Vanessa Grimaldi: I don't think Nick Viall and I were "awkward" on 'The Bachelor: After the Final Rose'

Vanessa Grimaldi disagrees with the perception that she and her fiance Nick Viall were "awkward" together on The Bachelor: After the Final Rose this season.


"I didn't see the After the Rose because I could not commit to four hours of television," Ellen DeGeneres joked on her talk show when Viall and his DWTS pro partner Peta Murgatroyd were guests. "I heard that some people thought it was awkward, that y'all were awkward together."

Grimaldi -- who was sitting in the audience with a microphone on -- chimed in, "I didn't think so."

The 29-year-old special education teacher from Montreal, Canada, continued, "I think we both went in it wanting to be honest and open, you know, about couples because sometimes things can get tough. But we're very committed to each other, we love each other, and that's what we're focusing on."

During After the Final Rose, Grimaldi discussed with The Bachelor host Chris Harrison how she and Viall faced challenges after filming the show and getting engaged in Finland.


She admitted to having brutal fights with Viall and it being especially hard to make the relationship work given they live in different countries.

Bachelor Nation criticized the pair for looking unhappy -- and in some cases, downright miserable. Viall rarely broke a smile while Grimaldi seemed to fake one.

Shortly after the special aired on ABC, Viall shared with People, "I hope we came across as in love and passionate tonight. The reality is -- we joke about it, but it's true -- we don't know what it's like to go to the movies together, we don't know what it's like to spend time together in the real world. Our relationship has been based off of stressful situations."

"You can never make people happy," added Grimaldi at the time. "At the end of the day, we are focusing on our relationship. It's easy to focus on the negative, which sometimes I do, and Nick tries to get me out of it. But that's the world that we're living in."

However, Grimaldi supported Viall in the audience when he performed his first routine with Murgatroyd on Monday night's Dancing with the Stars episode. Grimaldi cheered Viall on when he received 24 out of 40 points from the judges on the leaderboard for his cha cha.


Viall certainly has rhythm, but he told DeGeneres on her show that Dancing with the Stars is "a totally different level."

"The first time you learn all these moves. Everything is very complicated, and most positions that Peta asks me to do are painful physically," Viall said with a laugh. "And so sometimes I'm just in my head thinking about what to do next, and it's hard to actually try to dance -- and smile, and not slip. It's very hard, but [Peta] is very patient with me."

"But he's never performed before," Peta pointed out. "Most of the people on this season have actually got performance experience. So it's a tough season but he came out there and really did a good job.

For example, Heather Morris performed on Glee and previously served as a backup dancer for Beyonce on tour, Normani Kordei dances and sings constantly with her group Fifth Harmony, and Simone Biles is America's best female gymnast.






About The Author: Elizabeth Kwiatkowski