship was pretty badass.
5. His impressions are on point.
His aloof, composed, I-woke-up-like-this Amanda impersonation was too. Damn. Good. This talent will definitely come in handy when similar bleach blonde Californians pick annoyingly high-pitched cat fights during the journey to win his love.
6. Luke Pell is still single.
I repeat: STILL SINGLE. Believe it or not, when you don’t take The Bachelor seriously (40 year old moms who bully the contestants on their Instagram accounts, I'm looking at you), you’ll realize that love is still possible and, in fact, more likely in the real world. Instead of complaining about the absence of Luke in the coming season, go sweep him off his feet yourself – or at least a Nicholas Sparks-esque cowboy like him.
