Former Bachelorette Andi Dorfman Gets Candid About Matt James’s Season of ‘The Bachelor’

Matt James’s season of The Bachelor might be more dramatic than expected (thanks a lot, Victoria), but Andi Dorfman is convinced that ABC chose the right man for the job.

The former Bachelorette, 33, recently sat down for an exclusive interview with PureWow to discuss her all-new running app, Andorfins. Dorfman also chatted about season 16 of The Bachelor and revealed that she knew James before he became the lead.

“I’ve watched a few episodes of Matt’s season,” she told PureWow. “I’ve known him for a couple years now, I met him in New York while training for the marathon, and obviously we share Tyler [Cameron] as a mutual friend, so I grew close to Matt.”

Dorfman explained that she was preparing James for Clare Crawley’s season of The Bachelorette long before he was upgraded to the Bachelor. “I was prepping him for The Bachelorette and then all the sudden he became the Bachelor, so it’s been fun and kind of surreal to watch him,” she said. “He’s doing great.”

When asked about the contestants, Dorfman encouraged the women to follow the same advice she told James. “My advice that I gave Matt, which remains, is to just be yourself,” she explained. “He is a sweet, kind, gentle guy, and he doesn’t need to do anything to gain attention or be a character of any sort. I told him leave that to other people. And so far, I feel like he’s done just that, just been himself, which is what America (and the ladies) will fall in love with.”

The rest is up to the reality TV deities. The Bachelor airs on Mondays at 8 p.m. on ABC.

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