Entertainment

Post-'Paradise' Josh & Nick Are Probs Not Friends

by Kayla Hawkins

Now there's no limit to the surprises that you can find from a season of Bachelor in Paradise , but seeing Josh Murray pop up in the trailer for the second episode of Season 3, meaning he will be competing alongside Nick Viall, was pretty shocking. And, since they've now had two seasons to bond, are Nick & Josh friends after Paradise ? If I had to guess, based on what they've been like since the end of filming back in June, it looks like these two are not close — and probably don't have a lot of love for one another.

If you're totally confused about why these two dudes aren't one another's biggest fan, the answer lies in The Bachelorette. Nick and Josh were the two finalists in Andi Dorfman's season, and the opinionated Atlanta lawyer really struggled to decide who she wanted to be with. Over the course of the season, Nick was the quiet Midwestern guy who made her laugh, while Josh was the more typical Bachelorette choice: An athletic Southerner who talked about marriage and kids with no fear of commitment. Long story short, Andi picked Josh, they broke up quickly, and Nick went on to come in second again on Kaitlyn Bristowe's Bachelorette season, making him the always-a-bridesmaid of Bachelor Nation.

After all that, both Nick and Josh have had their hearts broken and some of their more unflattering qualities exploited on television, so they should be cool, right? Well, for a while, it seemed as though they were good. Nick told US Weekly in an interview that it was "good to finally hang out again" when he saw Josh at a music festival in September 2015. "It was nice to hang out without discussing the past. Didn't talk about Andi or the show at all. Just enjoyed the night," Nick told the magazine.

However, when the trailer for Bachelor in Paradise Season 3 Episode 2 dropped, it looked like all of that reconciliation was for naught, because Nick and Josh will again be fighting over the affections of one woman: Amanda Stanton. The season is over, and Amanda has already made her choice between the two men — or decided to push them both aside. But since filming ended, you won't see Josh and Nick hanging out, even though a lot of their cast members meet up regularly. Nick was even joking with some of the ladies from Paradise on Twitter after the premiere, but so far has not mentioned Josh. Josh, too, has not mentioned Nick.

And these two don't even follow one another on Twitter, so they're not even keeping up with what one another are talking about online. I think if there's not even a mutual follow between them, you can bet that they aren't texting one another or have been meaning to meet up. While they haven't been disparaging one another nonstop and both were willing to appear in another TV season together, I think it's pretty safe to say that there's no lost love between Nick Viall and Josh Murray... unless they've decided to keep their bromance under wraps in order to give their fight for Amanda's heart a little more weight. But, more likely? Nick Viall and Josh Murray will just never mix.