Vanessa Grimaldi "hanging out" with NHL player Brendan Gallagher -- "It's all relatively new," says her rep

Vanessa Grimaldi appears to have a new man in her life!


Vanessa, who split from The Bachelor's Season 21 star Nick Viall in August, is romantically interested in Montreal Canadiens hockey player Brendan Gallagher, Us Weekly reported.

"They've been talking and hanging out together," the 30-year-old former Montreal special education teacher's representative told Us. "They're cute. It's all relatively new."

Brendan, a 25-year-old Canadian who was born in Alberta but grew up in British Columbia, has played for the Montreal Canadiens since 2012 and was drafted by the team in the 2010 NHL Entry Draft.

Vanessa and Nick, 36, got engaged on The Bachelor finale that aired in March 2017, but they decided to call off their engagement and go their separate ways about five months later.


"I fell for him hard, and when you fall in love that hard, your heart breaks even harder," Vanessa told People of the breakup in early September.

"In the end, as much as we loved each other and tried to make it work, we just realized we were different people fighting to keep a relationship when ultimately we just weren't the best fit for each other."

Nick and Vanessa both have very similar stubborn and opinionated personalities. When The Bachelor was airing, fans even saw Nick expressing how their dynamic could either be a match made in heaven or a total disaster.

Shortly after The Bachelor wrapped, however, Vanessa supported Nick during his stint on Season 24 of Dancing with the Stars.

In the months leading up to their split, the pair spent most of their time in Los Angeles, attending red carpet events and such, and Vanessa launched a "No Better You" charity while in the United States to raise funds for special education classrooms.


"When you fall in love with someone with all that you have, it's hard to let go. Every part of you gets shattered," Vanessa confessed to People.

Meanwhile, Nick has been pursuing an acting career, and he told Ashley Iaconetti and Ben Higgins on their Almost Famous podcast in late September that "being single kind of sucks" and he's "nowhere close to dating."






About The Author: Elizabeth Kwiatkowski