Is Bachelor bitterness brewing? Nick Viall has mixed emotions about his close friends Ashley Iaconetti and Jared Haibon’s engagement.
“I’m just a little jealous,” the former Bachelor, 37, exclusively told Us Weekly at the boohoo.com x Paris Hilton Collection Launch in Hollywood on Wednesday, June 20, as the happy couple stood right behind him. “No, I’m very happy for them. I’m a little envious, for sure.”
Ashley and Jared got engaged on Sunday, June 17, nearly three years after meeting on Bachelor in Paradise season 2, and having an on-again, off-again relationship since then.
“I think it makes sense,” Nick added to Us of the Bachelor Nation fan favorites’ happy news. “I’ve had the pleasure of being friends with both of them and I’m around them a lot, so I think once it kind of happened, it was obvious … I think they really compliement each other well. I think they make each other the better version of themselves. They both understand each other, they can be totally comfortable with each other. I think that’s all you really want when you look for someone else.”
The season 21 bearer of red roses, who split from fiancée Vanessa Grimaldi in August 2017 months after she won his final rose, is single but searching for the perfect woman.
“I can’t wait to fall in love, I’ll tell you that much,” he admitted to Us. “You know, honestly, I think [I’m looking for] someone who just gets me and I get them. Just looking for a best friend.”
During the event, Nick also cleared the air about his relationship status and shot down reports that he is dating actress Rumer Willis.
“Rumer is one of my best friends,” he told Entertainment Tonight, addressing photos that recently surfaced of the duo looking cozy. “I love her to death, but we are just friends.”
With reporting by Taylor Ferber
