ABC/Craig Sjodin Katie Thurston and Thomas Jacobs on The Bachelorette.
Katie Thurston sent Thomas Jacobs packing on “The Bachelorette,” but one franchise star thinks she may have done it for the wrong reasons.
After Jacobs admitted to Thurston that scoring a lead role as “The Bachelor” had crossed his mind when he signed on to her season of the ABC dating show, former “Bachelor” star Nick Viall weighed in.
On an episode of Us Weekly’s “Here for the Right Reasons” podcast, Viall said that “no one” usually talks about the elephant in the room– aka “The Bachelor” lead role—“out of fear of what happens,” but that it is on every suitor’s mind.
“Every guy [has] thought about [being the Bachelor],” Viall revealed.
He explained that “what always happens is first your friends… they’re excited you’re on the show… and then your friends are like, ‘Well, oh, my God, imagine you could even be the next Bachelor. ”
“And I honestly think everyone’s sincere reaction to that [is] ..‘No, that’s never going to happen. That’s crazy,'” Viall added. “And that was my sincere thought too. And I remember when Andi [Dorfman] broke up with me and I’m in the Dominican Republic and I was just a mess, but I had a thought of … ‘I mean, wow, top two, like, I wonder if I have a shot of being The Bachelor?’ Of course, you think about that stuff.”
After Viall was sent home on the finale of Dorman’s “Bachelorette” season in 2014, he famously crashed Kaitlyn Bristowe’s season the following year. He also tried his luck at love on “Bachelor in Paradise,” and then starred as “The Bachelor” in 2016, per IMDb.
As for Jacobs, Viall said he doesn’t think he’s a bad person.
“I’m sure he’s a great guy,” he said. “I hope he’s on Paradise.”
Viall Also Defended Jacobs in a Series of Social Media Posts
ABCThomas Jacobs
While Jacobs admitted that he signed on to the ABC dating show with the thought of becoming “The Bachelor” on his mind, he also claimed he developed romantic feelings for Thurston. On the most recent episode of the ABC dating show, Jacobs even offered to “sign” something to prove he was there for Thurston and nothing else.
But Thurston trusted the other suitors’ warnings, most notably Tre Cooper, who sat down with ‘The Bachelorette” star to inform her that Jacobs “is not here for you.”
“This morning he basically had to be asked several times, ‘Hey man, when you came out here, was it your intention to be the Bachelor?’ And it wasn’t until the fourth time that Hunter asked him this question, that he said, ‘Yes, when I came out here, I wanted to be the Bachelor,’” Cooper said, per Entertainment Weekly. Cooper ended up getting the group date rose, while Jacobs got the heave-ho.
Viall weighed in on the drama on Twitter, writing, “Tre accusing Thomas of admitting to showing up to try to be the bachelor and Thomas admitting to thinking it was a possibility are two very different things… For the record, Tre is lying one who actually lying #bachelorette.”
He also wrote, “I truly never thought I would say this a week ago, but justice for Thomas!! #TheBachelorette.”
Viall Previously Shaded Jacobs After Meeting Him During ‘The Bachelorette’ Filming
ABCThomas Jacobs meets Katie Thurston on The Bachelorette.
Viall’s new appreciation for Jacobs comes just a week after he shaded him for being too “on” when the cameras were on him.
“Thomas is a very charming, good-looking guy. For me, just listening to Thomas, he just kind of sounded like a guy who was very ‘on,'” Viall told Entertainment Tonight after a recent cameo on the ABC reality show. “The things that came out of his mouth sounded more like platitudes, rather than things that he was really thinking and feeling. I got to talk to some of [the men], and it was pretty clear that Thomas hadn’t had a lot of individual one-on-one time with Katie, so it’s kind of like, where is this coming from? I had my eye on him, in terms of a guy who might just be saying things rather than saying what he means.”
At the time, Viall did say that he wasn’t sure if “Thomas is a bad guy or not.”
“He wouldn’t be the first person in that world to say the thing that he thinks he’s supposed to say,” the former “Bachelor’ star added.
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