There has been a great deal of speculation about this season of The Bachelorette since the announcement was made that there would be two leading women instead of one. Along with that speculation came many opinions on whether or not this would be a good idea and how production would even make this work.
As the season has progressed from the premiere until now, there has been a lot of drama and many tears from both Gabby Windey and Rachel Recchia. This has accompanied a great deal of commentary from not only Bachelor Nation fans but also alums.
While Katie Thurston and Kaitlyn Bristowe have both been very vocal about having two Bachelorettes and how this season has gone so far, some of the male alums have also spoken out.
Two of these guys, Ben Higgins and Nick Viall, have also been former leads in the franchise and know what it’s like. They both have their own thoughts and opinions on having two Bachelorettes at once.
While they were open to the idea, Ben and Nick both had their doubts going into the filming and the season that it could work. Like Bachelor Nation viewers, both wondered how production would handle having two leads and not pit the women against each other.
As the season has since been filmed and is now airing, the men still have many of the same thoughts and questions they did when the co-Bachelorette idea was first announced.
Nick Viall says he is not impressed by the franchise this season
The two men were on Celebrity Beef and talked to E! News about this season of The Bachelorette, “I don’t think a lot of people are fans of it.”
Nick went on to say that he feels both women were chosen as the leads because of what they both went through during Clayton Echard’s season. He also claimed that there was no way production could have chosen Gabby over Rachel or vice versa based on what they went through together.
Because the show has been set up the past couple of weeks with labels such as Team Gabby and Team Rachel, alums and fans alike have spoken out about pitting them against each other even if it wasn’t intended to do so.
Nick agreed as he stated, “I get the spirit of the choice, so to speak, but this show is unfortunately set up where it’s just impossible to not have them compete against themselves just by default.”
He also said that while it’s good for television and for the drama aspect, it seems unfair to both Gabby and Rachel and the fun of the journey and process for them.
Nick Viall and Ben Higgins hope for the best for the women
While Nick was pretty vocal about the first half of this season and it not going so well, he did say he was hopeful that the remainder of the season would go better for both women.
Ben piped up, too, and said he agreed with everything Nick had already said and also put a positive spin on it as much as he could as he claimed, “The reason it’s working at all is because of the two leads. I think they’re doing a really good job navigating this.”
He did also say, “I think it’s messy. Up until maybe this week, I was just confused a lot.” Ben added that he felt terrible for Rachel when three of the men she offered roses to rejected her, stating they were there for Gabby and not her.
While Ben said he was also optimistic that both Gabby and Rachel would find their match at the end of their journeys, he also had something to say about the season as a whole.
When asked about the season and having two women leads, Ben declared, “But right now I still just watch it, and I’m like, ‘I don’t know. It’s not hitting me like some seasons were hitting in the past.’”
Hopefully, despite all of the hardships and roadblocks for Gabby and Rachel up to this point, they will both find their happily ever afters by the time their season ends.
The Bachelorette airs on Mondays at 8/7c on ABC.