If the start of the public phase of Nick Viall and Vanessa Grimaldi’s relationship is any indication, they may not be long for this world.
As a couple, that is. They seem to be in fine health.
Obviously, if you saw Nick and Vanessa’s After The Final Rose interview after The Bachelor season finale, you cringed all the way through it.
Juan Pablo and Nikki Ferrell aside, it’s challenging to think of a more awkward public debut than Nick Viall and Vanessa Grimaldi made.
Since then, Nick has gone on to appear on Dancing With the Stars, and despite William Shatner calling for his ouster, he’s kept quiet.
Neither he nor Vanessa have given us much of an indication of the current status of their relationship, but a new interview may be telling.
The newly engaged couple will not be walking down the aisle anytime soon, The Bachelor star said this week when asked by Us Weekly.
“No, no,” Nick said regarding his wedding plans.
“Like Vanessa and I have said, it’s too early for us right now," Nick told the magazine (as The Bachelor spoilers predicted long ago).
"We’re still just doing a lot of new things together.”
“We’re very open about the fact that we have a long way to go, and we’re excited about that journey,” Viall acknowledges.
Is that a bad thing, or harbinger of doom?
Absolutely not. Recent Bachelor duos Ben Higgins and Lauren Bushnell and Kaitlyn Bristowe and Shawn Booth have gone that route.
Ben and Lauren have done so more publicly, but both pairs are together and working on their relationship despite not rushing marriage.
Why the assumption that Nick and Vanessa can’t do the same, and that his lack of interest in wedding plans is somehow a bad sign?
Part of the skepticism comes from the fact that Vanessa and Nick have no home base (Vanessa’s from Montreal and Nick’s from Milwaukee).
He’s clearly bitten by the fame bug and wants to act, model and do whatever else professional reality stars do for a living in L.A. now.
It remains to be seen how thrilled Vanessa is with that.
“She’s living with me [right now]," said Nick this week.
Alluding to her immigration status, he adds, "we’re still working through the visa stuff so she may have to pop back to Montreal at some point."
"While we’re in L.A., we’re living together,” he said.
The pair recently enjoyed a date night in his hometown of Milwaukee at a basketball game, but have yet to visit her family in Canada.
"Vanessa hasn’t been able to do that yet,” Nick said.
“And I haven’t had a chance to go to [see her family in Montreal] outside of the show. So I think we’re just focused on that right now."
This, more than anything, is a red flag to us.
Bachelor romances are up against it in the best of circumstances, and Nick’s motives … well, they don’t seem like the best of circumstances.
Will he do what it takes to be with Vanessa and make her happy, or will his career come first? Or will she accept and support the latter?
Time will tell, Bachelor Nation. Time will tell.
Do you think Nick and Vanessa will actually walk down the aisle at some point? Vote in the poll and hit the comments below …