On the weeks leading The Bachelor 2017 finale, Nick Viall first narrowed his choices down to two final women, Vanessa Grimaldi and Raven Gates. Rachel Lindsay was eliminated in Finland (she was among the final three women). The finale show was filmed in Rovaniemi. Rachel is the newest Bachelorette and was surprised on The Final Rose show when she met a few of the bachelors who would be competing for her heart.

Both of the final contenders for Nick’s heart met his family. Raven seemed to be a favorite among Nick’s family. They liked her innocence and felt that she would not knowingly hurt Nick. Nick’s mother, Mary, seemed to think that Raven was a little too eager. Nick’s father felt that Vanessa was Nick’s type, which was a bad thing, because the women that Nick typically was attracted to tended to break his heart.

The couples had one last date.Vanessa and Nick went horseback riding and met Santa Clause, and the Finnish Santa gave them a gift, a heart-shaped souvenir.

ABC/Terhi Tuovinen

After their conversations, Vanessa said that she didn’t want Nick to propose simply because he liked her slightly more than Raven. She also felt that some of her questions weren’t answered completely, since Nick gave her general answers instead of letting her think that he was going to choose her over Raven.

After their date, Raven really thought that Nick was about to propose to her. She felt extremely confident in their relationship, and she really thought that she was going to be Nick’s future bride. They went ice skating together and had a fun time, which solidified their relationship in her eyes.

Nick and Raven ice skating during The Bachelor 2017 Finale Photo by ABC/Terhi Tuovinen

So, Raven was stunned into silence when Nick told her that he had not selected her. He proposed to Vanessa, and she said “Yes,” of course.

Nick Viall proposed to Vanessa Grimaldi during The Bachelor 2017 finale episode, photo by ABC/Terhi Tuovinen

The Bachelor in Finland Finland Travel Destinations

The season finale episodes of The Bachelor were filmed in Rovaniemi and Saariselkä, in Lapland, Finland.Rovaniemi is the official hometown of Santa Claus! Lapland Hotels, the House of Lapland, and representatives from Lapland and Finland as  travel destinations worked together with The Bachelor producers to help the episodes there go as smoothly as possible.

“It was a tremendous pleasure to cooperate with such an internationally recognised brand.” said Hanna-Maaret Heikurainen of the marketing department of Lapland Hotels and Safari. “We feel both privileged and happy to showcase the unique charm of Lapland as well as our offering and expertise within hospitality and outdoor experiences.”

Appearing on the show has given us great visibility, it is a big win not only for us (Lapland Hotels & Lapland Safaris) but for Lapland as a destination.

We expect to see more honeymooners in Lapland in the near future.

What advice would Hannah give to destinations and accommodations that would like a shot at appearing on The Bachelor? “My advice would be to invest in building successful partnerships for a common goal. One of our main partners was House of Lapland,” she said. “But at the end I believe it all goes down to your unique offering and how you’re able to package it.”

Photo courtesy of the Lapland Material Bank

Snow Covered Trees photo by Sulo Norberg

Photo by Lapland Pictures / Arto Komulainen

Photo courtesy of the Lapland Material Bank

Photo of Nick Viall and Vanessa Grimaldi by ABC/Terhi Tuovinen

Week 8 marked the Hometown Visits of The Bachelor. The lucky bachelorettes who entertained Nick Viall during the hometown visits were Raven Gates, Rachel Lindsay, Corinne Olympios, and Vanessa Grimaldi.  With Corinne, Nick went shopping. Corinne even bought Nick an expensive suit from Tomas Maier.

Nick met with Corinne’s family, including her nanny, Racquel. Racquel had worked for Corinne’s family  for 17 years. Nick even ate a marinated olive and said it was the best that he’d ever tasted (although he looked like he was going to choke);

Photo by ABC/Jeff Daly of The Bachelor Hometown Visits

Nick went to Raven’s hometown in Hoxie, Arkansas. They went mudding with Raven driving. They also tried to climb a grain mill but they were unsuccessful with that one. Nick and Raven’s family got along very well. Her dad liked him, and Nick was able to share in the good news that Raven’s father was free from cancer. Nick asked Raven’s father for his blessings, just in case he chose her to marry.

Photo by ABC/Drew Cason

Photo by ABC/Drew Cason of The Bachelor Hometown Visits

Rachel took Nick to church in Dallas, Texas for her hometown visit. Her father was not present during the visit, because of work obligations. Nick tried his best to answer questions related to possibly being in an interracial relationship, but he came across as being a tad clueless. He knew that it would be challenging to date or maintain a happy marriage in America’s society. If he embarks in a relationship with Rachel, he will surely find out that the racial tensions are worse than he ever imagined. Rachel’s older sister is in an interracial relationship and they pretty much said that Nick could be in for a rude awakening.

Photo by ABC/Bill Matlock of The Bachelor Hometown Visits

Photo by  ABC/Bill Matlock

Nick met up with Vanessa in Montreal, Canada and spent time with her class of special needs students. His date with Vanessa was slightly bumpy, because it was evident that they had not discussed some serious topics like where they would live and their future career plans. Nick asked Vanessa’s father for her hand in marriage, but before answering her father asked Nick if he’d asked the other fathers the same thing. The answer was “yes” and that didn’t look good at all. When Vanessa found out that Nick had asked the other fathers about their feelings about marrying their daughters, she didn’t feel so special, and it’s likely that some of her feelings about Nick had changed.

There was no rose ceremony on this episode but Andy Dorfman, one of the Bachelorette’s who turned Nick down was there.

Photo by ABC/Phillippe Bosse

Photo by ABC/Phillippe Bosse

Photo of Corinne and Nick by ABC/Jeff Daly

The 30 Bachelor contestants kept Nick Viall busy in last night’s episode of the show, and as difficult as his first task was, he had to cut 8 of the women. Rachel Lindsay, the 31-year-old lawyer from Dallas, Texas won the first impression rose.

Here are some other highlights from The Bachelor 2017

Corrine Olympios, got the first kiss, after practically pouncing on Nick. She cut into a conversation that he was having with Vanessa Grimaldi and took the kiss, making most of the other women jealous. Alexis Waters had the most creative “dress.” She was dressed like a shark, but thought that she was wearing a dolphin costume, because she loves dolphins. Alexis kept the costume on throughout the show. She even got in the pool while wearing the outfit. To everyone’s surprise, Alexis got a rose.

A large number of the women wore red during The Bachelor premiere, which brought a different meaning to the “woman in red.” Which one?

Photo of Rachel Lindsay by ABC/Rick Rowel

The women who didn’t get a rose from Nick Viall on night one included:

• Angela
• Briana
• Ida
• Jasmine B.
• Lauren
• Michelle
• Olivia
• Susannah
• Vanessa

Get bios, reactions, quotes and more about the 2017 Bachelor Candidates.

Photo of Nick Viall by ABC/Rick Rowel