Not everyone is excited to see Nick Viall‘s fourth shot at televised love. Lauren Himle, who costarred with Viall on Bachelor in Paradise season 3, told Detroit’s The Ticket radio station on Wednesday, August 31, that she isn’t pleased with how the newly crowned season 21 Bachelor treated Jen Saviano.
Viall, 35, appeared to be quite smitten with The Bachelor season 20 castoff Saviano on Paradise after he and Amanda Stanton didn’t work out. Viall and Saviano are still an item on the show heading into the Tuesday, September 6, finale, although clearly they are not still together, with the two-time Bachelorette runner-up having been announced as the new Bachelor on Tuesday, August 30.
“I am not a big fan of [Viall],” said Himle, who competed with Saviano for Ben Higgins‘ affections on season 20. “He dated my great friend Jen on Bachelor in Paradise … but it was my understanding that they were still seeing each other after the show completed.” When asked for how serious Viall and Saviano were after the ABC dating show ended, Himle said they were “still together in a relationship.”
In fact, the kindergarten teacher pointed out to the radio show’s host that Saviano was under the impression until quite recently that things were going well for their relationship.
“So Jen is one of the smartest people I know, and she picks up on the bulls–t — her and I are both pretty good at picking up on guys’ game,” Himle said. “She knew that he was kind of manipulating her towards the end. This just happened. They were solid a week ago. … It’s fresh.”
“I think he is going to have a hard time finding someone better than Jen,” she continued about Viall’s upcoming season.
Viall has yet to comment on how he and Saviano left things at the end of Paradise season 3. In a Glamour interview on Wednesday, August 31, he said about their time together, “I definitely see a lot of potential with Jen, and honestly I’m not quite sure how I’m going to approach the finale. I respect Jen so much that I want to make sure we’re on the same page and respectful of each other’s emotions.”
For her part, right after Viall was revealed to be the Bachelor on August 30, Saviano tweeted, “About that,” and she included a GIF of Amy Schumer chugging from a giant glass of wine.
Us Weekly exclusively revealed on Thursday, September 1, that The Bachelorette season 12 castoff Luke Pell was led to believe he would be the next Bachelor until he got a call from producers on Sunday, August 28, to say he wasn’t getting the gig.
Bachelor in Paradise‘s season 3 finale airs on ABC Tuesday, September 6, at 8 p.m. ET. The Bachelor returns to ABC in early 2017.
