‘The Bachelor’ and ‘The Bachelorette’ (x 2) and ‘Bachelor in Paradise’ alum, Nick Viall is just like us…as in he has no idea why Clayton Echard was chosen to be the next Bachelor
Echard was selected from Michelle Young’s currently airing season. The ex-NFLer finished in Michelle’s top 8 and in the 6 weeks he was on our screens we…well, we didn’t really get a lot of personality or passion from him at all.
Opening up to PEOPLE, Viall shared the same thoughts as most viewers- the fact that The Bachelor producers cherry picked Echard to helm the next season is one heck of a head scratcher.
‘The Bachelor’: Nick Viall Doesn’t Understand Why Clayton Echard was Chosen to be the Next Bachelor
“I’ve been kind of critical of the selection,” he admitted. “It’s nothing against Clayton, he seemed like a nice enough fellow, but just looking at Michelle’s top four, each of the top four has better storylines, more charisma. They have out-shined Clayton in every possible way. So, I don’t really get the choice.”
It’s interesting to note that Clayton, along with Rick Leach who left the same night as Echard, made it the furthest of all the white contestants on season 18 of The Bachelorette.
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Square jaw, tall and throws a pig-skin around for a living- this seems to be the benchmark for ABC to choose it’s cast members…and now host.
It has been announced that another Bachelor alum, Jesse Palmer, a square jawed, tall ex-NFLer will step in as host for Echard’s season. Viall had thoughts on the permanence of this, also.
“I don’t think you bring in someone like Jesse Palmer for one season,” he reasoned. “I think they brought in him to be the long-term host. They haven’t really said that, so maybe they’re leaving the option open and that’s just a total guess on my part, but I would think that that would be their intention.”
However, back to the leading man, Viall doesn’t foresee the best reception from fans.
“I think from what we saw with Clayton on Michelle’s season, which is not much, it’s that my fear for this season is that we’re going to get a lot of platitudes and a lot of very high level ‘nice’.” Viall warned, while fearing the whole season will come off as disingenuous at least, a snooze fest at worst.
“I hope Clayton proves us wrong and I’m very much rooting to watch this season and say to myself, which I have in the past, ‘You know what, I didn’t agree with this selection, but they got it right.’ I’m rooting for that to happen, but as it stands right now, I don’t get it.”
Did you watch Michelle’s season? What did you think of Clayton’s showing and can you see him in the driver’s seat for a whole season?
The Clayton helmed season 26 of The Bachelor begins on Monday, January 3 at 8pm ET on ABC.
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