Taylor's Counseling Days Are Far From Over

Taylor Nolan flew under the radar for much of The Bachelor Season 21's beginning. At 23, Taylor was one of the youngest contestants in the running for a chance to marry Nick Viall, but she often displayed a surprising amount of seriousness about being on the show — which, ironically, may have been what turned Nick off to her in the end. She was eliminated at the end of the Jan. 31 episode. Though her future on the show doesn't quite seem sealed just yet, many are wondering if Taylor is still a mental health counselor after The Bachelor wrapped filming.

One of the biggest sources of drama on this season of The Bachelor was the feud between Taylor and Corinne Olympios. But like most Bach Nation situations and contestants that are super over the top and zany, it couldn't last long. In the ~most dramatic~ two-on-one date ever, Corinne and Taylor faced off in an actual Louisiana swamp in the fight for Nick's heart. And, perhaps shockingly to some, Corinne prevailed.

Corinne managed to convince Nick that Taylor had insulted her intelligence and that she was a mean person, leading Nick to send Taylor on her way. And by "send Taylor on her way," I of course mean "abandon Taylor in the middle of a swamp as he and Corinne jetted away on a boat." So romantic! I'll let Taylor's post-dumped face speak for all of us.

Regardless of Nick's decision, there's one thing we know for sure: Taylor's career as a mental health counselor is extremely important to her. She mentioned it frequently on the show — and also trotted out her qualifications when deciding it was appropriate to psychoanalyze Corinne. And let's be honest, it was more than a little inappropriate and pretentious for Taylor to do that, despite Corinne's grating behavior.

It's unclear whether Taylor has remained in her chosen field after filming wrapped for The Bachelor. Her LinkedIn profile and her social media accounts don't indicate anything about a specific current job. But given how often she spoke about her career and her education, I find it hard to believe that she would just up and abandon it after a taste of that reality TV fame life. Plus, she only graduated from her program a few months ago and, according to her certificate, she's a national certified counselor through at least August 31, 2021.

Taylor also posted a photo of herself in a T-shirt reading "Depression." Her caption explained that it was an Active Minds tee and that the purpose of her post was to spread awareness about mental illness and to support #BellLetsTalk. Obviously, mental health is still something she feels passionately about, whether or not she's currently a practicing mental health counselor.

Alternative: Perhaps she'll quit to become a Louisiana swamp voodoo priestess.

The closing moments of the most recent episode certainly made that seem like a legitimate possibility, when Taylor had her moment with the women in the woods. Given that she's returned to confront Nick and Corinne and to "speak her truth," we'll just need to wait and see how it all pans out in the upcoming episode.