Exclusive

Nick Viall on That Shocking Slap in The Bachelor Promo: "It Was Painful!"

Exclusive: Fans were shocked to see one of the contestants slap Nick Viall in The Bachelor's season-long teaser...and he was even more surprised by it

By Tierney Bricker Jan 04, 2017 6:00 PMTags
Watch: Nick Viall Talks First Impressions & Frontrunners

Four seasons in and Nick Viall is still experiencing firsts in the Bachelor franchise.

While not too much drama went down in The Bachelor's season premiere on Monday night, the promo for the rest of the season featured a lot of OMG moments. But the moment that really shocked us? One contestant slapping Nick across the face. (Shall we call it the Slap Heard 'Round the Mansion?)

And when E! News' Carissa Culiner sat down with Nick after the premiere, he revealed viewers will actually see the shocking slap happen in episode two, airing on Jan. 9.

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The Bachelor Season 21: Meet Nick Viall's 30 Women!

"You'll have to watch next week actually," Nick said, before adding, "It hurt. It was unexpected and painful...and you should watch next week to see why!"

While Nick didn't want to offer up all the backstory on the slap, he was more than willing to gush about Rachel, the contestant who landed the coveted First Impression Rose on night one, saying, she was "leaps and bounds the standout" from the moment she stepped out of the limo.

Describing the attorney from Dallas as "beautiful" and "intelligent," Nick said it really was his conversation with Rachel that made his decision to give her the rose so easy.

ABC

"I was so stressed out that night in wanting to make every woman comfortable, I was pretty nervous about that. I feel like I'm a pretty good conversationalist, but at the same time it's hard to kind of come up with new material and try to have authentic conversations," he explained. "In defense to [the women], they're so nervous that I'm usually the one asking the questions and talking, and with Rachel, she was so calm and so natural, very easy to talk to. I could've talked to her for hours that night. She made me feel comfortable and was a calming influence on me."

But she wasn't the only "special" woman to catch Nick's eye that night. Press play on the video above to find out who could be the other frontrunner. And make sure to watch E! News tonight at 7 and 11 p.m. for more with our sitdown with the Bachelor.

The Bachelor airs Mondays at 8 p.m. on ABC.