The Bachelorette season has ended up pitting Gabby Windey and Rachel Recchia against each other despite ABC and the producers' alleged best efforts, according to Nick Viall.
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The Bachelorette is heading into Episode 5 of Season 19, and many The Bachelorette fans continue to slam producers for making Gabby and Rachel compete against each other for the attention and affection of the same men.
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Season 11 The Bachelorette star Kaitlyn Bristowe is one of many famous critics who has been very vocal on social media about how she "hates" watching the drama and feels Rachel and Gabby deserved their own season, and now Nick is making it known that he's also disappointed in how things have been playing out.
"We were all told, 'They're not gonna be pitted against each other,' but -- and I don't know if it's necessarily happening by design -- I think this format lends [itself] to that happening," the Season 21 The Bachelor star, 41, recently told Us Weekly.
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"The lead... is told that people are gonna come in and want to date them, and they get to decide who they're falling in love with."
Nick continued, "And then when that doesn't happen and someone is switching sides, it can really mess with their psyche. And I think it's obviously becoming a different show."
Nick was referring to how Logan Palmer accepted a rose from Rachel, 26, during the season's fourth Rose Ceremony when he still had lingering feelings for Gabby.
Logan said that by accepting Rachel's rose, he could stay on the show longer and hopefully speak to Gabby, 31, about potentially joining her group of men and competing to win her heart.
And before Logan, three men turned down roses from Rachel at the third Rose Ceremony of the season in order to have a chance with Gabby instead. Similarly, Gabby was rejected by three men, who only had eyes for Rachel, seemingly one after the next during a group date.
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"I hope for Rachel and Gabby that we see them both not let this rejection get in their head and focus on what seems to be some really nice connections that seem to be starting to develop, whether it's Rachel and [Tino Franco] or Gabby and [Jason Alabaster]," Nick told Us.
"I hope that they no longer let it get to them, but rejection can be tough. But unfortunately, I think it's not going the way a lot of fans hoped [it would go] when it relates to the women being pitted against each other."
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Part of the reason Logan drama is continuing on the show is because he had kissed both Rachel and Gabby at the start of the season when trying to determine which woman he liked more.
Although Gabby developed feelings pretty quickly for Logan, she let him go and apparently gave up on their romance upon hearing from Rachel how much the flight instructor liked him.
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"My heart kind of dropped a little bit. I think Logan is exploring both sides, which we asked of the men, but I already felt like I had a really strong connection with him and I was excited to see where things go," Gabby said earlier in the season.
"So it feels weird... It is a weird place for Rachel and I. Everything is just way harder than I expected."
Gabby later said of Rachel, "[She] feels strongly about Logan. I want to give her that space in order to nurture [it]. It's truly not worth stepping on her toes in this scenario. Two Bachelorettes is causing some hurdles... and I don't know how we're going to figure it out."
Nick, who hosts "The Viall Files" podcast, simply admitted he's "not a huge fan" of having dual The Bachelorette stars.
"Listen, I think it's been fun to see something different, because obviously we're talking about a show that's been around for a very long time and part of their success has been staying on format," Nick began.
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"That being said, I think in the first couple of episodes, it seemed like no one knew what was going on -- no one, not the Bachelorettes or the men, and certainly not the audience. And so it felt like we were waiting... for something to happen."
"And then when it did happen," Nick elaborated, "unfortunately, it seemed like the vast majority of drama that we are receiving is coming from both Rachel and Gabby, and to no fault [of their own]. It's like it's been forced upon them."
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Overall, however, Nick wouldn't call this The Bachelorette season "a fail" because he's heard that both Rachel and Gabby found love.
"Maybe things will start turning around... [and] even out. There's just a lot left to watch, and I think it's too early to say how this season will be remembered," Nick said.
"That being said, I think it would be cool to have a season with two Bachelors -- just to even it out, so to speak, right... I think it's only fair or right to see that dynamic with a couple of men and see how they handle that challenge."
While the current The Bachelorette season has sparked backlash, Rachel and Gabby have insisted they wouldn't have wanted to do the season any other way.
"It was so nice to have somebody else, a true friend, go through it with you. Watching the criticism back and seeing it online, it's not that surprising, but it's almost like, 'Oh, you guys are kind of missing the point,'" Gabby told The Hollywood Reporter in a joint interview with Rachel last week.
"We are giving the men a lot of attention and allowing them to make it about a competition. But if you pay attention to Rachel and I's story, we're really not. So it's just the nuance of watching it back."
Rachel pointed out how she and Gabby are never fighting or at odds on the show.
"We never [made] a decision without one or the other, early in the season," Rachel said.
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"And to hear all the criticism of them pitting us against each other is just not how it was at all. Like Gabby said, they really are missing the point of female friendship and us navigating this together and showing our real emotions."
Rachel and Gabby have said they had two separate experiences and journeys when trying to find love on the series.
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