This Joke About Nick Being On Becca's 'Bachelorette' Season Will Make You Do A Double Take

Just as he promised earlier in the week, The Bachelor creator Mike Fleiss spent Thursday night documenting Becca Kufrin’s first night as the Bachelorette. Think he was too busy to sneak in a joke about Nick Viall being on Becca’s season? Nope, it would appear as though he is never too busy for that. Not only did Fleiss troll the four-time Bachelor franchise contestant, but he also managed to make make many members of Bachelor Nation do a double take.

Attached to the tweet is a photo of Nick seated on one of the many couches that are sprinkled all over the Bachelor Mansion. He is, as Fleiss noted in the tweet, not wearing a suit jacket. “Can’t believe one of Becca’s guys wore only a vest,” Fleiss wrote. “No jacket. No bueno.”

Understandably, this post created a brief flurry of confusion within Bachelor Nation. Could this mean what it seems to mean? Is that really Nick, or did the show cast a Nick lookalike? If it is in fact Nick, does this mean he has returned for yet another round? Who is that guy in the vest and polkadot socks?

Oh, you better believe it is Nick "Fourth Time Was Almost The Charm" Viall.

What could this possibly mean? Was Nick going to be on The Bachelorette for a third time? Was this going to be to his fifth time on a Bachelor program? Man, that guy must really live for a rose ceremony.

Again, it is Nick. But contrary to what Fleiss’ tweet suggested, the jacket-less man in the snapshot is not actually of one of the contestants from Becca’s season. As some fans pointed out, the picture was snapped over four years ago when Nick made his Bachelor Nation debut on Andi Dorfman's season.

Oh, also? The jacket-less man was not actually jacket-less. Twitter user @BellaHristova posted the rest of the photo so fans could see that a) it was taken during Andi season and b) that Andi was wearing Nick’s suit coat. And yes, Nick did wear his jacket: Later on in the evening, Nick put his coat back on so Andi had somewhere to pin the first impression rose boutonnière. So uh, you can put any and all salacious “Nick showed up to the Bachelor Mansion sans jacket” rumors to bed.

We know that the guy in the pic is Nick. We know that the pic was taken during Andi’s season. And we know that he did in fact have a jacket that evening. But do you know what that full picture cannot prove? That Nick isn’t on Becca’s season. For all we know, he could be a surprise entrant. Heck, he might’ve been the guy who wore a chicken suit last night. Let that theory wash over you like a bucket of water that's been scooped out of a wood-fired hot tub.

…OK, OK, Nick emerging from a chicken suit, introducing himself to Becca, and upending the confidence of each and every contestant probably isn’t going to happen. Back in Aug. 2017, Nick told Us Weekly that he is “definitely done" trying to find love on The Bachelor franchise. He's moved on. He has taken on other projects. He's started a new chapter. He's retired from The Bachelor franchise. He's —

He's a Becca fan. And we all know what can happen when Nick is a fan of a Bachelorette. Of course, this is just speculation and should be taken with a grain of salt big enough to salt the rim of every margarita served at the Bachelor Mansion, but uh... what if Nick does come back?

Whether or not Nick actually returns to the franchise one day, the following will stay true: This wasn't the first time one of Fleiss' tweets teased a possible Nick return. And given how much he seems to enjoy getting reactions out of Bachelor Nation, it probably won't be the last.