After “The Women Tell All,” Nicolle tells Glamour how Debbie’s comments were “unnecessary” and why she thinks Peg and Mel have a “bromance.”
I’ll just say it: The Golden Bachelor’s Nicolle made the Kathy and Theresa “zip it” drama from season one look like child’s play compared to what we witnessed on her season with Mel. Whether it was kissing him any chance she could, or saying the ladies from season one of The Golden Bachelor were not so great looking, Nicolle Kate Briscoe earned the title of this season’s villain rather easily.
There was also the whole issue of Lemon-Bar-Gate, but at least that was somewhat cleared up in the “Women Tell All” special, which aired October 29. Still, Nicolle did herself no favors this season. Who could forget her goodbye speech, when she told Mel she was almost certain it wasn’t going to work out with whoever he chose?
But for the most part, Nicolle handled herself respectfully after the ladies—especially Debbie—minced no words during “The Women Tell All.” She said that going forward, she will “do better,” which was exactly what she needed to say given what we saw on the show.
Afterward, the 64-year-old yoga instructor didn’t hold anything back when she sat down with Glamour. From her unfiltered thoughts on Debbie’s soapbox moment to why she doesn’t think Peg is right for Mel, the Florida resident came ready to spill.
Agree with her or not, The Golden Bachelor’s Nicolle certainly got us talking this season. Maybe a future on another reality series isn’t so far off after all…
Glamour: How do you feel after tonight’s show?
Nicolle Kate Briscoe: I’m still processing a little bit, but all in all, I feel good. It allowed all the women to express themselves and tell me how they feel, and that’s valid. We may have experienced things differently, but everyone’s entitled to express themselves in any way that they feel is necessary.
How was that for you, hearing what Debbie had to say?
Debbie and I are very good friends. I said, “Debbie, come on.” I didn’t think that was necessary. Everybody had already said basically what she was saying, and she didn’t need to repeat it. If she needed to say that to me, she could have said that to me separately. That was the only part that I had a problem with. I didn’t have a problem with anybody else. I mean, Amy, to be honest, wasn’t even in the house with me very much. So I don’t really think she had enough information firsthand to say anything. But Terri, I have a lot of respect for. And I like Robin. Robin is fine.
You and Debbie appeared to exchange words in the commercial break. What did you say to her?
I said, “Debbie, I love you, but that was really unnecessary.” She said it was necessary. I said, “Well, it wasn’t necessary like that. There were so many positive things about our friendship. You could have said something nice, and then sandwiched it with something negative and ended with something nice. That is how you are supposed to do it.” She said, “You are right. You are right.” I think she was very emotional tonight, to be honest. I understand that, and I forgive her.
I thought she was very valid with all of her points, and I also commend you for the way you handled it and said, “I will do better and I will try.”
Thank you. I’m not combative at all. There’s some truth in every single thing that they all said. It was just a bit…like four people in a row. I could have used a minute to breathe before I took on the next person’s complaints or criticisms. My friend Carol came to the rescue and said, “Enough, that’s enough.” I really appreciate that. The girls have all been supporting me, actually. It’s just the way that they didn’t show me as a full person. It’s valid that there were complaints. To be honest, I never complained about anybody or said one bad thing. I could have easily, easily said things about a variety of people in the house, but I don’t do that. I don’t do that.
But what about the women of The Golden Bachelor season one, when you said, “I’m sorry, but the last cast, they weren’t so great looking…?” Did you hear from them?
I did. I really just heard from one, and I said, “I apologize, and you are right. That wasn’t kind.” And then, I said something else that was also nice, but I don’t want to give away who it was. I sent an apology to a couple people directly, and we’re good. I’ve had a lot of people say, “I forgive you. We’re good.” And it’s really nice.
What about when you said, “I’m not here to date Mel. I’m here to date America”?
Well, I didn’t say I’m not here to date Mel. I said, “We’re not just dating Mel.”
Did you think, “I hope that didn’t get picked up on camera?”
To be honest, I feel like I wasn’t mic’d then, but they have other mics, so that’s how that happened. We were just in the kitchen. I don’t know anybody who hasn’t sat around with their girlfriends to shoot the [shit] and been really honest about stuff. I just didn’t think it was going to get picked up.
What does that mean then, to “date America”?
I just think that when you’re dating on a national television show and you know that there’s one man and 23 women, everyone who’s viewing is going to get to know you—good, bad, or otherwise. It’s not like there were 23 men and 23 women. Only one person was going to take his heart.
Did you really mean what you said when you said goodbye to him, that “It probably won’t work out with who you choose, so hit me up”?
I said, “If it doesn’t work out, because it probably won’t.” Because let’s be honest…first of all, in the moment, yeah, absolutely [I meant it]. We had a lot of great chemistry, and there were some missteps that were along the way that I think stopped our journey. But I was just being silly. The whole show is silly, and I had fun with it. I was being cheeky; I was having fun. I was doing it my way.
So if it doesn’t work out for Mel with whoever he chooses, would you want a second chance with him?
I’d have to answer that at the time. I don’t know. I think it would depend. But when you think about how many Bachelor seasons there have been, and how many relationships actually worked, I think the numbers are minuscule. So it’s not like what I said is not statistically true. The probability of it not working out is high. It’s not like I said something so blasphemous. It’s statistically a fact.
I’m very close with almost everybody on the show, and they’re very big supporters of me. They all said, “We were all thinking it. We all thought every single one of those things; you just were the only one actually to actually voice it.”
So tell me this: Of the two remaining women—Peg and Cindy—who do you think is the right fit for Mel?
I think Cindy is the right fit for Mel. She’s much more nurturing and more feminine. She’s a woman. He’s a very masculine man, and I think he needs the balance of a very feminine woman. I think that Peg and Mel have a bromance, not a romance.
So what is next for you?
I would love to be a judge on a cooking show. I would love to have that opportunity maybe with the Food Network or something. I’ve always wanted to do that. I met Geoffrey Zakarian once, and I said, “I would like to have a plant-based cooking show because I’m plant-based, and I really believe that that’s a healthy way for people to live.” And he said, “Nobody would want to watch that. Who would want to eat that? That will never happen.” But I have to tell you, in the years since, those kinds of shows are becoming more prominent. People are a little more aware that eating more fruits and vegetables is actually a really healthy way to live.
Speaking of food, are you happy with the way that Lemon-Bar-Gate was resolved tonight?
Yes, I was. I appreciate Roxanne because she said it very fairly. She did 60% or 70%, and I said, “I was the head chef, and I had a lot of beautiful sous chefs.”
I am glad you called out the fact that you were not in the pool with a mud mask on your face, and it was just edited to look that way.
I was absolutely not. I was in the interview room. I could clear many other things up, but I didn’t.
What else?
I can’t say. All I am going to say is that, again, I wish they had shown… I’m a whole person with great qualities too. I’m nurturing. I cooked for everybody in the house. I did a lot of things and made really close friendships, and they just didn’t want to show me as human. The fear of going on a show like this is that you get dehumanized, which is the only way that you can get the villain edit is for them to dehumanize you. I think that’s unfair. We came here with our hearts open, hoping to find love, all of us. We did it without any pay. Many of the women are still in the red from lost wages, from buying our own wardrobes, and I don’t think it’s very nice. It’s not a nice way to be treated.
So how do you cope with feeling that you weren’t being shown as being human?
Well, a couple ways. I know that reality TV is not real. Reality is your actual life. We went and did this for three weeks, and then I came back to actual reality. But the public probably thinks it’s real. I also think I leaned into it [through] self-deprecating humor and spoofing it. Just lean in. There’s a saying, “What you resist persists.” I don’t want it to persist, so I’m not resisting it. I’m just leaning into it, and I’m laughing at it a lot. I’ve laughed so much at myself, at the edits, at everything. I’m just trying to find the humor in it. That’s how I’m handling it.
The Golden Bachelor’s fantasy suite dates air next Wednesday on ABC and the following day on Hulu.
