Bachelor Nick Viall: Giving Out a Group Date Rose Can 'Accomplish a Few Things'
"You kind of have to use everything at your disposal," he said.
— -- Nick Viall takes his role as the star of ABC's "The Bachelor" more seriously than one might think.
For example, in last week's episode, Viall raised eyebrows when he gave a rose to Corinne Olympios, the woman widely-regarded to be this season's villain, during a "group date."
However, in an interview with ABC News, the reality TV star suggested that it may be part of a bigger plan.
"When you are the Bachelor, you have very limited resources and time to get to know these women, and I think you try to use everything at your disposal," he said. "As far as moving relationships forward, I think the most important thing is that those relationships are moving forward and [the women] get a rose to continue to allow them to move those relationships forward. So whether it's a group date rose, a one-on-one rose or just a rose at the rose ceremony, I think doesn't make too much of a difference. And so, as a result, I think you can give out a group date rose to accomplish a few things — you can validate someone ... You can also see how other people might react."
In the first two episodes of the show, Olympios aggressively pursued Viall and showed little regard for the other contestants' feelings about that. The "Bachelor" star noted that he understood that her behavior could be "rubbing some of the other women the wrong way" but admitted he was curious to see what they might do if he seemingly validated it.
"I think sometimes you learn more about someone when they're upset about a situation and how they might communicate versus when things are going their way," he said. "So I was curious to see if any of the women were a little put off by the fact that Corinne got the group date rose, how they would how communicate that with me. Would they talk about me behind my back? Would they bring it up to me directly? And if they brought it up to me directly, would they do it in a way that was effective? Could we resolve it and come to a mutual understanding of the situation or would it blow up?"
Ultimately, he added, his goal was to get to know the women as well as he could.
"Seeing how people react to a situation, you can tell a lot," he said. "You're trying to learn about these women and the possibility of how they might be in a relationship outside of that [reality show] world."