Rachel Bilson never actually accepted Nick Viall‘s rose.
The O.C. actress, who sparked romance rumors with Nick in 2019 after they exchanged flirty messages on social media, recently came clean about her relationship with the Bachelor Nation member. Spoiler alert: There wasn’t one.
“No, Nick and I never dated,” Rachel admitted March 21 on Nick’s podcast The Viall Files, with him adding, “We did troll the internet.”
Rachel clarified that they were just “messing around—not together, but I mean with the internet,” while Nick explained that the duo were “epically single and we wanted the attention.” And no, their ruse never “got to a point” where they actually felt inclined to date one another, Rachel said.
Nick explained that the fake relationship idea popped into his head after he “became good friends” with Rachel when she appeared on his podcast in July 2019. Afterward, the two brainstormed the possibility of doing a spin-off podcast.