Luke Pell isn’t beating around the rose bush: He would’ve been a more emotionally open Bachelor than current lead Nick Viall.
In September, Pell exclusively revealed to Us Weekly that producers on the ABC reality series pulled the plug on him as the season 21 star just hours before he was set to board his L.A.-bound flight to begin filming. Now, while sitting down with Us Weekly Video, the singer-songwriter assesses Viall’s fourth shot at TV-documented love. (Watch the genetically blessed hunk in the video above!)
“There’s a lot of controversial feedback. People are not seeming to be that thrilled about this season,” the West Point alum and war veteran tells Us. “I give him a passing grade. Like how I passed a lot of my exams in college with a curve. If I had a curve, I’d pass. Nick is on the curve.”
If he were to have nabbed the role, Pell, who competed on JoJo Fletcher‘s season of The Bachelorette, insists he’d be more honest about his feelings. (Refresher: Viall has come under fire for giving his ladies the boot after they said “I love you.”)
“I feel like I’ve always been an open book,” the Nashville-based star says. “Through my time in the military, I’ve been through a lot of near-death experiences in my life. So I’ve learned to value life over the last several years and be open and be about relationships. Life is too short to be pretentious and closed off. I’m probably just more comfortable in my own skin and just being open. That’s probably why there was a lot of feedback that people wanted to see how I would be in that position. We’ll never know.”
For more from Pell — would he do Bachelor in Paradise? Is he single? — watch the video above and check out his music at LukePell.com.
The Bachelor airs on ABC Mondays at 8 p.m. ET.
