Teddi Wright was the woman to win over Clayton Echard’s heart on night one of The Bachelor premiere, gaining the first impression rose. Teddi seemed like the intelligent, sweet, sincere, girl next door.
Apparently, not everyone got the same vibe…On his podcast, From the Viall Files, Nick Viall teamed up with Cathy Kelley to dish some of what has been going on during the show.
And after week two’s episode, Nick Viall called out Teddi. Not only did he call her out, but he straight out said, “I think she’s manipulative.”
Team Teddi?
Insert shocked gasps here. Not only did I intake a huge gulp of air, but so did Cathy Kelley, his partner on the podcast. She followed her astonishment with an immediate: “I’m Team Teddi.”
Nick followed up with the statement, “I’m not saying I’m NOT team Teddi. I just think she knows she’s smarter than him. It came across as insincere.”
Nick is referring to the scene in episode two where Teddi and Clayton talk during the group date. Teddi made the comment, “I’m getting emotional when I see you talk to other women.”
Nick went on to say that he’s been in this position before, once where he even did receive the first impression rose as well, as Wright did in episode one.
Viall talks about how, at this point in the game, she barely knows him yet and there is no way she could be getting emotional in this sense.
He stated, “She was talking to him like she’s in Week 5 already! It’s not normal what she said in the context in which she said it!” He went on to quote, in his podcast, “She’s in the driver’s seat. I think she was saying things because she knew it would elicit a reaction from Clayton and she knew what she was saying—that’s why she was manipulative.”
Cathy again responds with: “I disagree. I’m still Team Teddi.” She goes on to refute Viall by saying she thinks Teddi is comfortable with him and open to emotion.
She continued to contradict Nick’s statement by expressing that Teddi is “pushing for more communication because she wants him to be more articulate with his words. She just wants verbal affirmation.”
The true meaning of manipulation
Viall and Kelley then went on to discuss what manipulation truly means and the fact that it can have many different contexts to the word.
Viall voiced, “When I say manipulation, I mean she has a self-awareness of what she’s saying to him, knowing it will get a reaction.”
He went on to declare, “I’m not saying she’s a bad person, and I’m not saying she’s completely disingenuous…but in that moment, what I saw, in my humble opinion, was manipulation of Clayton.”
Kelley expressesd her empathy for Teddi by saying back to Viall, “So according to what you’re saying, by that definition, is that anyone who is very self-aware and perceptive to peoples’ emotions are manipulative?”
Viall countered that with, “People who are more intelligent are by definition more capable of being manipulative.”
Acknowlegding his comment, Kelley added, “But usually we use the word manipulation in a lot larger context and indicating something graver in a relationship.”
Nick was in agreeance with Kelley’s comment and finished with this statement: “Look, overall, Teddi is one of my favorites. I’m still rooting for her. I just don’t believe what she said in that moment.”
What’s your take on what Nick proposes? Do you think Teddi is genuine in what she is saying to Clayton, or do you think she is, how Nick put it, “too smart and capable of a woman who knows just what to say when competing for Clayton’s affection?”
The Bachelor airs next (after a week off) on January 24th, at 8/7 central.
I watched that episode and I do not think that Teddi was manipulative at all. She is confidante with herself and she was just telling Clayton how she was feeling and I think that Clayton validated that. I am thinking the one that is manipulative right now on the show is Shanae, and Cassidy. The way they are there playing it like a board game which I understand it is a reality show but it is with real people and real emotions.
A follow up to that I think Greg on Katie’s season was manipulative with his discussion with Katie in her hotel room and he stormed out.