Nick Viall Still Loves Vanessa Grimaldi After Split: 'I'm Not Afraid to Say That'

Nick Viall has officially broken his silence after announcing his split from The Bachelor winner Vanessa Grimaldi last week.

“In times that aren’t great, you have to kind of spend time with your loved ones. I’m lucky enough to have friends outside of L.A. I’m heading back to Chicago this weekend, which I think will be good for me,” the 36-year-old reality star told Us Weekly. “I’m trying to stay positive, being around friends and family. It helps me stay positive. And you know, what helps me is just kind of believing in yourself. It’s obviously easy to get insecure and feel bad about yourself. You get in your head about things when things aren’t working out for you.”

Nick continued, “I still love her very much. I’m not afraid to say that. I like to try new things, get out of my comfort zone. I know I have a lot of work to do in that arena. And it’s fun to try and I always appreciate the opportunity to try new things and that’s been a lot of fun.”

Click inside for the rest of Nick’s statement…

“I’m always trying to stay busy, especially right now with things. My friends, my family and Vanessa and I are still very much each other’s support system. We’re trying to do that and it’s a challenge at times, but we still realize that we’re there for each other,” Nick continued.