Nick Viall and Luann de Lesseps are reflecting on their flirtatious interaction when they met in Chicago in 2014.
“I was fresh off my very first season of The Bachelorette and I was at RPM Italian, actually, having dinner with [friends],” Viall, 43, began during the Thursday, March 21, episode of his “The Viall Files” podcast.
“Did I flirt heavily with you? Probably,” de Lesseps, 58, replied, to which Viall responded with a laugh: “Yeah! You gave me a lot of attention.”
Noting he was at the restaurant to tell his friends to get a divorce, the Bachelor alum continued, “You wanted to meet me, I was fresh off the show. You were very kind. You wanted me to take you to Stout bar and I said, ‘Countess … I don’t think you want to go to this bar.'”
Viall continued, “It was a moment for me. I definitely told everyone. It was probably my first [run-in] with a celebrity, honestly. … You made me feel special. It was like, ‘Hey, Luann notices you. She wants to meet you. She knows you’re on the show.’ So, you made me feel like a celebrity.”
Though both Viall and de Lesseps are now household names in the reality television world, de Lesseps secured her spot as one of the most recognizable Bravolebrities in the business when she made her debut on The Real Housewives of New York City in 2008. She appeared on the popular series from seasons 1 through 13 before the franchise was recast for season 14, which premiered on Bravo in 2023.
“I think they’re great,” she told Kelly Ripa and Mark Consuelos of the new cast during an appearance last year on Live With Kelly and Mark. “I think they represent a different New York than we did. We had a long, great run for 14 years.”
Many of the OG cast members then reunited for season 5 of The Real Housewives Ultimate Girls Trip: RHONY Legacy, which premiered in December 2023.
Reality TV fans first met Viall in 2014 when he appeared on Andi Dorfman’s season 9 of The Bachelorette, in which he was the runner-up. He then returned to the franchise the following year during Kaitlyn Bristowe‘s season; however, he once again came in second place. He was cast as the lead in The Bachelor in 2017 and has hosted “The Viall Files” since 2019.
