Nick Viall is very interested in what went down between Rachel Lindsay and Raven Gates — but for now, he’s staying friends with both of them! That said, he’s definitely willing to reveal how he feels about Gates’ personality on social media.
During the Wednesday, October 30, episode of Lindsay’s “Bachelor Happy Hour” podcast, the season 21 Bachelor joined and opened up to Lindsay about his relationship with Gates, 28, who came in second place on his season.
“When I had you on my podcast and we were talking about Fantasy Suites and I mentioned that Raven might have totally talked s–t about Vanessa [Grimaldi] for, like, a good 30 minutes in the Fantasy Suite, and then Raven chimed in on my Instagram and was like, ‘Oh, my God, I would never talk s–t about someone,'” Viall, 39, explained to Lindsay, 34, and her guest cohost Krystal Nielson. “I was like, ‘Time out. First of all, I thought that was great about you.’ I quite like Raven. This is not about me criticizing Raven because I don’t like her; I think she’s great. I think she’s great in person. I think sometimes the characters she portrays herself to be on the TV show and on Instagram is totally full of s–t and lying and bulls–t, and I think she talks s–t about people all the time, and I think that’s totally fine. I don’t like when people sometimes pretend to be a certain way.”
He then explained that he knew by saying that, fans — or even Gates, herself — may get upset. However, he’s just being himself.
“Again, I think Raven is great. I quite liked her for the person I got to know, and that person was someone who was snarky and intelligent and had a bit of a dark side to her,” he continued. “She could be manipulative and all those things and the whole picture of Raven that was charming. But the Raven sometimes people got to see, I don’t think is Raven and don’t go on my Instagram page and claim to be that person.”
Gates and Lindsay both competed for Viall’s heart on The Bachelor. While the women became close friends during the season, they recently had a sort of falling out.
Earlier this month, the lawyer was asked about what happened during an appearance on Watch What Happens Live With Andy Cohen. While she said she promised she wouldn’t reveal the reasoning behind their feud, it was clearly a big deal.
“It was enough for me to not want to be friends with her anymore,” she told the late-night host. “And I never will be.”
Later, the Bachelorette alum reiterated that he truly does view Gates as a friend. “I like Raven but I do think, sometimes, Raven is not who she pretends to be,” he said. “I like the actual Raven more than the Raven she pretends to be.”
