Entertainment
7 Times Shawn B. & Nick Viall Were Exact Opposites
Oh, Nick and Shawn... when will you two boys learn to share your girlfriend nicely? Since the day Nick stepped on the scene (three weeks late), Shawn B. has been openly distrustful of the Nick Viall. He's told the other guys not to trust Nick, he's told Kaitlyn during many a late night chat on in Ireland that she shouldn't trust Nick, and now, he's told Nick directly that he doesn't trust or respect him. Though, Nick doesn't seem to have too much love for The Bachelorette 's Shawn, either, he's just a little more casual in the roll-out of his smear campaign. (Although, I'll admit his use of specifics in regards to Shawn's "eskimo brothers" anecdotes was a strong, if gross, play.) Still, their distrust of each other is just one of the ways that Bachelorette contestants Nick and Shawn are incredibly different.
I always find it fascinating to watch the Bachelors and Bachelorettes "fall in love" with two totally different people at one time. It seems like proof that, while people might have certain things they're always drawn to, no one really has a type. Think Nikki and Claire as the Final 2 on Juan Pablo's season: Both blonde and badass, but very, very different. And, yet, Juan Pablo thought they could both be the one. It's a similar case for Shawn and Nick who both grabbed Kaitlyn's affections extremely quickly. They're two handsome, charming guys who are falling in love with the same person but, as they'd gladly tell you themselves, could not be more different in the following ways...
1. Physically
Let's start with the obvious: Shawn has a noggin that could rival Ben Affleck's in sheer volume, and Nick, while not sporting a pea-face or anything, is working with a much more averagely-sized head (Casey Affleck, perhaps). And, that's just the neck up! Just watching these two walk into a room, we're faced with the exaggerated difference between Nick's "aw shucks" shuffle versus Shawn's chest-puffed trainer-swagger. Which leads into...
2. Their Style
Nick has a lock on the slightly-too-tight country club casual look that Andi liked so much in his cowl-neck sweaters and Nantucket red chinos. Then, compare that to Shawn, who is pure city: Tailored blue suits, full-Johnny-Cash black when he's feeling sassy, and nipple-bearing henleys when he needs to feel comfortable while chewing Nick out. They do at least have tightness in common.
3. Confidence
Now, to the personality stuff. When you look at swaggery Shawn and occasionally bumbling Nick, you'd probably assume that Shawn would be the more confident of the two... but no, that guy is kind of a mess. He's the type that starts out with all the confidence in the world and then gets destroyed by the process of watching his girlfriend make out with a bunch of other guys; Nick is the type of guy who made it through all that once and came back for some more.
4. Honesty
Compared to Shawn, who pretty much has a Disney FastPass straight to Kaitlyn's room anytime he has a feeling he wants to express, it certainly seems like Nick keeps it level-100 positive around Kaitlyn at all times. There is no question as to what's going on in Shawn's head (a sharknado of emotions) whereas, after two seasons, it's still hard to tell if Nick is a good guy or a bad guy.
5. Trust
But, honesty is not the same as trust, and what Nick lacks in the first, he makes up in the latter. And vice versa for Shawn, probably to his own detriment. For all of Shawn's honesty about his struggles with the process and contempt for Nick, it's making it seem more and more like he doesn't trust Kaitlyn to make the decisions that are best for her. Whereas I think Nick would literally jump off an Irish moor if Kaitlyn asked him to.
6. Aggression
And, that lack of trust is maybe, uh, getting to Shawn who decided last week that he needed to take the initiative to tell Nick that he thinks he's a jerk. But nothing gets to Nick... he will keep his nose to the ground and tolerate any number of men not liking him (we're floating somewhere around 40 at this point) until he gets a ring on a Bachelorette's finger.
7. The Process
Speaking of, Nick has now done this twice, and will likely make it to the Final 2 twice by the end of this season. He probably wouldn't tell you that he loved sharing a girlfriend with a bunch of other guys, but I think he'd be lying to you. Nick seems to enjoy the thrill of charming someone, even in the face of 20 other charming men. And Shawn... Shawn seems like his impressively-sized head would actually explode if Chris Harrison ever tried to make him go through The Bachelorette process again.
Choose wisely, Kaitlyn — you've got a couple of polar opposites on your hands.
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Images: Craig Sjodin (2), Screengrab/ABC; giphy (7)