Nick Viall and Vanessa Grimaldi left The Bachelor's 21st season in love, engaged and ready to start a future together.
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During the finale Monday night on ABC, Nick proved the fourth time is the charm and got down on one knee to ask Vanessa's hand in marriage. The 29-year-old special education teacher from Montreal, Quebec, Canada couldn't have been more thrilled to accept Nick's proposal in Rovaniemi, Finland.
But with Nick's final decision came heartbreak for the runner-up, Raven Gates, a 25-year-old clothing boutique owner from Arkansas. Nick, 36, could definitely relate to Raven's situation since he had finished as the runner-up twice before on both Andi Dorfman and Kaitlyn Bristowe's seasons of The Bachelorette.
During a Tuesday conference call with reporters, the happily-engaged couple, Nick and Vanessa, talked about going public with their romance and what's to come for them. Below is a portion of what they had to say.
How long would you like to be engaged before you get married?
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Nick Viall: I mean, I don't think that we have a set date. I think it's more about our relationship and how it progresses. I think we mentioned this last night, but we're just kind of being very realistic about our relationship. And the things that we are most looking forward to are the things we have yet to have the opportunity to do yet.
Some of those are simple things like how we can walk together in public now and go to the grocery store -- some of those things. We're very excited about our engagement but also realistic in that we're not a couple who got to know each other for a year or a year-and-a-half before we got engaged. So we're going to walk before we run.
Would you two ever consider starring on another reality show like Ben Higgins and Lauren Bushnell's spinoff Ben & Lauren: Happily Ever After?.
Vanessa Grimaldi: I mean, we haven't really thought about that much. I think right now, we are just focusing on working on our relationship and building a foundation together, so we are happy with what we have now.
Nick Viall: I mean, I would be surprised [if we did it].
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Vanessa Grimaldi: Never say never.
Vanessa, you said you are moving to America, and Nick, you are going to be in Los Angeles filming Dancing with the Stars. So is Los Angeles where you see yourselves settling down? And Vanessa, how much longer will the immigration process take?
Vanessa Grimaldi: I'm not sure what I'm allowed to say with the whole immigration process, but right now I am in L.A. and here to cheer on Nick with Dancing with the Stars.
Nick Viall: We're certainly working on that aspect. And as far as Dancing with the Stars, yeah, L.A. for the foreseeable future will be where we call home.
Is there any part of you that wishes you didn't get engaged at the end of The Bachelor and took some time for yourselves as a couple before taking that big step?
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Vanessa Grimaldi: Well, that's why the last date I had with Nick before the proposal, my intentions were to ask those questions and figure those things out with him before the proposal. I knew at the end of this, I wanted to end up with Nick, but at that point, I was just trying to figure out whether I wanted to end up as a couple or an engaged couple.
And after having those discussions, I went to bed knowing in my heart that I wanted to end up engaged to him. And I was just hoping that he was going to propose. So I did think of all that before knowing whether he was going to ask.
Nick, have you been back to Montreal, Canada since the hometown date?
Nick Viall: I haven't had the pleasure to go back to Montreal since my hometown date, but we did have one of our, sort of happy-couple sneakaways in Toronto.
We stayed indoors and pretended we weren't in Toronto. (Laughs) We can't wait to get back to Montreal, but obviously my dancing kind of makes it hard right now. But as soon as we have an opportunity to go as a couple, that is something we are excited about doing.
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Nick, why wouldn't you want to move to Canada? And Vanessa, why give up everything in Montreal?
Vanessa Grimaldi: I don't feel like I'm giving up anything. I think "giving up" is a strong statement. It's something that we discussed; it's something that I was open to the idea of doing. It's just waiting for the right moment to do it, and after getting engaged to Nick, I knew that it was the right decision to make.
Nick Viall: Yeah, I mean all facts aside of how great Canada or America is, as a couple, we had a lot of conversations, and as a couple, we decided it made the most sense for us to be in L.A. That might change down the road. So I think every major decision as a couple, we are going to tackle together and weigh the pros and cons and make those decisions that way.
What do you do for a living now, Nick?
Nick Viall: Great question. This [reality TV stuff] also started because of how great Salesforce was to me in terms of they were always encouraging to have me take risks, and they always left the door open to have me come back.
So I was incredibly lucky to have their overwhelming support each time. So obviously I left the company with an invite to always come back, and I always got their encouragement to pursue other things. Since then, being a part of this [The Bachelor] world has opened up other doors and given me a platform.
And I used my business acumen in the past and used my platform to go forward with starting my own business, which is called The Polished Gent. It's something me and a few other partners started four or five months ago, but we have yet to launch it publicly.
It's something we're planning on doing, probably in April, but we haven't set a date yet. We're very excited about it. It's a company that will be doing primarily online business, and that -- other than my relationship with Vanessa -- career-wise, will be my biggest focus going forward.
To read what Nick and Vanessa had to tell Reality TV World, click here. And check back with us soon for more from the happy couple's post-The Bachelor interview.
About The Author: Elizabeth Kwiatkowski