Two of Bachelor Nation’s most controversial players are joining forces against a third. Zach Shallcross recently sat down with former Bachelorette star Kaitlyn Bristowe and shared his reactions to Nick Viall’s show commentary.
Although she was initially critical of Zach’s choice as the Bachelor, Kaitlyn seems to have changed her opinion and invited Zach and his new fiancée Kaity Biggar to join her on her Off the Vine podcast. Us Weekly has the details.
“Thank you for reaching out,” Zach said on the March 30, 2023 episode. “It means a lot you know, when you’re someone very prominent [in the franchise]. There’s so many negative comments.”
“Oh, my God,” Kaitlyn agreed, “Nick was so hard on you.”
Zach claimed the Season 21 Bachelor had told him prior to filming, “‘Hey, man, I got your back, like I’ll support you.'” But soon afterward, the tech exec started seeing critical comments from Nick in the press.
Zach admitted he was hurt. “I’ve never met him. And I [thought], ‘It’s kind of an a-hole move.’ Maybe he didn’t mean to — maybe something he said got taken out of context . . . but from what I could see, it looked a little harsh.” No, I’m pretty sure he meant it, Zach.
“It was harsh,” Kaitlyn concurred. “And I was like, ‘Oh, that’s not very nice.’ Because once you’re in, like, you guys are family now.” But a pretty dysfunctional family, am I right?
As we all know, Bachelor Nation first met Nick when he competed on Seasons 10 and 11 of The Bachelorette. He finished as the runner-up for both Andi Dorfman and Kaitlyn, and reportedly slept with both of them. Next, he rehabilitated his “bad boy” image by being a good listener in Season 3 of Bachelor in Paradise. Nick so successfully won America’s hearts, he got the job as the Season 21 Bachelor.
These days the University of Wisconsin grad recaps all things Bachelor Nation on his Viall Files podcast, where he posted some not-so-flattering comments about Zach during his journey.
“That’s 2 weeks in [a] row now Zach was a total dick to one of the [women],” Nick tweeted on February 27, 2023, when the Bachelor sent Jess Girod home for obsessing over the one-on-one dates. “It’s literally all about the one on one,” Nick continued. “Zach knows that. He made Jess feel like she messed up for expressing a valid concern. #thebachelor.”
The following week, Nick was back at it, tweeting his reactions to Zach’s interactions with the women. “Every time Zach hears any of the woman express an insecurity, instead of showing an ounce of empathy, his face just drowns in disappointment . Zach is now fully in ‘I’m the Bachelor, and it’s your job to prove to me you’re worthy’ mode.”
After surviving his journey on The Bachelor and coming out successfully betrothed to Kaity, Zach expressed his “empathy for all [the] previous leads.” See, Nick? Zach has empathy. He says so.
“There hasn’t been one season where everyone has made the right decision or done everything the right way,” the Cal Polytechnic grad added. “There’s literally no right way. And people are very critical.” What about Sean Lowe, Zach? He didn’t tell multiple women he was in love with them, he didn’t sleep with anyone and he married the woman he chose at the end. Seems like he was pretty close to perfect, don’t you think, Zach?
Admitting that he sees Rachel Recchia in a different light now that he’s been in her shoes, Zach continued, “Sometimes you just make the decision that sounds right at the moment, and then you . . . look back and [realize] ‘I should have done things different.’”
Zach then offered up possibly the best (worst?) example of a Bachelor who totally f ***ed things up, Clayton Echard. Also known as the man whose own father said he’d “screwed the pooch.”
“Clayton, for example, you know, he’s someone that reached out to support me and encouraged me during the negativity,” Zach explained. “He made a mistake in a very tough boiling point moment, and you can’t completely fault someone or make huge character claims about a single decision. So I have the utmost respect for everyone that have been put in those positions, obviously, if there’s good intent.”
“Unless you’re an a-hole,” he added. “I have a couple on my mind.”
Quick to agree, Kaitlyn laughed, “There’s a few of those! . . . [I know a couple of those] too.”
TELL US – DID YOU THINK NICK’S COMMENTS ABOUT ZACH WERE “HARSH” OR TRUTHFUL? WHO DO YOU THINK WAS WORSE AS A BACHELOR: ZACH OR CLAYTON?
[Photo Credit: ABC/Craig Sjodin]
