Rachel Lindsay's father did get to meet with Nick Viall during the bachelorette's hometown visit, The Bachelor viewers just didn't get to see it on Monday night's episode.

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When Nick visited Rachel in her hometown of Dallas, TX, the couple went to church with a primarily black congregation and then the bachelorette explained he'd be meeting her mother Kathy, younger sister Heather, cousin Andrea, older sister Constance, and brother-in-law Alex.

But much to Nick's disappointment, Rachel revealed her father would not be present at the gathering due to "work obligations." However, according to The Bachelor host Chris Harrison, the federal judge's absence was more accurately attributed to work restrictions.

"Rachel's father is a federal judge and so could not appear on our television show," Chris revealed in his Yahoo! TV blog, "but you should know that Nick and Rachel's father did get a chance to talk before he left that night."

Whether Nick received his blessing to potentially propose to Rachel remains unknown, as well as the details of their conversation.

The Bachelor's time with Rachel's family seemed very eye-opening. He gained perspective about interracial relationships from Constance, whose husband Alex is white, as well as Kathy, who always taught her attorney daughter to see people for who they are and not by the color of their skin.

"I think this was a very exciting date for Nick, who got to experience some new things and got to address some really interesting topics with Rachel and her family," Chris explained.

Despite some intense and serious conversation, both Nick and Rachel seemed to agree the family meeting went wonderfully.

"This date was a huge step forward for Rachel, who obviously was falling in love with Nick -- but she's also a realist, and wanted to gut check her feelings against the perspective that her family could provide," Chris wrote.

"Obviously, sometime soon, things go in a different direction for Rachel, but for the time being, this relationship is strong and growing."

In saying "a different direction," Chris is referring to the fact Nick definitely dumps her at some point in the journey ahead because she was recently announced as The Bachelorette's Season 13 star, meaning she's currently single and looking for love.
About The Author: Elizabeth Kwiatkowski
Elizabeth Kwiatkowski is Associate Editor of Reality TV World and has been covering the reality TV genre for more than a decade.