Nick "4th Time's the Charm" V. the Bachelor! - Week 1

We never thought it would happen. But believe it. Nick V. is back for a FOURTH time to try to find love. It hasn't worked either of the other three times so hell, why not give it another shot. What did Einstein know anyway?

So a quick note about the blog this season - one of us is expecting a big life change (read: small human child joining the family) so the blog may look a little different this season. That said, we are still going to do our best to bring you content every week! The plan right now is to kick off Power Rankings as usual next week. But instead of the usual Power 5 picks we make before the season, we simplified and have each picked our Final 2. Whoever's picks go the farthest (cumulatively), gets an additional 5 points at the end of the season. That could be huge - the difference between a win and a loss.

Without further adieu, here are Chase and I's Final 2 selections!

1. Vanessa

Vanessa has a lot going for her in my mind. Primarily, she looks just. like. Andi. In case you’ve forgotten, Nick has been on the show THREE times. I wanted to make one pick solely based on similarity of her headshot to Andi. And Vanessa wins that (Whitney was a close second). After clicking on her profile, I see that she's Canadian (EH!) and there’s a strong heritage of Canadian contestants on this show. And most recently, Nick’s second attempt at love was also Canadian. That’s enough for me. I’ll take the Canadian Andi Dorfman look-alike for the win.

2. Elizabeth

Maybe its my background in Marketing that makes me a bit biased, but marketers are inherently good at this television show (and pursuits of love!). I think Elizabeth emerges from the crowd—despite being young—and makes it to the Final 2. And her answer to where she meets guys was great: "I'd prefer to meet through mutual friends or in front of millions of weekly viewers. :)"

1. Danielle M. 

She seems to be the total package. She's got a real job (she's a neonatal nurse), she's got a real good choice as her favorite movie (The Sandlot) and she's got a real tragic backstory that, as sad as it is, is reality TV gold (her fiancee died). Not to mention that she's a stunner. The trouble with her is she's a blonde (Nick seems drawn to brunettes - Andi and Kaitlyn) and she's tall (5'10" and Nick is only 6'2"). These are only surface level things, though, so assuming Nick can look past them, Danielle M. is my preseason frontrunner.

2. Lauren 

Where many of the contestant profiles scream "CRAZY," there's something about Lauren's bio that just softly calls out "normal." I say that despite the fact that she doesn't have a real job (Law School graduate???). On the plus side, she likes mini-golf, being outside and Hocus Pocus. That's a win-win-win. She'll slip under the radar to start and then be a major player in the second half of the season.