Well, she has a point, bro! Bachelor Nation favorites Nick Viall and Olivia Caridi exchanged a playful war of words after Caridi noticed an awkward theme emerging during the Monday, February 13, episode of The Bachelor. (Read our full episode recap here!)
On Viall’s first one-on-one date of the evening, special-education teacher Vanessa Grimaldi professed her love for him — making her the third woman to do so this season. Viall, 36, burst her bubble with his response: “I really, really like you, but it is incredibly important for me, if I’m lucky enough to feel love or say ‘I love you’ in this role, that I only say it to one person.” Oh.
Caridi, 24, who appeared on Ben Higgins’ season 20 of The Bachelor, sarcastically called out Viall in an all-caps tweet for an issue that many viewers have been noticing in recent weeks: “NICK U HAVE HEARD THE WORD LOVE 3 TIMES FROM UR GIRLS N FREAKED OUT EVERY TIME WUT IS GOING ON I THOUGHT THIS WUZ ABOUT LUV.”
NICK U HAVE HEARD THE WORD LOVE 3 TIMES FROM UR GIRLS N FREAKED OUT EVERY TIME WUT IS GOING ON I THOUGHT THIS WUZ ABOUT LUV #TheBachelor
— Olivia Caridi (@OliviaCaridi) February 14, 2017
Viall was quick to defend himself against the former villain, who was notoriously eliminated and left alone on an island during a two-on-one date with Emily Ferguson during Higgins’ season. “Olivia is giving me notes 🤔,” he pondered.
Olivia is giving me notes ? https://t.co/zz5xlq09MA
— Nick Viall (@viallnicholas28) February 14, 2017
But Caridi got the last word in the most perfect way possible: with a GIF of herself saying “Come at me, bro” from her memorable turn on the show. You should know that you can’t out-meme a former Bachelor villain, Viall!
— Olivia Caridi (@OliviaCaridi) February 14, 2017
Jokes aside, Caridi told Us in a Facebook Live video on Tuesday, February 14, that she does take issue with how Viall treated front-runner Grimaldi, 29. “Saying ‘I love you’ to someone is really freaky, let alone [with] cameras around. She’s putting herself out there,” Caridi said. “It just felt like he was almost lecturing her and scolding her and it confused her, and rightfully so. He screwed up there, and I just was not a fan of that. I just thought it was rude.”
Caridi also admitted that Viall’s averse reactions to the ladies’ declaration of love has made watching this season “tough” for her — and that she meant what she said in her tweet. “I’m having a hard time getting behind it,” she told Us. “Because if you’re here for love — and I tweeted this, and he didn’t love it, sorry — but if you’re here for love, you’re hearing ‘I love you,’ and your face is like this [makes a pained face], why are you here?”
While Caridi still maintains that Grimaldi is her pick to win it all this season, that interaction with Viall did cast some doubt. “It’s hard to think that she said ‘I love you’ and he was like, ‘Whoa!’” Caridi said.
Tell Us: Did Caridi actually make a good point about Viall?
The Bachelor airs on ABC Mondays at 8 p.m. ET.
