The INSIDER Summary:
• Nick Viall is the new "Bachelor."
• He's 36 years old, and the average age of his contestants is 26.
• The average age of the "Bachelor" men is around 31 years old.
• The average age of all the contestants is historically 26.
Nick Viall has officially taken over as the boyishly good looking star on this year's "The Bachelor." But Viall is not as young as he seems.
This former softwear salesman from Wisconsin — and now aspiring model in Los Angeles — is actually approaching 40 years old.
Viall, who has been on "The Bachelorette" and "Bachelor in Paradise" a total of four times, was 36 years old during filming. That's pretty ancient for a show that is known for matchmaking 20-something singles together.
And eagle-eyed fans may have noticed that Viall's contestants are all younger — significantly so. Only three of the 30 women competing for 36-year-old Viall are over 30 years old. The average age of the contestants is 26.
Viall's not the oldest "Bachelor" in history, though. That title belongs to season six's Byron Velvick, who was 40 during filming. The second oldest bachelor was Brad Womack who was 35 during his first season and 38 during his second season. (Yes, Womack had two seasons to find love after he didn't pick anyone the first go around.)
So, old? By Bachelor Nation standards, yes. But oldest? No.
Alice Zhao in 2015 on her blog A Dash of Data figured out that the average age of female contestants on "The Bachelor" was historically 26, exactly the same as in Viall's season. The average age for the bachelor himself was 31, cementing that Viall is a little older than normal.
It's worth pointing out that these numbers may have dipped after 26-year-old Ben Higgin's season, where the average age of the contestants was 25. There were even two 22-year-old twins competing that year.
But even though Viall is a decade older than the average age of his contestants, it's not the biggest age disparity in "Bachelor" history. That title belongs to Womack: Though he became three years older between his two seasons on the ABC show, the average age of his contestants actually dropped from 27 to 26.86, according to Bustle.
