If you watched Monday's episode of The Bachelorette, then you were probably not at all shocked by the "shocking" arrival of Blake Moynes.

Despite the producers' attempts to wring some suspense out of the big reveal, anyone who's been paying any attention has known for weeks that Blake would be showing up in New Mexico.

And if you're the kind who doesn't like surprises, you may have already an encountered the Bachelorette spoilers involving Moynes.

We won't get into that here for the benefit of our spoiler-averse readers, but we will delve into a potential scandal that's every bit as suspicious as that Thomas dude.

In the past, there have been allegations of Bachelor/Bachelorette contestants communicating prior to the show.

These days, that's not at all uncommon, and Katie and Blake admitted to conversing through social media ahead of his appearance.

But some folks -- former Bachelor Nick Viall among them -- believe that Blake and Katie did a lot more than just DM back and forth.

"I don't know the backstory. It sounds like there was some dialogue between Katie and Blake. I don't think it was to the degree that it was with [Kaitlyn Bristowe] and I, [which was] a pretty intense two months of dialogue," Viall said during a recent interview on the "Here For the Right Reasons" podcast.

Viall appeared on the show earlier this season, and he alleges that Blake was already on the compound at that time.

This would have been several days before Tayshia informed Katie of Blake's arrival.

It's entirely possible that he had to quarantine in the area, or that he just laid low in his room until the production crew was ready for him.

But Nick suspects that something more was going on.

"When I showed up, Blake was on the compound," Nick confirmed. 

"I think Katie had met him. I don't know for sure. She had told me about it and it was filmed. They didn't use it, but it was filmed." 

So if you thought the look of surprise on Katie's face was unconvincing, now you know why.

But why wouldn't producers show the real first interaction between Blake and Katie?

Well, Nick reminds viewers that the team's top priority is creating a compelling television show, complete with satisfying storylines and self-contained episodes.

And it seems that with all the drama surrounding the guys' AA-style share session and the concerns about Thomas Jacobs, there just wasn't enough room for the Blake reveal until this week.

"With the stuff that came out on the [group] date with [Thomas Jacobs' intentions] and obviously Katie's [sexual-assault] story, you want to give that its rightful air and oxygen and space for Katie to be heard," Nick said.

"So [producers] just have to find the right time to introduce Blake to America and to the guys and to have it make sense while also allowing some of these other storylines to play out." 

Okay, so production felt the need to do a second take of Blake and Katie's first encounter.

We get it, although it definitely adds to the main suspicion that's been voiced by some viewers -- namely, that Blake and Katie have already engaged in some sort of romantic relationship.

The pandemic would have made it difficult for the two of them to meet up in person, but we'll never really know what was said in those DMs they exchanged.

Maybe they hatched plans and declared their love for one another -- or maybe it was a simple exchange of pleasantries, like they two of them claim.

Whatever the case, this whole episode is a reminder that what we see on reality television is rarely a reflection of reality.