Setting the record straight! Bachelor Nick Viall exclusively tells Life & Style his relationship with former contestant Hannah Ann Sluss is strictly platonic, despite sparking romance rumors after a flirty comment exchange.
“I’ve gotten to know Hannah Ann. I consider her definitely a friend,” the “Viall Files” podcast host, 39, says. “She seems like a very nice person but again, just absolutely [see her as] a friend. I don’t suspect that would ever change.”
Fans started shipping the two in May after Nick left a comment shading the season 24 babe’s ex Peter Weber on the 24-year-old’s hot bikini photo. The model first got to know Nick while appearing on his podcast, but the Bachelor Nation stud has “never actually met her in person.” Nick adds, “We keep in touch as friends. I’ve asked her for a favor here and there and vice versa.”
The Nick V Talks Trash TV star’s season of The Bachelor will be reairing as part of the Bachelor: The Greatest Seasons Ever series on Monday, August 31. The reality star got engaged to Vanessa Grimaldi during the finale but they split five months later.
The Canadian beauty, 32, announced she is engaged to boyfriend Joshua Wolfe on August 10 after dating for over a year. Raven Gates, who was Nick’s runner-up, got engaged to Adam Gottschalk in June 2019 after meeting on season 4 of Bachelor in Paradise. Rachel Lindsay placed third during season 21 and went on to become the Bachelorette where she met husband Bryan Abasolo, whom she married in August 2019.
While it will be fun to look back at Nick’s journey to find love, that may be the last time you catch him dating within the franchise. “Generally, I try to stay away from Bachelor Nation, but if the right person came along, I guess,” Nick divulges. “I’d be shocked if that ever happened.”
As for Hannah Ann, she’s keeping her options open following her split from fiancé Peter in January 2020. “I actually haven’t been out on a legit date yet because all of this was right before [After the Final Rose]. I was just going out with friends, couldn’t date anyone, obviously, ’cause I still could’ve been engaged,” she said on Nick’s podcast in March. “Now, I’m definitely getting to know some people; there’s one person, in particular, I’m excited to go on a date with after this,” she added in reference to quarantining amid the coronavirus pandemic.
It looks like Nick isn’t looking for love in Bachelor Nation these days!
Reporting by Diana Cooper