The Bachelorette's Chris Harrison: Nick Crosses the Line Between Arrogance and Confidence

Cocky, confident or both? That's the big question surrounding The Bachelorette's Nick.

On Monday's episode, Nick pulled the move that happens just about every season — he "snuck out," showed up at Andi's hotel room and stole some extra time with her.  But while the remaining guys — and most of the viewing audience — believe Nick is arrogant, Andi seems to view his aggressiveness as sexy.

What does host Chris Harrison think about the Wisconsin native? And which guy blew his chances? Plus: Scoop on Bachelor in Paradise!
You're back from filming Bachelor in Paradise! How did it go?
Chris Harrison: It might be the best show we've ever produced. We finally figured out what went wrong with Bachelor Pad and what would work, and that's taking away the game show element. Now there's nothing on the line except finding a relationship and finding love. Instead of just one Bachelor or Bachelorette we have the potential for 6, 7, 8 at a time so there's that much more drama, dates, love triangles. It's so good. And we did a good job of keeping the cast in the dark so they would keep asking me, "What's going to happen?"

Check out the hottest celebrity beach bodies

Cody and Marquel are on it. Will we see a new side to them?
Harrison: Marquel was a fan favorite. People really love him and so do we.We knew he was going to popular, which is why we immediately brought him on. The problem is he has a tough time opening up and he's really reserved despite the outfits and all that. So it was a good test to see if this is the right [environment] for him. I think Cody got the same reaction that Marquel did. He's a sweet, good guy.

On to Brussels! Marcus had the first one-on-one. Did you know he was thinking about leaving the show?
Harrison: I didn't. I knew he was falling in love, and it's funny that's the direction his feelings would take him. But I think it has a lot to do with his past which he opened up about it a little bit. I think it's tough for him to feel love for a woman and not be scared that it won't be reciprocated. But clearly you could see there may as well have been a rose [on the date] because she wants to see more of this guy; she's feeling it.

Nick showed up to Andi's hotel room, and she definitely liked the gesture.   
Harrison: Here's the problem with Nick and I'm not taking sides or apologizing for him, but there is a fine line between arrogance and confidence: confidence is sexy; arrogance is not. He crosses the line, with the guys he's cocky, with Andi he's confident. And she's turned on by that. Every time he's made an aggressive leap it's reciprocated by her saying, "That's a man!" He's playing it really well. She has no problem with it, so why would I? I understand why the guys don't like it, but why would a guy want a group date at this point? If you feel for someone it [should] drive you crazy.

Returning shows: Where we left off

Josh had the next one-on-one. It seems some jealousy issues are surfacing.
Harrison: It's a little bit like Nick in that I don't know why you would want anyone else with your girl at this point. He does get jealous, but he also really opened up. She hadn't seen that from Josh and she's been reluctant about him so when he said, "I'm falling for you," you could really see the surprise and shock in her eyes.

What did you think of the group date?
Harrison: Brian was the epic fail on this date and has had one too many. Andi wants to like him, but she's a strong woman — and I hope this doesn't come out wrong — but she likes to be taken. Like when he made the half-court shot during the WNBA date, that's when you've got it all going and you step over and kiss the girl. Same thing in France when they're cooking, that's when you reach over and put your arm around her. Now, of all the times to take [charge] you're at a monastery? His radar is off a bit. It's just not working.

The guys also started arguing with Nick. I guess it's a good thing they're split apart after this week.
Harrison: From here on out they're separated and you can tell they're at the point where they're done. Even the nice guys are like, "We can be friends, we'll call each other when this is over. Let's see who gets the girl."

Next week is the hometown dates, which is when Eric passed away. How is it being dealt with?
Harrison: It was really tough for us as producers to know what to do and know how to properly handle this. We had to deal when it happened, which is right around when the show started so we made mention of it then. The most difficult time for us was when it actually happened during the process of filming. We realized it would air almost 10 weeks after he passed away, but we couldn't ignore it because it made such a big impact on the rest of the season.

The Bachelorette airs on Mondays at 8/7c on ABC.

How well does Chris Harrison know The Bachelor? TVGuide.com tests his knowledge: