The Internet Suspects That Rachel Bilson and Former 'Bachelor' Nick Viall Are Dating

Well, this is unexpected.

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Update, 10/1: Well, well, well. What do we have here?? It sounds like we have Us Weekly (hero) asking Rachel Bilson about her potential relationship with former Bachelor Nick Viall. And the results are just a plain delight, and very, very telling about what might be going on. 

Apparently, when asked about the relationship, she blushed. Blushed. BLUSHED, PEOPLE. “I don’t want to talk about it,” she replied. Her BFF Jaime King, with whom she was walking the red carpet, added, “That’s private; we’ll keep that private, for now.”

Is that ever suggestive. Breaking it out—if she were prepared for the question, she would just respond with a sweet and firm "No comment!" but she clearly was not. So this is very likely as close as we're going to get to an honest public comment from her at the moment—and clearly she wants to keep their budding relationship private. The blush says it all, people.

Also, that fact that King says "we'll keep that private for now" (my emphasis) means, in my opinion, that they are totally dating. And at some point they may go public, but right now they're getting to know each other. And she's clearly dished about it to her best friend. I am so pumped—keep an eye out, because there could be some interesting updates ahead.

Original post, 9/17:

So I learned a lot of things today. Firstly, I learned that former Bachelor Nick Viall has a podcast, called The Viall Files. Then I learned that Rachel Bilson, our forever Summer, has appeared on said podcast. And then, the biggest and most unexpected discovery of all: Rachel Bilson and Nick Viall might be dating, as E! News reports, since they're leaving lightly flirty comments all over each other's Instagrams. There truly is no telling what will happen in the strange world of the celebrity, is there?

Bilson, reportedly a huge Bachelor fan, appeared on Viall's podcast in July, and both shared photos from the recording session on Instagram with gently flirty captions. Viall posted a photo with the caption, "Will we choose to forgo our individual rooms..." on which Bilson commented, "He slid into her.....dms #sheaccepted." And yes, those are obvious Bachelor references, but stick with me here.

Bilson, meanwhile, posted a photo of herself looking semi-scandalized during the podcast recording, with the caption, "When he tells you he's actually been on the bachelor shows 4 times." Viall was quick to comment with, "And you call yourself a Bach fan." Oh, and apparently this was Bilson's first ever podcast, since she added the hashtag, "#podmycherry."

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A photo posted by on

Since then, as E! News notes, they've been regularly exchanging comments. Viall to Bilson: "Cute dress," "nice foliage," and "nice mountains" (this is not, at least overtly, a Shakira reference—Bilson was literally sitting among some mountains.) Bilson, meanwhile, complimented Viall's "Sweet cuffs," and perhaps most tellingly of all, liked a photo of him glancing to his right, captioned, "Checking her out knowing she's with me."

This could all mean nothing, of course—just some promo for Viall's podcast and a cute friendship that developed from it. Or, alternatively, it could mean everything. And I am choosing everything, because that is entirely more fun.

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Emily Dixon
Morning Editor

Emily Dixon is a British journalist who’s contributed to CNN, Teen Vogue, Time, Glamour, The Guardian, Wonderland, The Big Roundtable, Bust, and more, on everything from mental health to fashion to political activism to feminist zine collectives. She’s also a committed Beyoncé, Kacey Musgraves, and Tracee Ellis Ross fan, an enthusiastic but terrible ballet dancer, and a proud Geordie lass.