‘The Bachelor’ winner Kaity Biggar tells all

Season 27 of The Bachelor concluded Monday night with a happy engagement—and the woman who took home the ring is from Kingston.

On a sunny Wednesday afternoon before the finale aired, Zach’s final pick, Kaity Biggar, sat down with me over coffee at Balzac’s to discuss her upbringing, love for Kingston, and time on the show. Spoiler alert: she loves Tumble Tuesday.

The following interview has been edited for brevity and clarity.

What brings you back to Kingston?

Usually when I’m between travel nursing contracts, I’ll come back and visit my family because my mom’s here. My brother’s in the GTA area, as well as my aunt. But yeah, primarily my mom and my good friends are here, too.

It’s always super exciting coming back. I lived here for 27 years. I left to go to Texas for a travel nursing contract last April. I’ve be in Texas for about a year now, which is crazy. Time is flying by.

I fell in love with Austin. It’s so fun. Moving down to the States, people think Canadians are so nice and I’m like no, Texans are so kind—the kindest people.

What have you been up to since you’ve been here?

Honestly, catching up on a lot of sleep. I’ve been travelling quite a bit, so the jet lag, and also I was on a night shift contract. So yeah, sleeping.

I’ve been to Woodenheads, obviously; I went out with some of my best friends. And then I went to Heist last night—that’s the new one that used to be a bank. So yeah, just hanging out with friends, family, and my dog. He’s a little Yorkie. He’s so cute.

What was it like growing up in Kingston?

I love Kingston. I went to school in St. Lawrence at the Laurentian University collaboration program for the BScN in Nursing. I stayed at home with my mom. I had to float the boat myself, so financially it was the smarter decision.

Kingston is such a great community and the great thing about small cities is you know a lot of people when you start going out to the bars and whatnot—it’s familiar faces. There’s just a sense of community and warmth to Kingston. I find that Kingston has a lot of restaurants too, and I’m a huge foodie, so it fits.

Growing up here is amazing. I hate the winter—that’s also why I love Texas—but Kingston summers are like no other. Going down to the pier, and the patio drinks when you’re in the hub, that’s the best.

How did you end up going on the show?

My aunt in Toronto applied for me Christmas of last year, apparently. I don’t know if she was just sick of me being single and just wanted me to be treated right—good man, here’s a shot at love, sort of thing.

I got the email from the franchise in June, and I was living with one of my best friends in Texas. I was like, “Oh my god, that’s spam. The Bachelor, that’s funny.” And my friend was like, “No Kaity, I think that’s serious. You should think about it and consider it.”

The night before I was flying out to California to start filming, I was crying in my bed. I’m like, “What the heck did I sign up for?” It could go this way, it could go that way, you don’t know how you’re going to be portrayed on television.

Thankfully, the girls were incredible. Lovely, lovely girls. There’s a close-knit group of us, I would say. I’m really close with Ariel—she’s awesome—Jess, Gabi, Mercedes, and Davia. I think those were primarily my girls. We all uplifted each other and supported one another.

Did you watch the show at all before you went on it?

I watched a couple seasons. Funny enough, I didn’t really watch Zach’s season. I thought it was very chaotic to watch with two bachelorettes.

My best friends and I would get together some Mondays and have the wine and the charcuterie board and made it a thing to do, hang out, and catch up because between all our schedules, it was crazy.

When I was living here, I was working three jobs. I was doing clinics, I was working in the emergency room here at Kingston General Hospital, and I was at The Keg, too. Lovely places to work, but I was just so busy.

Were there any big surprises after going through the process yourself?

There were definitely big surprises. I think overall, I was more conscientious of what was happening behind the scenes, like how they get the footage they do and the conversations they do.

With travelling, a lot of people get really excited,like, “Oh, you went to this place, this place, this place,” but we can’t really leave our hotel rooms because we don’t have a phone. So, if we were to leave the hotel room and get lost, that would be a liability for them.

Of what you did get to see, what was your favourite place you went to?

I’m a very tropical kind of girl, so I loved the Bahamas. I love Pina-Colada-in-your-hand, pool, ocean vibes. But, I don’t think I ever would’ve been to Budapest if it wasn’t for the show, and I was taken aback by how beautiful it was. I was able to explore that with the one-on-one date I had with Zach in Budapest. So that was really amazing.

How have you felt about the reception to the season online and on social media?

Going into the show, you know that you’re always going to have good comments and bad comments. And obviously, it’s hard to look and see the negative comments, but I also put a lot of weight on the positive ones. I just like to remain positive.

I’ve got some messages that aren’t the kindest, and sometimes I will reply. Sometimes I will say, “Hey, maybe that wasn’t the kindest thing for you to say, and I think you need to step back and realize the weight of your words.” People need to realize we’re human and we have feelings—like this hurts us.

Since filming wrapped, what have you been up to?

I’ve been in Austin. I’ve been working, because on the show, it’s two months of no work, right? So that took a little bit out of me, and you have to pay for your dresses and everything.

I’ve just been working, hanging out with my friends, going out, having a couple soda pops, if you catch my drift. I went and saw Jess, Kat, and Gabi in Florida. And some of the girls came to Austin—like 13 of them—so that was a lot of fun. I’ve just been busy. Bopping around.

What was the transition like going back home?

It was interesting and weird. You’re used to having a camera in your face 24/7, you wake up, you get mic’d up, and then it’s showtime. It’s definitely an adjustment.

Why was your hometown date in Austin, not Kingston?

So many people ask that. I think it’s because Zach got COVID-19 in London, and I don’t know if they were thinking of hiring crew guys here in Canada, and it was too much. So, they went with where I lived.

And they asked me, “Hey, are you okay if we do it in Austin versus Kingston?” Honestly, it was probably better that way because Kingston is so small, and also it was a cool opportunity for my family. They got flown out there and my mom hadn’t been to Texas yet.

And they ask you what you want to do and I’m thinking, Kingston, in the fall. I was like, “Woodenheads? Can we rent out Woodenheads? I don’t know.”

Ale, Trinity, or Stages?

I don’t think I’ve ever actually stepped into Trinity. I used to work at Stages. I was a bartender there. I also was a bottle service girl there.

You know what I miss? Ale Tumble Tuesdays. Those were the best. For that, I would choose Ale. My friends and I loved going to Stages—we would hit up back bar and basically post up. Stages has a soft spot in my heart, and so does Ale.

What’s your favourite restaurant in Kingston?

Either Woodenheads or Tango Nuevo. I love Tango’s food. But when you’re at Woodenheads, it’s a sense of home there for me. Maybe Woodenheads just for that homey vibe.

I probably should have said The Keg because I worked there for so long. I’m going to get in trouble for not saying The Keg. My manager’s going to come back like, “What the heck, Kaity?”

Did you get any comments about your Canadian accent?

So, the fantasy suites episode—so many people were like, “Oh my god, Kaity’s so Canadian,” because of the way I say ‘sorry.’ It’s so funny because when I moved down to the States, I could say ‘sorry,’ ‘excuse me,’ or ‘pardon,’ and they’d be like, “You’re not from here, are you?”

If I was at a bar and I was like, “Oh excuse me, just trying to get a drink,” they’re like, “You’re not American. There’s no way.”

I say ‘eh’ a lot too. They think it’s the funniest thing in the world when a Canadian says ‘eh’ down there. Like “You’re going out tonight, eh?” and they would be like, “Bahahaha that’s so funny,” and I’m like, “Yeah, sure.”

***

Congratulations to the happy couple! Maybe we’ll see them at Tumble on Tuesday.

Tags

celebrity, reality tv, Television, The Bachelor, the bachelorette

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