Montreal’s Vanessa Grimaldi from ‘The Bachelor’ talks celebrity and surprises

Season 21 of The Bachelor featured St. Leonard special education teacher Vanessa Grimaldi as one of the 30 contestants.

After it was all said and done, American businessman and bachelor Nick Viall presented Grimaldi with his final rose.

READ MORE: ‘The Bachelor’ Nick Viall chooses his fiancée: Was it Vanessa or Raven?

Grimaldi doesn’t see herself as a celebrity and most importantly, she doesn’t think of herself as the winner of a reality television show.

“I don’t think of myself as a ‘celebrity,’ all I did was date a guy who dated 29 other women,” said Grimaldi.

“I don’t like the word ‘win’ either — we fell in love. I was the chosen one.”

Tweet This Click to share quote on Twitter: "I don't like the word 'win' either — we fell in love. I was the chosen one."

Grimaldi admitted that a friend who is a diehard fan of the show submitted her profile to The Bachelor casting team without her knowing.

“My friend decided to go behind my back and submit a picture of myself,” chuckled Grimaldi. “I get a random call from The Bachelor and at that point, I wondered if they were talking about my bachelor’s degree, ’cause I didn’t watch the show.”

Get daily National news

Get the day's top news, political, economic, and current affairs headlines, delivered to your inbox once a day.

Sign up for daily National newsletter Sign Up

By providing your email address, you have read and agree to Global News' Terms and Conditions and Privacy Policy.

“I later on called my friend and she said, ‘Oh my god, I submitted you. I can’t believe they called you!'”

Tweet This Click to share quote on Twitter: "I later on called my friend and she said, 'Oh my god, I submitted you. I can't believe they called you!'"

The rest was history.

Grimaldi moved from Montreal to Los Angeles to live with Viall after the show.

She no longer teaches special education, however, she is launching the No Better You foundation in the next couple of weeks.

3:52 #NoBetterYou: Empowering special-needs students

WATCH ABOVE: Vanessa Grimaldi and Legal Logik founder Jamie Benizri talk about the #NoBetterYou foundation.

This comes after years of teaching adults with special needs at the Galileo Adult Education Centre.

READ MORE: Parents, school commissioner sounding alarm over lack of funding for students with autism

She plans to continue helping the special education sector by generating funding for their programs.

“I wanted to use this new platform that I have to help special education programs,” said Grimaldi.

“I found as a teacher I was always digging into my own pocket to help fund projects and activities. I want to facilitate that process for special education teachers.”

Tweet This Click to share quote on Twitter: "I found as a teacher I was always digging into my own pocket to help fund projects and activities. I want to facilitate that process for special education teachers."

As for the wedding, there are no dates set at the time of this report. Grimaldi and Viall are simply enjoying life as an engaged couple.