Nick Viall Thinks Rachel Recchia is 'Prioritizing All the Wrong Things': "This is Not a Popularity Contest'

Nick Viall wants The Bachelorette (well, one of them, anyway) to remember that the show is about the journey to love — not necessarily about who comes out on top.

On Tuesday's episode of the PEOPLE Every Day podcast, the Bachelor series veteran, 41, said he thinks Bachelorette Rachel Recchia is focusing too much on potential rejections from this season's group of potential suitors, shared between herself and co-Bachelorette Gabby Windey.

"I honestly think Rachel, I mean, she seems great, but I think she's prioritizing all the wrong things right now," Viall told PEOPLE Every Day host Janine Rubenstein.

Viall, who was featured as a contestant on seasons 10 and 11 of The Bachelorette, season 3 of Bachelor in Paradise, and starred in season 21 of The Bachelor, said that Recchia's focus on Logan admitting he was more interested in Windey in this week's episode shows the series' current run is one of the "more realistic seasons as it relates to, like, modern dating."

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"You think about: You go on dating apps and you're, you're swiping right [to indicate interest]. And every time you swipe right and you don't get an immediate match, there's this sense of rejection," Viall said. "And oftentimes we will focus on the rejection rather than the connections that we're making. And it seems like that's what Rachel is focused on."

Viall pointed out that it seems Recchia has developed a connection with Tino, to whom she did give a rose by the end of the episode because he "continues to be extremely vulnerable with me and is able to open up with me even when it's really hard."

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Viall also told Janine Rubenstein that he thinks Rachel would benefit from viewing rejections as "clarity, rather than disappointment," given how the season has turned out so far.

"At the end of the day, this is not a popularity contest," Viall said. "This is not about finding 10 guys that you're into or five guys you're into. It's still about finding one person."

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"I think we have to remember that, like, this show is not about to see who can be the most popular, who can get the most 'swipe rights' on a dating app," he added. "It's about who you can find love with, with just a single person."

Viall also spoke about his upcoming book Don't Text Your Ex Happy Birthday, which he said he started writing during the pandemic at the encouragement of his editor. It was born from Viall's weekly dating advice sessions he holds on his Instagram page on Sundays.

The advice in the title stems from the fact that, if you do reach out to an ex on the birthday, it's actually "never to be nice," Viall said.

"It's usually to remind them that you're still there," Viall continued. "Either if you broke up with them, you just wanna say, Hey, I'm still here. I want you to think about me. It's a goal to try to like get back in and have a conversation. It's almost never really intended for what people say it is, especially shortly after breakup."

"I mean, listen, if you wanna text your ex five years after you broke up, because you've developed some sort of friendship, you know, fine," he added. "But I think shortly after a breakup, it's, uh, usually an excuse to talk to them. And it's not really intended for the genuine happy birthday."

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