Nick Viall Offers to Be the Bachelor Again If Colton Underwood Quits: 'They Brought Stand-Ins'
Have no fear, Bachelor Nation: Nick Viall is ready to save the day if Colton Underwood quits the show.
Ahead of Monday’s new — and highly anticipated — episode, Nick posted a photo to Instagram alongside the current bachelor and Bachelor in Paradise star Tanner Tolbert.
“Just in case Colton quits .. they brought stand Ins #thebachelor” Nick, 38, captioned the shot of the men smiling together outside, as Colton held a giant bouquet of roses in his hand.
In preparation for his possible stand-in, Nick also had a bouquet of red roses.
Tanner, 31, also joined in and shared a photo of him and Underwood posing near a backyard fence. In the silly shot, Underwood bent down and held Tolbert’s foot in his hand in preparation to throw him over the black bars.
“Fence Jumping 101,” he captioned the shot.
Their posts refer to the speculation that Colton, 27, will quit The Bachelor after the season 23 preview first showed the star threatening to leave the show and fleeing the property by hopping a fence.
A dramatic promo with similar footage that aired after last week’s episode also made fans wonder if Colton will soon call it quits on the reality show.
RELATED: The Bachelor’s Colton Underwood Gives Heather Her First Kiss: ‘It Felt So Natural’
While many were shocked at the possibility of the star of the show walking away, host Chris Harrison revealed to Entertainment Tonight that it actually happens more than viewers think.
“I mean, it happens a lot. It happens more than you think,” he told the outlet. “There’s varying degrees of it, there’s varying degrees of getting fed up in how you express your anger, in how you express your emotions. He happens to be the most athletic SOB we’ve ever had, so he was able to express it like an Olympian [by jumping over a fence], but they all get there.”
“Colton, he was done,” Harrison, 47, added. “He was done with this moment and ready to get away, and he took this fence.”
Nick also echoed those sentiments to the outlet and revealed that “there were certainly moments where I wanted to [quit]. It’s a stressful situation,” he said.
“The producers can select 30 amazing women or 30 amazing men, and they might not be your person. …That’s the stresses of being the lead, the pressures of the expectation. … What if my person’s not in this group? It’s a truly terrifying situation at times,” he continued.
The anticipated fence dilemma comes after two dramatic episodes, in which Colton sent home several women, including Demi and Katie, as well as Onyeka and Nicole. Meanwhile, Sydney also made the decision to leave on her own.
At the end of last week’s episode, Colton grew worried after the third contestant of the show who was being sent home expressed her concern about him picking the wrong person.
“You know who is ready in there and there’s some that aren’t,” Katie told Colton while he was walking her out. “Just be smart about those girls.”
RELATED VIDEO: Colton Underwood’s Ex Thinks ‘The Bachelor’ Star Will Never Lose His Virginity
The comment left Colton feeling on edge with self-doubt.
“That’s the third person who has said that there are people who are still here who aren’t ready,” he said to a producer. “I thought when Sydney said it she was talking about Demi.”
“Am I f—– missing something?”
With seven women left vying for his love, Colton will now head to his hometown of Denver, Colorado with the ladies, where even more drama is sure to unfold.
The Bachelor airs Mondays (8 p.m. ET) on ABC.
