A Nick Viall friend has come forward insisting The Bachelorette contestant is competing for Kaitlyn Bristowe with good intentions.

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When Chris Soules' season of The Bachelor was airing earlier this year, Viall asked a show producer for Bristowe's number and began texting her, Us Weekly reported in its June 15 issue.

Because of the way Bristowe carried herself on the ABC reality dating series, Viall "developed a crush," said his pal.

"They started talking in January, before Chris' season ended," a show insider explained to Us. "They weren't texting like, 'Hey, I want to get to know you.' It was a heavy, heavy, heavy flirtation. Kaitlyn found him incredibly charming."

And that doesn't surprise Viall's friend, who admitted the 34-year-old software salesman from Milwaukee, WI, certainly has a way with women.

"Nick is a hopeless romantic. Flowers, candles, rose petals, chocolates. I honestly don't know how he comes up with some of his stuff," said the pal.

But Viall was forced to stop communicating with Bristowe once she left to tape The Bachelorette, especially because their messages were becoming "hot and heavy" and actually "bordered on explicit."

Before meeting Viall, Bristowe noted "she felt they had this unspoken connection," according to the show insider.

So in mid-March, Viall kept his phone at his side, hoping Bristowe might return home and spark things back up between them.

"He was really hoping that [Britt Nilsson] would be the one picked and Kaitlyn would be texting or calling any minute," said the pal. "When that call never came, he thought they may have missed their chance."

Viall apparently "cringed" at the thought of sitting back and watching Bristowe fall in love with another man -- and potentially become engaged.

"He made it very clear he wanted to come back on board," said the show insider.

"He realized he either had to let the infatuation go or get aggressive," added Viall's pal, "and he decided to take a leap of faith."

When Bristowe and Viall finally met in Week 4 of the Bachelorette's journey, the show's star felt "instant chemistry."

"Kaitlyn said her heart skipped a beat when she first saw him," explained the show insider.

Bristowe, a 29-year-old dance instructor, let on that deciding whether to allow Viall to join her group of guys was an extremely difficult decision to make, however, sources agree Bristowe wasn't going to let her connection with Viall slip away -- even if it made the other guys angry.

And some of Bristowe's suitors did struggle with the choice to let Viall in on the action, especially Shawn Booth, Ben Zorn and Chris "Cupcake" Strandburg.

"They're upset and jealous," noted the show insider, adding that the fact it was Viall in particular made the situation worse.

"Nick is not somebody who gets along with everyone," the show insider elaborated. "He's a very polarizing person. The guys hated him."

Although Viall is being criticized for wanting "to remain in the limelight, he has absolutely no agenda other than to be happy. His decision to go was strictly based on his interest in Kaitlyn," the pal told Us.

Viall apparently loved and appreciated how bold and confident Bristowe seems to be.

"When he first described Kaitlyn to me, he spent under 30 seconds describing her appearance, and about 10 beers' worth of time talking about her personality, their connection and how happy he was to have that type of relationship in life," explained the pal.

"She has this huge attraction to him," said the show insider. "She's like a moth to a flame. She was so into this guy. She doesn't regret bringing him back at all."


About The Author: Elizabeth Kwiatkowski

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