Nick Got His Start On Andi's 'Bachelorette' Season

Like most Bachelors, Nick Viall should already be familiar to viewers of his upcoming solo season of the show, but since Nick has actually appeared across three different seasons of the franchise, piecing together what exactly happened and when in his Bachelor career can be a bit of a puzzle. But, nothing can help you understand him better than going back to the beginning and asking, What happened to Nick Viall on Andi's season of The Bachelorette? It was then, back in sweet, innocent 2014, that Nick first set foot on millions of TV screens and began the process of becoming one of the franchise's recurring mainstays. At first, Andi's season seemed like it was going to be like any other, and Nick like any other final contender.

Introduced midway through the pack, Nick managed to make a good impression in the premiere episode, earning the first impression rose from Andi, always a good sign for a future Bachelorette winner. He wasn't really in the second episode of the season, but in the third, he managed to win a solo date and get the first rose of the night while on that date. Nick, by being quiet and unsure about the process of falling in love on television, managed to draw Andi's attention. She was thrilled when he started opening up to her more. After they shared a great first kiss, Andi's People magazine blog detailed about how "passionate" and "romantic" the moment was for her.

That's when Nick started to pull away from the rest of the pack in Andi's season, distinguishing himself as a frontrunner. Throughout the next couple of episodes, he performed well during dates, got handed a rose early, and began to make appearances in Andi's talking heads as she started to realize she was really falling for him. Of course, other men also hung in there, including Josh, of course, and Chris Soules, who would eventually become the next Bachelor. Nick seemed to be a polarizing figure — fans either loved him or hated him. And, even on the show, many of his fellow contestants were put off by his behavior. He was often criticized by the other men for "stealing" Andi away to get to know her better (aka the point of the show). The other men frequently complained that he took up time they wanted to spend with her. Still, he often won Andi over with his private gestures.

And, regardless of what people were saying at home or on the show, Andi continued to fall for Nick, eventually visiting his family. Then, came the Fantasy Suites. At first, it seemed like Nick and Andi had a wonderful night of romance together, but in her book, Andi claimed the sex was actually really awkward.

Nick was asked about the details in the book during an interview with E! News, in which he explained his view on things:

"It's not my favorite book ... I'm familiar with the book, I'm in it a little bit. I don't know Andi to be the most honest person. What Andi does is she has a tendency of omitting information ... That being said, the things that are written about me, as far as like the events that happened and things that were said, a large part of it did happen, right? So I can't say that it's a fictional book. It might be missing some information, but a lot of the things she wrote about did happen."

And then, the final moment of truth: Nick was in the final two. He got down on one knee, in front of Andi and everything seemed like it was set up for a surprise Nick win. Andi's growing appreciation for him, the way Josh was characterized as studly but boring, and Nick's soft-spoken romanticism all seemed to add up to his victory. But when it came time for Andi to make her choice, she ultimately decided on Josh instead, and Nick, the perennial runner-up, was born.

However, things didn't end there. During After The Final Rose, Nick revealed the fact that he had sex with Andi on camera. The show had left their night's end ambiguous, but, come on, we all know what happens in there — Nick was just brave enough to actually say it.

After that night he would fade into relative obscurity until his time on Kaitlyn Bristowe's season and, later, Bachelor in Paradise. Nick's changed a lot with time (Andi's season took place in 2014), but his experiences on Andi's season show where he started his TV journey. Now, as the Bachelor, he'll have the power to choose between the dozens of women and will be the one justifying his choice. Good thing he has a lot of practice on the show.