Ever been worried that your relationship was moving a bit too fast? The contestants of
"The Bachelor" certainly have. These are just a few of the controversial issues with ABC's
most popular dating show.
Much like driving by a horrific accident or watching a bloody hockey scrum, it's difficult
to not watch "The Bachelor” for what it is: an emotional train wreck. Clayton Echard
had a difficult time handling procedures with his final three contestants after informing
them he was in love with each of them. When Susie Evans temporarily took herself out of
the running after learning that Clayton had sex with other contestants in the fantasy
suites, Clayton devolved into anger, saying,
"If you felt this strongly about this, why wouldn't you have told me early on? [...] After
everything we went through, after all the feelings, the experiences that we've had,
how can you just straight up say, 'I can't move forward?'"
The public backlash against Clayton after this long, drawn-out parting was strong.
"I would ask for a little bit of grace. Not a ton. I took the action I took, so I have
to understand that I will be judged for that."
Viewers can debate whether or not Echard had the right to be angry, but he certainly wasn't
the only contestant to be exposed to the world in a very raw state. Bachelor Arie Luyendyk
Jr. broke up with the contestant he had proposed to, Becca Kufrin. As fans know, Luyendyk changed
his mind and chose Lauren Burnham, with whom he is now married and shares three children.
While this kind of drama is in the show's make-up, what made this particular moment
horrifyingly dramatic was the decision to air the break-up live: the segment took up
nearly 40 minutes of the episode. Former Bachelorette JoJo Fletcher bluntly tweeted,
"STOP. FILMING. HER."
Arguably, Becca had it much worse than Clayton and Susie did.
One of the biggest problems with "The Bachelor" and "The Bachelorette" is the exaggerated
timeline for both shows. In real life, some relationships naturally develop at different
rates, and a budding couple may go on a few dates over the course of several weeks. "The
Bachelor's" filming schedule doesn't allow for such luxuries, and it seems this truncated
timeline isn't the best for contestants.
Add in unrealistic exotic locales used as backdrops for the contestants' dates, and
the show has a kind of fake atmosphere that is impossible to match after the cameras stop
rolling. Relationship coach Jaime Bronstein told Yahoo! Life,
"Due to the nature of the show, contestants need to open up sooner than they usually would
in real life [...] At the beginning of a relationship when couples fall in love and during the honeymoon
phase, their neurotransmitters like serotonin and dopamine put them on a high, which is
not bad. Still, it prevents them from thinking clearly, so they might be swept up in the
moment and think they are falling in love when in reality, they are falling in love
with the idea of being in love versus the actual person."
Not to mention the fact that the star of the show might be falling for multiple people
at once. A honeymoon phase can be romantic, but experiencing romance on national television
could affect the judgment of the contestants and the Bachelor or Bachelorette alike.
Yet another criticism facing "The Bachelor" is the show's strict policy to keep contestants
shielded from real life. The producers isolate contestants by removing all access to the
outside world. No phones. No computers. No social media.
According to The Verge, once prospective contestants are officially cast for a season, they're
not allowed any kind of internet access, including the use of cell phones. Leslie Hughes, one
of the ladies participating in Season 17, told The Daily Beast,
"The only things I was allowed to keep were my journal and my Bible. We have nothing.
We are completely cut off from the world. We have to talk to each other — we have
nothing else to do."
"I don't think anyone deserves to go through what I went through."
Tierra LiCausi, another contestant from Season 17 of "The Bachelor," confirmed that the women
couldn't read magazines, but said they learned a lot about one another's different beliefs
through religious discussions. Other contestants said they were permitted to have books and
occasionally got to watch movies.
Though such isolation could allow verbal conversations to blossom among those stuck together, it
could have significant psychological effects, too. According to Tulane University,
"Social isolation's adverse health consequences range from sleeplessness to reduced immune
function. Loneliness is associated with higher anxiety, depression, and suicide rates. Isolation
and loneliness are also linked to poor cardiovascular health and cognitive function."
"The Bachelor" franchise has a long history of focusing negatively on contestants' emotional
states. In Season 24 of "The Bachelor," the lack of mental health awareness came to a
head when contestants Tammy Ly and Kelsey Weier had an on-camera fight. Ly spoke to
then-Bachelor Peter Weber and said,
"Kelsey was going through a mental breakdown."
Ly also accused her fellow contestant of drinking too much. Weir, who some might call the "villain"
of the season, heard rumors of these complaints from Weber. She confronted her castmates to
find the culprit. This saga continued between Tammy and Kelsey, with the former saying of
the latter,
"She's just an emotional wreck."
Allegations were thrown around that a couple of the women said Weir was, quote, "popping
pills," and the drama overtook any real discussion on mental health.
As Health indicated, the wanton use of words like "crazy" and "unstable" in the episode
only perpetuate an already stigmatized subject. It seems that the show could use more thorough
measures for mental health support during filming. However, things may be on the right
track. Host Jesse Palmer told Variety in 2022,
"On set, we have psychologists always there in the moment talking to the Bachelor and
Bachelorette and contestants to keep everyone as mentally healthy as possible. That's a
massive priority for the show."
According to former contestant Leslie Hughes, the show's producers have been known to ply
contestants with drinks. Hughes told The Daily Beast back in 2013,
"It's how they get you to be more talkative, more sensitive [...] When I came in for the
producers' weekend, I remember it was like 12 noon, and they were like, 'You want some
champagne, wine?' And I was like, 'It's 12 p.m., noon!' And they're like, 'Welcome to
the 'Bachelor' family.'"
While fun is fun, liquor was exposed as a major problem on the show in 2017. On "Bachelor
in Paradise," accusations arose during the filming of Season 4. While these allegations
weren't fully defined to the press, a source close to the scene divulged information to
"Bachelor" reporter Amy Kaufman, who tweeted that two of the show's contestants, Corinne
Olympios and DeMario Jackson, got a bit too drunk. She explained,
"Corinne came up to DeMario at the bar and kissed him. They proceeded to the pool, where
they got naked."
Per People, Warner Bros. Television, who produces "The Bachelor” franchise for ABC, suspended
the season and investigated the claim, but found no wrongdoing. However, the show's producers
did implement a two-drink-an-hour limit going forward, hopefully to prevent anything like
this from ever happening again.
One of the show's most valid criticisms is its old double standard. From women being
portrayed as vapid sex androids to hysterical, insecure co-dependents, "The Bachelor" reeks
of traditional sexual hypocrisy. In an interview with Maria Menounos, her co-host asked former
"Bachelor" host Chris Harrison about the sexualization of men on the show. Referring to the men playing
strip dodgeball, he asked,
"Would we have done that to the women? No... Is that a double standard? Yes."
Although Harrison argued that in some cases double standards may be appropriate, where
it really rears its ugly head, as he hinted, is during the show's infamous Fantasy Suites
week. In 2014, Season 10's Bachelorette Andi Dorfman was slut-shamed for taking both Nick
Viall and Josh Murray to the Fantasy Suite on separate occasions. Writing an opinion
essay for The Hollywood Reporter, she recalled the responses to the episode. She wrote,
"After that aired, I saw clips of national news anchors on TV calling me a s–t. Verbatim.
On live national television, calling me a s–t. You never see them say that about the
Bachelor. Almost every Bachelor has sex with everyone he goes into the fantasy suites with."
The proverbial elephant in the room when it comes to "reality" shows in general, is just
how much is real? Amy Kaufman explored the franchise's editing in her 2018 book, "Bachelor
Nation: Inside the World of America's Favorite Guilty Pleasure." Kaufman learned that editors
would "frankenbite" contestants' words, meaning they'd sometimes splice up what contestants
or stars said to create a certain image of them. There are reportedly no formal, written
scripts for "The Bachelor," but it's clear that the show's producers encourage certain
storylines, going as far as manipulating contestants to fulfill arcs.
Former "The Bachelorette" contestant Chris Bukowski told Kaufman that the show's producers
interrogated him and influenced his confessional interview, saying,
"I was saying lines verbatim from producers because I'd been sitting in a stupid room
for an hour and just wanted to go."
It should surprise no one that "The Bachelor" tinkers with what contestants would genuinely
express. According to a "Bachelor in Paradise" contract obtained by CNNMoney in 2017,
"[A producer has] the right to change, add to, take from, edit, translate, reformat or
reprocess... in any manner Producer may determine in its sole discretion."
Another reasonable charge laid against "The Bachelor" franchise is its longtime lack of
representation. For almost two decades, all of the leads on "The Bachelor" were white
men. It wasn't until 2021, the show's 25th season, that Matt James became the first Black
Bachelor. This step forward was accompanied by a problematic contestant, though. After
Rachael Kirkconnell allegedly liked racist photos online, Matt James told ET,
"You've got to be very careful about what you're doing on social media."
He cautioned onlookers to give Kirkconnell a chance to explain herself, adding,
"Rumors are dark and they're nasty and they can ruin people's lives."
Images of Kirkconnell attending a plantation-themed ball in 2018 soon surfaced. When interviewed
by former Bachelorette Rachel Lindsay for "Extra," Harrison defended Kirkconnell, saying
he was waiting to hear her statement. After backlash, Harrison retracted his statement,
apologized for what he said, and officially stepped down months later.
"I am not a victim here. I made a mistake, and I own that."
Then there's the double-edged sword that is social media. Bachelor Nation openly encourages
fans to interact with contestants and personalities via the well-known hashtag #bachelornation.
This makes sense, but there's much more: With the rise of social media, "The Bachelor" is
being seen as a launching pad to a whole new career. Desiree Hartsock, a participant in
Season 17 of "The Bachelor," told Insider,
"People aren't there for the right reasons, to put it frankly. It's too obvious you can
then become an influencer if that's what you want to do, which is sad."
She added that fame can easily compromise relationships. So just how quickly does it
take to make that transition from contestant to influencer? Less time than most viewers
could probably imagine. According to Refinery29, contestants who survive into week two gain
enough Instagram followers to start making money on Instagram. With so much cash on the
table for even the first few contestants not given a rose, it's no wonder getting on these
shows isn't necessarily just about finding love anymore.
Refinery29 cited figures from a marketing platform, noting that former Bachelorette
Kaitlyn Bristowe had a deal with modeling company Revolve that earned the company over
$452,100 for just eight social media posts in 2019. Per another marketing agency, stars
with big followings are capable of earning thousands of dollars per upload. Sponsored
content is not new, but the overwhelming rise of Bachelor Nation influencers is still a
sight to behold.