We may not be getting anything from The Bachelor franchise on the 2026 TV schedule, but that doesn’t mean we won’t see some of our favorite alumni on our screens. Joey Graziadei, who had an “unprecedented” ending to Season 28 of the dating show, will make his acting debut in a holiday rom-com later this year, and with many familiar faces celebrating the big news, I’d have to agree with the reaction from Graziadei’s bride-to-be Kelsey Anderson.

Roku announced Joey Graziadei will star opposite Jamie Chung in The Holiday Spark this Christmas. According to the movie’s logline, the Dancing with the Stars champ plays Dean, a perpetually single firefighter who enlists the help of a children’s book illustrator (Chung) to plan an epic holiday party for his firehouse. You can’t blame Kelsey Anderson for being fired up about the news, as she commented on his Instagram page:

I’d definitely have to agree with this assessment, but possibly for different reasons. Kelsey Anderson is undoubtedly excited to see doors in the entertainment industry opening for Joey Graziadei — not to mention she gets to see her fiancé dressed up like a firefighter.

Bachelor Nation fans will certainly enjoy seeing the former rose-distributor in uniform as well, but this news also feels like an early Christmas gift for a fandom that’s had a pretty rough year.

Kelsey Anderson wasn’t the only Bachelor veteran to weigh in on Joey Graziadei’s upcoming movie. Other comments included:

• Kathy Swarts: Congrats Joey👏
• Hakeem Moulton: I’m sat!
• Tyler Cameron: Going to crush!
• Tanner Courtad: CANT WAIT 🍿
• Kaity Biggar: So cool!!! Congrats Joey 👏!!!
• Ben Higgins: Bet you made it look easy!
• Zach Shallcross: That’s so awesome!! 🔥 congrats!!

Some fans made humorous comments about Kelsey Anderson having to watch her man kiss other women again — as was the case on The Bachelor — but hopefully she won’t feel as negatively about it as Candace Cameron Bure and Danica McKellar’s husbands.

In addition to those responses, the Dancing with the Stars crew came through with well-wishes for the Season 33 winner's role in The Holiday Spark, writing:

• Ilona Maher: Pumped for you!!
• Alfonso Ribeiro: Congrats brother.
• Stephen Nedoroscik: Woahhh congrats!!
• Daniella Karagach: LFG JOOOEYYYYY

Joey Graziadei seemed as pumped as the rest of us about the upcoming movie, saying in a statement:

There’s something funny about the fact that we watched Joey Graziadei fall in love in real life on The Bachelor, and now we’re going to see him act out a love story (albeit a very different one) on The Holiday Spark. Either way, I’m taking this news as an early Christmas present.

Well, it's official, Joey Graziadei and Kelsey Anderson are engaged...again. The pair, who got together during Season 28 of The Bachelor and have been together ever since, just announced that they've decided to tie the knot (even though they also did that at the end of Joey's season in 2024). However, now they've made the choice in their own time and on their own terms. So, naturally, Bachelor Nation (and the Dancing with the Stars fam) are celebrating the happy couple.

Ever since Joey's season ended, he and Kelsey have been Bachelor couple goals, seeing as they're one of the pairs from the show who are still together. Now, they've reaffirmed their commitment to each other, as they noted in a joint Instagram post:

Well, this is the sweetest thing ever. In the post, Graziadei explained that doing this again meant they were taking their first proposal and making it something "fully [their] own."

This comes a little over two years after we watched Kelsey and Joey get engaged on ABC or with a Hulu subscription. Over the years, they've stayed a favorite among Bachelor Nation, and that became abundantly clear after taking one look at the comments section on their post. Here are some of the wonderful messages left by those who have worked in the Bachelor franchise:

• SCREAMING CRYING THROWING UP 🥹💍😭🌹 congrats you two!!!! -Bachelor Nation
• So so cute!! I love the green in that ring! -Ashley Iaconetti
• Awww congrats you guys!! -Serena Pitt
• Wait love this so much! Congrats guys! -Blake Horstmann
• Congrats again!! My favorite rom com 🥹🥹🖤 -Andrew Spencer
• I feel so lucky I got to see this from day 1 🥹🥹 -Lexi Young
• Pure -Zac Clark

However, Bachelor Nation wasn't the only group of reality stars congratulating the couple. Among the comments were also a handful of Dancing with the Stars regulars. This included Graziadei's partner Jenna Johnson, and more. Take a look:

• Sobbingggg!!! Sooo happy for you two 💞 -Jenna Johnson
• Congrats!! -Alan Bersten
• Yayyyyy love your love ❤️ -Julianne Hough
• Crying. Screaming. Love our 4th Maher sister!! -House of Maher
• Congratulations!!!!! -Pasha Pashkov

Remember, Joey won Season 33 of Dancing with the Stars (which you can stream with a Disney+ subscription) with Jenna Johnson. He then went on to host the Dancing with the Stars Podcast, which started during Season 34. So, seeing Jenna, more pros like Alan Bersten and Pasha Pashkov, and co-host Julianne Hough commenting is the sweetest thing. Really, it feels very fitting that his DWTS fam would show some love toward him and Kelsey alongside Bachelor Nation.

All around, this is such a sweet and joyful occasion for the beloved couple. Honestly, my heart is so happy knowing they got to have this lovely private engagement. I have to imagine going through The Bachelor is a fast and unique experience, and getting engaged at the end can feel like a lot. So, the fact that Joey and Kelsey took a few years to be a couple, and then got engaged again on their own time, is very thoughtful and sweet.

Now, when will the wedding bells ring? That's unclear. However, it is clear that these Bachelor stars (still) "cannot wait" to call each other husband and wife.

We finally know how ABC plans to move forward following Taylor Frankie Paul’s Bachelorette season being pulled from the 2026 TV schedule. However, when The Bachelor and Bachelor in Paradise return in 2027, it apparently won’t be business as usual. Bachelor Nation is allegedly making some changes in hopes of avoiding disasters — not just this most recent one involving the Secret Lives of Mormon Wives star, but from other seasons, too — and I’m very interested to see if and how this happens.

Taylor Frankie Paul’s season of The Bachelorette was shelved just days before its scheduled premiere, when video from a 2023 domestic incident was leaked that appeared to show her then-5-year-old daughter being injured when she threw a chair at her then-boyfriend Dakota Mortensen. According to Naughty But Nice gossip columnist Rob Shuter, this was the tipping point that will now see producers rolling out dramatically tougher background checks. Per an insider:

Of course, producers can’t blame holes in their current background check system for what happened with Taylor Frankie Paul. Her 2023 arrest from the incident in the viral video was part of The Secret Lives of Mormon Wives Season 1 premiere, and Paul has spoken about it at length on various podcasts. Should we assume this “reset” will also include not casting leads with criminal backgrounds?

The application process to get on a Bachelor show is said to already be pretty extensive, but the insider says producers are going to be far more aggressive with social media investigations, also looking into past relationships, legal records and online behavior after seeing so many red flags slip through on recent seasons. The source said:

I follow Bachelor Nation news pretty extensively, and I can vouch for fans being quick to discover when contestants had restraining orders taken out against them by exes before appearing on a Bachelor show — including multiple contestants on the most recent seasons of The Bachelorette and The Golden Bachelorette, starring Jenn Tran and Joan Vassos, respectively.

There have also been abuse allegations and contestants with troubling social media histories. So why were fans able to find this but not The Bachelorette’s producers? However it happened, it seems ABC is now taking action after reportedly losing tens of millions of dollars by not airing Taylor Frankie Paul’s already-filmed season, the source said:

I’m honestly not sure if The Bachelor’s producers didn’t know about some of these contestants’ histories or — like in Taylor Frankie Paul’s case — they knew but decided to cast them anyway.

Either way, we in Bachelor Nation have heard promises from the franchise before — notably when the EPs admitted to “racism” within the franchise and pledged to do better at protecting their leads just three months before Jenn Tran’s disastrous Bachelorette finale aired. The insider acknowledged that fans will be looking for actions and not just words:

The Bachelor franchise obviously revolves around drama, but when it comes to putting potentially dangerous contestants into the mix, that is definitely not what fans of the show are looking for. Hopefully when the dating series returns next year, we’ll start to see evidence of these alleged changes.

It’s been five years since The Bachelor parted ways with host Chris Harrison in a nasty turn of events stemming from a racism scandal on Matt James’ season. Since then the dating franchise has continued — even expanded — with Jesse Palmer leading the charge, but for some fans and even former leads like Ben Higgins, there will apparently always be a shred of hope that Harrison will come back.

Ben Higgins was the star of The Bachelor Season 20 back in 2016, which he landed after appearing as a contestant on Kaitlyn Bristowe’s season. That means his friendship with Chris Harrison dates back over a decade, so it’s really no surprise that Higgins had such a positive reaction when US Weekly asked if he’d like to see the OG host return to The Bachelor franchise. Higgins said:

Many Bachelor Nation fans feel the same, after seeing Chris Harrison as the sole host of all Bachelor products from 2002 to 2021. For Ben Higgins, what makes Harrison so special comes down to the way the host interacted with him and the other cast members when he was in the throes of dating multiple women. Higgins continued:

Chris Harrison has since opened up about the physical toll The Bachelor scandal took on him, saying he lost 20 pounds and couldn’t sleep or eat. Time appears to have healed some of those wounds, because as of last year Harrison said it feels “wonderful” to no longer be part of the ABC dating shows, and Ben Higgins admitted that getting him back would be no easy task:

I’m sure that’s true for many Bachelor Nation fans — but definitely not all of them. Not that it matters much anyway, because as the former Bachelor pointed out, Chris Harrison’s got a new gig in the works these days.

Chris Harrison announced in February that casting was underway for a new dating show for people looking for a “traditional marriage,” to air on Fox Nation. The Instagram announcement read:

The series is expected to premiere in 2027 — and with no Bachelor products planned for the 2026 TV schedule since Taylor Frankie Paul’s season of The Bachelorette was pulled, it’s much more likely that we’ll see Chris Harrison going up against his former dating franchise than rejoining it. But Ben Higgins can always hope.

It’s been over a month since ABC decided to pull Taylor Frankie Paul’s season of The Bachelorette from the 2026 TV schedule after a 2023 video of a violent fight with her then-boyfriend Dakota Mortensen went viral in March, and the network has maintained radio silence since then. The lack of an update had me worried this might be the end of The Bachelor franchise, but now Disney’s unscripted TV boss has finally responded to the speculation.

The Bachelorette Season 22 was officially “paused” way back on March 19 — just three days before Taylor Frankie Paul’s premiere was set to air. That’s a long time to leave fans in reality TV purgatory, especially with all of the conjecture that this could be “the beginning of the end” of the franchise. Rob Mills, executive vice president of unscripted and alternative entertainment at Walt Disney Television, firmly rejected that narrative, telling THR:

It sounds like ABC has chosen to hold off on a new season of The Bachelorette altogether and will focus on The Bachelor Season 30, which Rob Mills suggests will air early in 2027, with another season of Bachelor in Paradise also in the cards for next summer.

He went on to say that the different iterations will air “when we have the right people,” including more possible seasons of The Golden Bachelor.

There’s also a chance we’ll still see Taylor Frankie Paul’s season someday, as Rob Mills refused to rule that out, saying:

This news comes as The Secret Lives of Mormon Wives is set to resume production — though without Dakota Mortensen or Taylor Frankie Paul (for now, at least). Filming of Season 5 was paused in March as new allegations of domestic violence came to light between the exes from a reported incident in February. A third incident was also under investigation from 2024.

Last week, the MomTok leader learned she would not face charges in the most recent incident due to a lack of evidence, and Utah’s statute of limitations prevented prosecutors from pursuing legal action for some “misdemeanor offenses” in the 2024 incident.

I’m still wary that The Bachelorette Season 22 will ever see the light of day, but anyone who was worried that the franchise as a whole was dead in the water should find some comfort in Rob Mills’ words — even if it means we’ve got a pretty long wait before any more roses get handed out.

If you want a peek into the events that led to this whole brouhaha, check out The Secret Lives of Mormon Wives with a Hulu subscription.

Several Bachelor Nation alumni have weighed in on the future of ABC’s dating franchise following the decision to pull Taylor Frankie Paul’s season of The Bachelorette from the 2026 TV schedule. A viral video showing some of the events leading up to the reality star’s 2023 arrest has led to questions about why she was cast as a lead in the first place, and a former Bachelor producer offered his opinion — including why this could be “the beginning of the end.”

Adam Mansfield was a producer on The Bachelor and The Bachelorette from 2012 to 2020, and he went on the After Reality with Courtney Robertson podcast to give his thoughts on the recent developments. Mansfield painted a realistic but somewhat cynical picture about the franchise’s future, saying:

It’s true that while Taylor Frankie Paul’s legal issues sparked the latest Bachelor Nation controversy, it’s far from the first over the past few years. Both The Bachelorette and Bachelor in Paradise went on hiatus for a year. Toxic workplace accusations resulted in a complete overhaul of the crew. Jenn Tran’s Bachelorette finale was a disaster, and The Golden Bachelor lead Mel Owens made controversial age comments before his season even premiered.

Adam Mansfield suggested ABC’s big swing with Taylor Franki Paul was possibly an attempt to win back viewers and attract new ones, saying:

Taylor Frankie Paul’s 2023 domestic violence arrest was shown in the premiere episode of The Secret Lives of Mormon Wives (streaming with a Hulu subscription). The leaked video showed portions of the fight that led up to it, including the fact that Paul’s 5-year-old daughter could be heard crying after she reportedly was hit by one of the metal chairs her mom was throwing at then-boyfriend Dakota Mortensen.

Another incident between the two reportedly took place in late February — after she’d filmed The Bachelorette — causing The Secret Lives of Mormon Wives Season 5 to halt production. A third alleged assault has also apparently come to light, this one occurring in 2024. Adam Mansfield said:

The producer, whose work these days is mostly food show-related, thinks the decision to cast Taylor Frankie Paul as The Bachelorette was likely a response to the changing audience. He said past leads like Sean Lowe or Ben Higgins would be boring to today’s viewers, and Paul represents what people want to see. He said:

Former Bachelorette Rachel Lindsay didn’t mince words in saying she thinks The Bachelor franchise is “completely destroyed,” because how would it move past this? Season 1 Bachelorette Trista Sutter also said she “felt like it could be the end.” Only time will tell if they — and Adam Mansfield — are correct.

One of the most highly anticipated seasons of any Bachelor franchise show has turned into a disaster this week, as new domestic violence allegations came to light related to The Bachelorette Season 22 lead, Taylor Frankie Paul, and a video of a known 2023 incident. Now, ABC has made the shocking decision to pull the entire season from the 2026 TV schedule, and another former lead — Grant Ellis — is weighing in on whether or not that was the right call.

Grant Ellis was the star of The Bachelor Season 29 last year, and he told TMZ this is an “unfortunate situation,” but that he stands against domestic violence and thinks the network made the right call in scrapping Taylor Frankie Paul’s season of The Bachelorette. Ellis said:

Grant Ellis said he was worried about the fans, who were excited for the season, but to have gone ahead with The Bachelorette in light of recent events between The Secret Lives of Mormon Wives star and her ex-boyfriend, Dakota Mortensen, wouldn’t have been right. He continued:

As for whether or not ABC should have cast Taylor Frankie Paul as The Bachelorette in the first place, knowing her history with domestic violence — her 2023 arrest is addressed in the first episodes of The Secret Lives of Mormon Wives (available to stream with a Hulu subscription), and her and Dakota’s turbulent relationship is a constant plotline — Grant Ellis does think “errors” were made by ABC. The former Bachelor said:

The network has a lot to overcome to make it up to the fans, Grant Ellis said, but it did make the right call, in his opinion.

On March 16, production of The Secret Lives of Mormon Wives Season 5 was paused due to a domestic assault investigation involving Taylor Frankie Paul and Dakota Mortensen. That led to rumors about the future of her Bachelorette season, which was set to premiere Sunday, March 22.

After the scary video of the 2023 incident was leaked — which appeared to show Paul hitting and kicking Mortensen and throwing chairs at him while her daughter cried in the background — ABC announced its decision to pull the season.

There’s a lot still up in the air, including the future of both The Bachelorette and The Secret Lives of Mormon Wives franchises, as well as who will lead the next season of The Bachelor, as that person often comes from the previous cast of The Bachelorette. For now, though, the safety of all involved needs to come first.

We’re just weeks away from The Bachelorette Season 22 premiere on the 2026 TV schedule, and for the first time in the show’s history, the lead is not a contestant from a previous season of The Bachelor, but rather a celebrity from a whole different reality show. I’m looking forward to watching Taylor Frankie Paul from The Secret Lives of Mormon Wives work her way through two dozen men, and I really love what her casting might mean for the rest of the dating franchise.

Rumors have started to circulate that other Bachelor Nation series might follow The Bachelorette’s lead by recruiting young singles who are already famous from other reality TV shows. For instance, there’s been some buzz that Robert Irwin, the most recent Dancing with the Stars champion, could lead The Bachelor, and a certain Housewife's hat has been thrown in the ring for The Golden Bachelorette. Let’s break down what each celebrity has said and why this would be great for Bachelor Nation.

I’m Expecting Taylor Frankie Paul To Breathe New Life Into The Bachelorette

I have to admit — I didn’t watch The Secret Lives of Mormon Wives before Taylor Frankie Paul was announced as the new Bachelorette. However, hearing the buzz and knowing that I was definitely going to be tuning in, I decided to embark on an intense binge of all three seasons (Season 4 premieres March 12 with a Hulu subscription).

That’s got to be one of the main benefits of stunt casting — Bachelor Nation fans who never watched SLOMW will want to get caught up before The Bachelorette, and people who already love the MomTok leader are going to tune in to see her journey on ABC, regardless of if they’ve been fans of the dating show in the past.

Paul’s established fame — and the fact that we’ve seen her go through so much with ex-boyfriend Dakota Mortensen — is going to bring an energy to The Bachelorette we haven’t seen before. So, will The Bachelor follow suit?

Robert Irwin Responds To Rumors About The Bachelor

Wildlife conservationist Robert Irwin’s love life got the attention of viewers when he was competing on Dancing with the Stars Season 34, and dating rumors started circulating after he and Season 32 winner Xochitl Gomez were paired for a dance. Gomez later confirmed she was still single, but that didn't stop fans from wanting to see Irwin find love. Rumors began to circulate that the 22-year-old could lead the next season of The Bachelor.

When asked by ET whether he might return to reality TV, Robert Irwin said, “Never say never,” which led to the obvious follow-up regarding whether he’d be interested in being The Bachelor. Irwin teased:

I’m encouraged by this response, and the powers that be at ABC should be trying to lock down this wholesome animal lover, like, yesterday. He’s charming, he’s hot, he’s got an accent — literally, what more do you want?

Is Countess Luann In The Running For The Golden Bachelorette?

Luann de Lesseps, an OG from The Real Housewives of New York, has apparently been on people’s minds to lead The Golden Bachelorette for a while. After Joan Vassos was cast for Season 1, in fact, Andy Cohen voiced his displeasure with the decision, saying Countess Luann would have been “amazing.”

The Bravo host might just be in luck, because back in December, Vassos made it sound like ABC might still have the Countess’ number. Given that the franchise was going in a different direction with Paul on The Bachelorette, Vassos told US Weekly:

Is The Golden Bachelorette something that Luann de Lesseps would be interested in? US Weekly asked her, and the RHONY alum didn’t hesitate, saying:

You heard her!

The Real Housewives franchise falls outside of my reality TV expertise, unfortunately, but I’ve loved getting to know several of them on The Traitors, and just like I binge-watched The Secret Lives of Mormon Wives for Paul, if de Lesseps were going to be The Golden Bachelorette, I’d definitely have to do my homework in that department, as well.

Continuing To Stunt-Cast On The Bachelor Would Only Benefit The Franchise

That goes back to what I said earlier about bringing in new fans from other reality TV shows. We’ve already seen how well this type of cross-promotion works on series like The Traitors. I typically don’t know who half of The Traitors cast members are at the beginning of a season, but that doesn’t affect how much I enjoy the game at all. In fact, I end up seeking out their most iconic reality TV moments, like Dan Gheesling staging his own funeral on Big Brother.

Bachelor Nation alumni have appeared — and largely been successful — on several other reality shows like Dancing with the Stars, The Traitors, Special Forces: World’s Toughest Test, Perfect Match and more. With Paul starring on The Bachelorette, it feels like the franchise might start playing by those rules and winning over new audiences by casting people we already know from other shows.

The partnership between The Bachelorette and The Secret Lives of Mormon Wives makes a lot of sense, given their Disney connections, and hopefully TFP’s season will be successful enough to encourage ABC to continue down that path. Robert Irwin and Luann de Lesseps are definitely good options to start, and I’d be thrilled if those rumors ended up being true.

For now, though, I know where I’ll be when the guys start exiting the limos to show Taylor Frankie Paul their best TikTok dance moves — tune into The Bachelorette Season 22, kicking off at 8 p.m. ET, Sunday, March 22, on ABC and streaming the next day on Hulu.

Treachery is all part of the game of The Traitors, which has been airing the new episodes of its fourth season weekly on the 2026 TV schedule for the past month. However, this time, it’s extended online so much that Peacock issued a statement asking fans not to resort to “cyberbullying and harassment”. Now, Colton Underwood has shared details as to what happened from his side of the screen, and how it went “too far”.

Underwood is a retired football player who is known for being The Bachelor in 2019, and his gameplay has gone viral on The Traitors. Underwood came out as gay in 2021 and has since married and welcomed a son with political strategist Jordan C. Brown in September 2024. Here’s what the reality star said about his experience with online backlash:

In a new interview with Variety, Underwood detailed the violent threats he received online while on the social deception show. As he revealed, some comments went down a personal and dangerous road. As he continued:

One reason Underwood has become a controversial figure in recent years has to do with a messy breakup following his run on The Bachelor. After his season, he rekindled things with one of the show’s contestants, Cassie Randolph, until they broke up in 2020. Details later came out about how Randolph got a restraining order and filed a police report against Underwood for stalking and harassment, which she later dropped.

Colton Underwood also told the outlet that he felt multiple messages sent to him lacked “accuracy” of his past, which he said he “will always and have taken accountability for.” The Bachelor star said that fans who watched his season don’t know about the “growth, a lot of self-work” and the “different place” in life he's in since the 2019 season.

Underwood played an aggressive game in The Traitors for seven episodes before getting “murdered” at the top of this week’s episode. The former NFL player said he feels “really proud” of how he played the game and is proud of Peacock for standing up for the cast. He also said he’s personally in “such a good place” in his life where he’s “happy and joyful.” Even though he ended up being a pawn in Rob Rausch’s plans as a traitor, he’s been vocal about how he’s rooting for the Love Island star to win the game.

As things stand before episode 9, there are 10 players left, with Rob Rausch as the only original traitor remaining. Episode 8 ended with Rob starting to recruit musician Eric Nam as a fellow traitor. You can see what happens next when it comes out this Thursday on Peacock.

It’s no secret that for Candace Cameron Bure, faith comes first. It’s something that’s helped to inspire career decisions, like her move to Great American Family from Hallmark, and one that she admits isn’t always easy in the entertainment industry. In fact, it seems even she struggled a bit to stay grounded back when she competed on Dancing with the Stars, and she opened up about one thing that helped her through it.

On the latest episode of The Candace Cameron Bure podcast, the Full House veteran continued her series with The Bachelor star Madison Prewett, where they bonded over their reality TV experiences. While trying to win love on The Bachelor is admittedly different from trying to win a dance show, they were in agreement about the competitive instinct kicking in. Prewett referenced a Bible verse that seemed especially poignant, saying:

Candace Cameron Bure agreed wholeheartedly, because of course it’s natural to want people to like you and to be successful at whatever it is you’re trying to do. I can definitely see how not caring about the opinion and acceptance of others would be difficult; it seems like reality TV requires the exact opposite.

The same Bible verse was apparently also a source of comfort for Candace Cameron Bure during Season 18 of DWTS (when she, incidentally, came in third place with pro partner and Traitors Season 4 cast member Mark Ballas). Bure said:

The actress didn’t mention it in this conversation, but she more recently competed on The Masked Singer after being inspired by her Full House co-star Bob Saget’s appearance. She was eliminated after her first performance and has admitted that was a blow to her ego. I can only imagine this verse came up around that time, too.

This discussion about how their reality TV experiences challenged their focus on faith is just the latest topic tackled by Candace Cameron Bure and Madison Prewett. They’ve previously shared strong feelings about how Christians are portrayed in the media, and Prewett has spoken a lot about the trauma she experienced on The Bachelor, including the witchy nickname producers gave themselves.

While trying to stay grounded while competing on television may have been challenging, that’s probably nothing in comparison to the criticism they’ve faced on social media — and in Madison Prewett’s case, from Peter Weber’s mother. For that, their faith in God has 100% helped them not feel the need to fight back in the comments.

I'm looking forward to seeing what conversations continue to pop up for these two TV stars.

Since appearing on The Bachelor in 2020, Madison Prewett has been pretty open about the tougher aspects of her reality TV experience. She allegedly lost 20 pounds while vying for Peter Weber’s heart (presumably thanks in part to his mother laying into her during a “scary” live finale). However, Barb apparently wasn’t the only frightening part of her experience. Prewett got real about the “traumas” she suffered, and I’m shocked to hear that the producers actually called themselves “witches.” Umm, what?

Madison Prewett visited The Candace Cameron Bure Podcast recently, where they talked topics like how Christians are portrayed on TV and Prewett’s experience on The Bachelor Season 24. The reality star recalled a conversation she and her husband Grant Troutt had with a neurologist, where she said she wishes she could see before-and-after images of her brain after everything she went through. Prewett said:

Candace Cameron Bure was shocked at the revelation that the producers would give themselves such a nickname. Her reaction isn’t really surprising, given her belief system and how she thinks scary movies could be a portal to bring evil into the home, but I have to say I agree with her on this front.

The Bachelor is supposed to be about falling in love, right? Even if they meant it in a witch doctor/love potion kind of way, it’s a strange energy to bring to your job, in my opinion. I’m not naive, though; I’ve been a fan of Bachelor Nation for long enough to have seen the producers pull some pretty wild stunts on the contestants that don't always seem to have their love lives front-of-mind (need I mention the poop baby again?).

Suffice it to say I don’t understand why the producers would have thought of themselves as having to be witchy. As for the second trauma Madison Prewett experienced, she said that came when the public finally saw her journey with Peter Weber play out on TV, saying:

“Whiplash” is a good word for it, because it doesn’t sound all bad, given how it did make her famous (she’s on Candace Cameron Bure’s podcast, after all!). But while Madison Prewett admits she’s glad to have gone though that experience, it’s not one she would recommend for her friends. She told the Great American Family actress:

Strong words!

There is no season of The Bachelor premiering on the 2026 TV schedule in January, but on Sunday, March 22, tune in to see The Secret Lives of Mormon Wives star Taylor Frankie Paul take her place as The Bachelorette. Episodes will air at 8 p.m. ET on ABC and stream the next day with a Hulu subscription.

For fans of reality dating shows, there are so many options, and the 2026 TV schedule won't be an exception. From raunchier series like Love Island to gimmicky hits like Love Is Blind, there’s never a shortage of people willing to go on TV in hopes of finding love. The Bachelor franchise, for instance, has been around for over two decades, and as a longtime fan, let me assure you that 2025 was a pretty eventful year.

Across The Bachelor and all of its spinoffs, the past 12 months have brought us engagements, breakups, weddings, scandals and headlines that have the potential to change the trajectory of ABC’s dating franchise. Here are 6 things that happened within Bachelor Nation in 2025 that I’m still not over.

The Bachelor Franchise Cleans House After Toxic Workplace Accusations

Shortly after Grant Ellis’ season of The Bachelor wrapped earlier this year, the shocking announcement was made that The Bachelorette would not air in 2025. Allegations of a toxic workplace culture followed soon after, and co-EPs Michael Margolis and Keely Booth resigned. Ultimately, executive producers Claire Freeland and Bennett Graebner also parted ways with the franchise.

In addition to on-screen issues like the cruel treatment of Jenn Tran during her season finale, the senior producers were accused by a dozen current and former crew members of running a “hostile” operation, where the employees allegedly experienced mental and verbal abuse, mind games and threats to their jobs if they didn’t “step in line,” according to Deadline.

It wasn’t just the ones at the top, though, who were replaced. No Bachelorette season meant no jobs for the rest of the producers, and when Bachelor in Paradise returned for Season 10 this summer, it featured new showrunner Scott Teti and an entirely new production crew.

Bachelor In Paradise Jumps The Shark By Introducing A Cash Prize

With all fresh faces behind the scenes, it’s no surprise that Bachelor in Paradise Season 10 looked different than what Bachelor Nation fans were used to. The biggest change, however, came midway through the season, when host Jesse Palmer announced that no new arrivals would be entering the game. The couples were locked in and would spend the rest of the season competing for up to $500,000.

This was a huge issue for longtime fans, who continue to value contestants going on the show “for the right reasons,” i.e. for love, rather than money or clout. Some of the cast members took issue as well, especially those who weren’t romantically involved with their partner but were forced to compete as couples anyway. The big swings didn’t pay off, in my opinion, and it didn’t help that the “love or money” ultimatum at the end made absolutely no sense.

Zach Shallcross Becomes The Second Bachelor To Marry The Woman He Proposed To

The Bachelor franchise has faced plenty of issues over the years, but one of the biggest criticisms is how rarely its final couples actually make it to the altar after getting engaged. Bachelor in Paradise has had a pretty good success rate, as well as The Bachelorette, but on The Bachelor, Season 17’s Sean Lowe and Catherine Giudici were the only final couple to actually get married — until 2025.

Zach Shallcross from Season 27 married Kaity Biggar, the woman he proposed to two years earlier on The Bachelor finale. Unlike Sean and Catherine before them, Zach and Kaity did not have a televised wedding, opting instead for a small ceremony in May and then a larger celebration of about 100 loved ones in November, both taking place in Austin, Texas.

A couple of The Bachelor’s leads have previously gone on to marry their second-place finisher, but for the dating show to see its second wedding between the lead and the actual winner of the season is a pretty big deal.

Mel Owens Causes Golden Bachelor Controversy Before His Season Even Starts

We’re only a couple of seasons into the Golden spinoffs, but fans have come to expect a more heartwarming show from the older contestants — one that values hope and second chances over drama and clout-chasing. Mel Owens soiled that reputation a bit when he went on Michigan football’s In the Trenches podcast ahead of The Golden Bachelor Season 2 premiere and basically said he had no interest in dating women his age. His exact words:

The 66-year-old’s comments made a bad first impression, and it only got worse when the show premiered. Mel Owens proved unwilling or unable to express any emotions in front of the camera, and the season was a mess overall with the unnecessary introduction of a “villain” and low ratings.

Gerry Turner Goes Scorched Earth On Ex-Wife Theresa Nist

Mel Owens wasn’t the only Golden Bachelor lead causing drama in 2025. Season 1’s Gerry Turner published a memoir, Golden Years: What I’ve Learned from Love, Loss, and Reality TV, in which he accused his ex-wife Theresa Nist of manipulating him, misleading him about her financial situation and trying to get him to spend millions of dollars more than he was comfortable with on a house. He also took issue with her carb-free diet.

Theresa Nist, who was married to Gerry Turner for three months before they announced their divorce, fired back on the Dear Shandy podcast, accusing Gerry of anger issues. She said he’d called her names, yelled at her and said he didn’t care to hear her opinion. After their uplifting season of The Golden Bachelor, this was a surprisingly brutal turn of events.

Taylor Frankie Paul Is Named The Next Bachelorette

As wild as this year has been for Bachelor Nation, we may see even more fireworks in 2026, with The Secret Lives of Mormon Wives star Taylor Frankie Paul crossing franchises to look for love on The Bachelorette Season 22. After binge-watching all three seasons of SLOMW in two weeks, I have so many questions about what this means for the Bachelor franchise. Will this kick the ratings back up? Will it inspire the show to cast more celebrities as leads, rather than previous contestants?

Taylor Frankie Paul, at the very least, is going to bring a different energy to the show than past Bachelorettes (she's already got Jesse Palmer doing TikTok dances), and after the 2025 we’ve had, I’m here for it. Tune in when The Bachelorette premieres at 8 p.m. ET Sunday, March 22, on ABC and streaming the next day with a Hulu subscription.

Back in 2021, Bachelor Nation was rocked by a racism scandal that altered the course of several people’s lives and the franchise as a whole. One of those people was Chris Harrison, who had served as the host of The Bachelor (and all spinoffs) since its 2002 inception, as he was let go by ABC. Harrison has since moved on to other projects, and he opened up about the two things that really helped him to do that.

Jesse Palmer took over in fall 2021 as franchise host — including for The Golden Bachelor, whose second season is currently airing on the 2025 TV schedule. Meanwhile, several things have changed for Chris Harrison over the past four years, and not just his job title. When asked how it feels to no longer be with the franchise, he told People:

By his own account, it didn’t at first. Chris Harrison discussed the situation at length when he launched The Most Dramatic Podcast Ever, revealing that he lost 20 pounds during the ordeal and couldn’t sleep. After he got some distance from it, he was able to see how stressful the job had been, as he said:

Chris Harrison said not having that high-pressure job was tough for him. However, he apparently realized his life didn’t have to continue down the same path, and he credits a couple of different things for that. In his words:

Chris Harrison and Lauren Zima started dating in August 2018, so they’d been together for a while when The Bachelor scandal went down. She stuck by him, though, and the two got engaged in October 2021, just months after Harrison parted ways with ABC. They made it official two years later, tying the knot in October 2023.

The former Bachelor host also said adding his name to the list of celebrities who don’t live in Los Angeles helped, as he returned to his home state of Texas, with he and his wife now residing in Austin.

Bachelor Nation certainly went through trying times in 2021, but it’s good to hear that Chris Harrison has come out on the other side of it. Hopefully the same can be said for everyone else who was involved as well.

You won’t see Chris Harrison on The Golden Bachelor (or any other Bachelor series), but if you want to keep up with the current happenings anyway, tune in at 9 p.m. ET Wednesdays on ABC and streaming the next day with a Hulu subscription.

The Bachelor franchise has done some wild things in its 23 years on the air, but I can’t say I ever saw this partnership coming. The ABC reality dating show and HGTV are teaming up for a new competition show called Bachelor Mansion Takeover. This is surprising given so many recent HGTV cancellations, but I am pumped nonetheless to see 12 alumni compete as they remodel the famed Villa de la Vina. One question keeps nagging at me though — are these reality stars qualified to do this?

First things first, who are the dozen contestants who will compete for $100,000 on Bachelor Mansion Takeover? There’s a nice mix of old and new, youngs and Goldens, a couple of former leads and more than one villain thrown in the mix. Below is the cast, as well as whose Bachelor season they originally appeared on:

• Dean Bell (né Unglert, Rachel Lindsay)
• Jill Chin (Clayton Echard)
• Noah Erb (Tayshia Adams)
• Allyshia Gupta (Grant Ellis)
• Tammy Ly (Peter Weber)
• Sandra Mason (Gerry Turner)
• Sam McKinney (Jenn Tran)
• Brendan Morais (Tayshia Adams)
• Courtney Robertson Preciado (Ben Flajnik)
• Jeremy Simon (Jenn Tran)
• Christopher Stallworth (Joan Vassos)
• Joan Vassos (Gerry Turner)

Who better to remodel the mansion than those who know what it’s like to live there? But I had to look into whether or not they are actually qualified for the job ahead. The short answer seems to be yes, according to their Bachelor bios, but I’d assume people like Christopher and Sam — who are contractors — are going to have a leg up on others like Noah (a travel nurse) and Courtney (a model).

Who knows, though? Maybe we’ll learn that all of the contestants have had their hands in renovation in some way. Others with relevant experience include Allyshia, interior designer; Tammy, house flipper; Brendan, roofer; and Jill, architectural historian, which I can only hope means she’ll bring some interesting ideas to the table.

Those with possibly less helpful jobs include Dean, startup recruiter; Sandra, retired executive assistant; Joan, private school administrator; and Jeremy, real estate investor (TBD determined if his investing knowledge will help him here).

Again, these were their professions, but it’s reasonable to assume many of them have changed jobs or become influencers since their time in The Bachelor franchise. It does seem, though, like HGTV took their backgrounds into consideration over other factors when casting.

For instance, they didn’t cast the members of Bachelor Nation who are involved with these 12 contestants, like Abigail Heringer, who is married to Noah, or Chock Chapple, who is engaged to Joan.

The HGTV casting team didn’t appear to be going for drama either. They easily could have cast someone’s ex (I’m sure Sam would not be happy to see Jenn Tran again after getting “dragged for filth” on their season), and Allyshia would certainly have bumped heads with Kat Izzo after their rivalry on Bachelor in Paradise Season 10, which can be streamed with a Hulu subscription.

I’m excited to see what the TV personalities bring to the home renovation space. Jesse Palmer will, not surprisingly, be there along the way, as he is the host of Bachelor Mansion Takeover, and Tayshia Adams and Tyler Cameron will serve as the judges.

Honestly, the only bad thing I have to say about the upcoming Bachelor/HGTV relationship is that it won’t be finished in time for the 2025 TV schedule. Bachelor Mansion Takeover is set to air in 2026. In the meantime, you can tune into The Golden Bachelor, with episodes airing at 8 p.m. ET Wednesdays on ABC.

Peter Weber’s finale on The Bachelor back in 2020 has gone down in infamy as (actually) the most dramatic season finale ever, but it apparently came at a price. Madison Prewett, one of the women involved in the love triangle that developed at the end of Season 24, opened up about her “traumatizing” experience, revealing that she lost 20 pounds during the ordeal.

Madison Prewett and her husband Grant Troutt went on The Unplanned Podcast, where they talked about their relationship, becoming parents and, of course, her time competing for Peter Weber’s heart on The Bachelor. The Season 24 drama really came to a head at the finale, when Weber’s mom Barb laid into Prewett on live TV. Asked how she maintained her composure in that moment, Prewett had to stop and think a second, saying:

In the finale, Peter Weber — one of the most famous Bachelor alums — got engaged to Hannah Ann Sluss after Madison Prewett chose to leave the show; however, that relationship ended about a month later, and at the live “After the Final Rose” portion of the finale, Weber expressed that he wanted to get back together with Prewett.

Barb Weber was displeased, to say the least, and recalled how the family’s initial meeting with Madison Prewett had gotten off to a rocky start after they’d already fallen in love with Peter’s other finalist a day earlier. Barb said:

Madison Prewett sat silently in front of the live studio audience as Barb Weber continued to put Madison down and even whispered to her husband in Spanish to back her up and “say something bad” too.

On the podcast Madison Prewett explained that she and Peter Weber decided not to pursue a relationship after that (obviously), but she found a silver lining in the experience:

It likely took some time to come to that conclusion, as The Bachelor contestant recalls the immediate aftermath of the live finale, saying:

Honestly, who wouldn’t have? Hearing the physical toll that her Bachelor experience took on her, it’s no wonder that she chooses not to relive those memories very often.

For the rest of us, however, who are still keeping up with all things Bachelor Nation, you can catch the current season of Bachelor in Paradise on the 2025 TV schedule at 8 p.m. ET Mondays on ABC and streaming the next day with a Hulu subscription.

It was a magical moment in time a couple of years ago when America fell head-over-heels for Gerry Turner and the women on The Golden Bachelor. We witnessed tough but honest conversations about grief and the invisibility that comes with aging, and we celebrated as hope was restored that love and friendship can be found at any age. Sure, some of the shine was lost when Turner and Theresa Nist divorced just three months after their wedding, but we’re about to do it all again.

The Golden Bachelor Season 2 is expected to premiere on the 2025 TV schedule this fall, and 66-year-old Mel Owens has been announced as the lead. It was a surprising move from the Bachelor Nation higher-ups, as they rarely go outside of their already-established cast to find a lead, but I actually love this move. In fact, I think they should follow suit and do it for The Bachelor as well.

Why An Outsider Was Chosen For The Golden Bachelor Season 2

When you look at Mel Owens, he definitely fits the description of someone you’d expect to be on The Golden Bachelor. He’s conventionally good-looking, and he holds a successful job as a lawyer after retiring from a nine-season career in the NFL. Franchise host Jesse Palmer provided some additional context into Mel Owens’ selection, telling US Weekly:

The lawyer — who’s from Michigan but lives in California — tragically lost his father, Jesse Palmer said, and his wife Fabiana Pimentel filed for divorce in 2020 after 25 years of marriage. Mel Owens shifted his focus during tough times to raising his two sons, and now that they’re apparently heading off to college, he’s ready to find someone to share his life with. Palmer continued:

Obviously Mel Owens wasn’t amongst our top picks for The Golden Bachelor Season 2, but I’m actually optimistic about the upcoming season.

I Support Casting Outside Of Previous Golden Contestants

As much as I would have loved to see fan favorite Charles Ling look for love on TV or watched Jordan Heller find someone to take back to Chicago, I’m actually not upset that The Bachelor producers went with an outsider. The fact of the matter is they might not have had much of a choice.

Joan Vassos’ pool of suitors on The Golden Bachelorette was smaller than the cast of a traditional Bachelorette season, so right away you’ve got fewer men to choose from. Now take out the guys who have found new relationships, like Mark Anderson, who hard-launched his relationship with One Tree Hill actress Barbara Alyn Woods back in October.

You likely also have to remove any of the Goldens appearing on Bachelor in Paradise, including Gary Levingston, as that season will finish taping in May, reportedly just a couple of weeks before production begins on The Golden Bachelor 2 in June. I’m honestly not sure how many guys are left after that.

I also like that the lead this time is a divorcé. Both Gerry Turner and Joan Vassos’ spouses had passed away, and I hope that Mel Owens’ situation opens the door to the contestants being able to talk more openly about marriages ending later in life. He was married for 25 years, after all, and we’ve had previously married leads on the flagship series, so why not on The Golden Bachelor?

Bachelor Nation also has pretty strong connections to the NFL, so it’s kind of fun to dip back into that player pool again. Jesse Palmer, for one, played for the New York Giants when he appeared on The Bachelor’s fifth season in 2005. Other notable Bachelor Nation contestants with NFL ties include Jordan Rodgers, Tyler Cameron, Dale Moss and Clay Harbour to name just a few.

Why I Want A Newbie To Lead The Bachelor Season 30

The majority of the time, the new lead has been chosen from the preceding season of The Bachelorette. However, with The Bachelorette being canceled for 2025, producers for The Bachelor Season 30 — assuming there will be one; there’s no official renewal yet — won’t have that option. In order to keep things in the Nation, so to speak, they’d have to dip back to Jenn Tran or Charity Lawson’s seasons (or even further back!).

Sorry to say, but I think they’re going to have to recruit any decent, still-single men from those seasons to populate the Bachelor in Paradise 10 cast, so who even could they choose? I suppose someone who doesn’t partner up in Costa Rica could get the call, but again I ask who was interesting enough (and non-problematic enough) to lead a season?

I admit I still feel a little bit burned about how everything played out on The Bachelorette Season 21 with Jenn Tran’s cruel finale, and I’m ready to just start fresh. It seems like it’s time anyway.

The last time The Bachelor cast a lead who was not already a previous contestant was Matt James in 2020. Even then, he was originally slated to be part of Clare Crawley’s season before COVID forced the show into hiatus. He was subsequently named the lead of Season 25.

There’s plenty of change happening in Bachelor Nation right now, with a new showrunner taking over Bachelor in Paradise and The Bachelorette on indefinite hiatus. Assuming ABC continues to produce its decades-old reality dating show, now is as good a time as any to break the mold.

Bachelor in Paradise Season 10 premieres Monday, July 7, on ABC, and while a premiere date hasn’t been announced for The Golden Bachelor Season 2, it’s likely to kick off in November like the previous two iterations have. Both shows will be available to stream the next day with a Hulu subscription.

Spoiler alert! This story reveals the ending of Grant Ellis’ season of The Bachelor, which aired March 24. You can stream the episode with your Hulu subscription if you need to catch up.

Bachelor in Paradise is returning to the 2025 TV schedule after taking last year off, and we’ve finally got confirmation that a big twist is coming. Jesse Palmer delivered the news at the end of a long, three-hour Bachelor finale that saw Grant Ellis get engaged to Juliana Pasquarosa, and while I’m cautiously optimistic about returning to the beach, I’m also actually quite intrigued by the upcoming Hulu series Got to Get Out, which features a trio of faces familiar to the franchise.

Bachelor In Paradise’s First Golden Contestants Revealed

Jesse Palmer revealed that for the first time, contestants from The Golden Bachelor/Bachelorette will be joining their younger counterparts on Bachelor in Paradise. This was rumored to be one of the big changes coming to Season 10, and not only was this confirmed Monday night, but we were introduced to the first two cast members — Leslie Fhima and Gary Levingston.

Leslie Fhima was the runner-up on Gerry Turner’s season, but you may remember her better as the Golden contestant who made the 69 joke during Fantasy Suites. Gary Levingston, meanwhile, became a fan favorite on Joan Vassos’ season and was one of our top picks to lead The Golden Bachelor Season 2. He had expressed interest in joining BiP before, and it sounds like both of them are ready to do some dancing on the beach.

I have to admit, Bachelor in Paradise Season 9 kind of lost me with the whole poop baby storyline and then with all three couples breaking up immediately. Season 10 will feature a new showrunner, so I’m keeping an open mind, but in the meantime, I may have to fire up my Hulu subscription for a fling with Got to Get Out.

Three Bachelor Alumni Will Compete On Upcoming Hulu Series

One of the many things advertised during The Bachelor’s three-hour finale was Got to Get Out, and I was immediately excited after seeing the trailer (though that should not be taken as justification for continuing the three-hour finales, thank you very much). The competition show will feature a cast of half reality stars, half civilians, and take a look at who’s making an appearance:

Three members of The Bachelor franchise will be looking to win some cash — Demi Burnett, Clare Crawley and Susan Noles. What a fantastic trio of women. All three are known for speaking their minds and should be a blast to watch. I absolutely need to know why The Golden Bachelor alum is dressed in a big Santa suit and screaming that retired NFL star Rashad Jennings is dead to her.

Got to Get Out appears to be Hulu’s answer to The Traitors (streaming with a Peacock subscription), as it involves reality stars strategizing with and against each other for a cash prize.

Will it be as good as The Traitors? I doubt it, because that’s a seriously high bar. Simu Liu could never match Alan Cumming’s iconic outfits (though I’d be down to watch him try). And as happy as I am with the Bachelor Nation members, nobody really reaches the caliber of the incomparable Gabby Windey, and that’s OK! I don’t need it to match the Peacock hit; I’m frankly content to see Spencer Pratt back on TV being the villain he was born to be.

If Got to Get Out sounds as interesting to you as it does to me, tune in for the series premiere coming to Hulu on Friday, April 11. Meanwhile, Jesse Palmer said Bachelor in Paradise Season 10 will premiere on ABC this summer.

Spoiler alert! This discusses The Bachelor Season 29 finale, including who Grant Ellis proposes to in the end. Stream the episode with a Hulu subscription if you need to catch up.

Another season of The Bachelor has come to an end, with Grant Ellis eliminating all but one of the women who we watched exit the limos at Bachelor Mansion just weeks ago. Over the course of three hours, tears were shed, advice was given, and Grant finally decided that Juliana Pasquarosa was the woman he wanted to get engaged to. As I watched the Season 29 journey conclude, I couldn’t help but think of one big change the franchise needs to make for future seasons:

No more three-hour finales!

We knew all season that Grant Ellis was going to struggle to choose between his final two women — who turned out to be Juliana Pasquarosa and Litia Garr — in the finale, and other than that, there were really no twists or unexpected drama that justified a three-hour runtime. That means we got a lot of filler — Grant repeating the good qualities of each woman, flashbacks to dates we’ve already seen, unnecessary segments and so many ads.

I’m not alone in my thinking, either, as many in Bachelor Nation took to social media to complain about this block of the 2025 TV schedule. One fan joked:

There were moments where it felt obvious that The Bachelor producers were trying to fill the time. When Juliana Pasquarosa met up with Grant Ellis to meet his family, they showed her walking from like a mile away. Honestly, it took a full 30 seconds from the time she started her trek to when she reached her boyfriend. That was only 20 minutes into the three-hour finale, so I figured we were in for a long night.

My point was proven when — still less than an hour into the show — host Jesse Palmer brought up Charity Lawson, Clayton Echard and Gerry Turner to discuss Grant Ellis saying “I love you” to both of his final two women. Now, I have no problem with either of these men, but Bachelor Nation has not been kind to Clayton (re: the “Rose Ceremony from Hell”) and Gerry (after his fast Golden Bachelor divorce), so I question the decision to have them give context to Grant’s situation. Fans like this one just saw it as more filler:

Not to sound my age or anything, but I rarely watch movies that come anywhere near three hours, and on a Monday no less. If I’m dragging at work Tuesday morning, I want a better story than, “Grant was really conflicted.” As this Bachelor Nation patron put it:

The thing is, ABC has proven it can be done. Joan Vassos’ finale on The Golden Bachelorette was a tight 90 minutes, and maybe we didn’t get 17 ads for The Secret Lives of Mormon Wives or 25 minutes of Jesse Palmer telling us to grab our tissues because he was about to make an announcement that would change our lives forever, but I sure didn’t miss them.

Just to prove I’m not the only cranky millennial out there, here are some other social media comments I came across:

• But 3 hours of this? 🤦‍♀️ – @johnson_jadelyn
• ABC have to have these dumb fillers to make it 3 hours – @cerenitey
• Three hour Bachelor finale. There’s just no need for this. – @MikeNash15
• Does this have to be 3 hours? Asking for a friend – @TVShowsAce
• I feel like I say this every season but 3 hours is completely ridiculous – @diajahk
• There is no reason why this finale is 3 hours long, really dragging out this proposal. - @Melisa__C
• This finale could’ve been an hour – @dimonesryder

We’ll have to wait to see if the powers that be at ABC hear our cries for a more manageable finale runtime. In the meantime, we’ll be keeping our eyes out for that Bachelor in Paradise Season 10 premiere date, as the spinoff returns this summer.

Ever since Rachael Kirkconnell joined The Bachelor franchise in 2021, her name has always been associated with Matt James, whether that was due to her winning his final rose, the racism scandal that plagued Season 25, or — as of January — their shocking breakup. Kirkconnell is finally making a name for herself as an individual, and she recently opened up about being excited to show the world “everything” about her.

Matt James and Rachael Kirkconnell built a strong social media presence for themselves, traveling the world and posting restaurant reviews from their excursions. Whether or not the foodie space is still where Kirkconnell wants to be is unclear, but she opened up to OK! Magazine about breaking free from being just one half of a Bachelor Nation couple. She said:

It’s no secret that The Bachelor doesn’t have the best track record for lasting romance, and Rachael Kirkconnell and Matt James’ four-year relationship was one of the most enduring. In fact, to this day Sean Lowe remains the only lead to make it to the altar with the woman he proposed to on the show.

Zach Shallcross and Joey Graziadei are still engaged to their seasons’ winners — and we’ll have to see what happens when Grant Ellis’ season finale airs March 24 on the 2025 TV schedule (we’ve got the Grant Ellis spoilers, if you want them). However, until just a couple of months ago, Matt James was also among those so-far-successful love stories.

Rachael Kirkconnell sounds like she’s ready to not live in that shadow any longer, as she continued:

In the months since their split, Rachael Kirkconnell has been listening to Taylor Swift as she embarks on this journey of self-discovery. She’s working on regaining her confidence, she said, and being nicer to herself. The women of Bachelor Nation gave her a boost in that direction, with several former cast members sending love and support to Kirkconnell.

She may not have all the answers regarding what’s next, but she says she has been trying to get out of her comfort zone and learn more about who she is. She said:

One of the things she’s already said “yes” to was a savage paper towel ad that referenced the Matt James breakup, and it will be interesting to see what else we get from Rachael Kirkconnell, the individual.

In the meantime, tune into The Bachelor Season 29 finale, which starts at 8 p.m. ET on Monday, March 24, on ABC and can be streamed the next day with a Hulu subscription.

This story contains NO SPOILERS for The Bachelor Season 29, but if you do want spoilers, you can see who wins Grant Ellis’ season here.

We’ve reached the point in The Bachelor that fans eagerly await every season — Fantasy Suites. When the ABC dating show returns to the 2025 TV schedule on March 17, Grant Ellis will finally get to spend time off-camera with his final three women. The week of overnight dates is often rife with drama, and Grant is apparently trying to head that off. He said he went into Fantasy Suites with a plan, and I couldn’t agree more with how he approached it.

Different Bachelors approach Fantasy Suites in different ways. Some set rules for themselves, which can include taking sex off the table altogether (which only works if you actually follow through). Others throw caution to the wind and end up at “The Rose Ceremony From Hell.” When approaching his overnight dates with Juliana Pasquarosa, Litia Garr and Zoe McGrady, Grant Ellis had his own strategy, telling The Wrap:

Standing ovation for Grant Ellis, everybody. This sounds like a pretty obvious way to approach Fantasy Suites — and being on The Bachelor in general — but if every lead followed this line of thinking, this likely wouldn’t be such a traditionally tumultuous week. I am constantly baffled by reality TV contestants who say something about someone else or go behind somebody's back as if they don’t know that this is all going to play out in a very public way on people’s screens.

Assuming Grant Ellis is currently engaged to one of the three women listed above, they are currently in the process of watching the show back together ahead of the live finale. That should be a scenario that he or any lead is thinking about when they go into Fantasy Suites, but I can also understand that sometimes we don’t always act in our best interests. So does Grant regret anything that transpired behind closed doors? He said:

The Bachelor has defended some of his actions already this season, as fans expressed shock that Zoe McGrady has made it as far as she has without being eliminated by Grant Ellis. However, it sounds like he feels good about everything that ultimately went down.

That’s honestly a relief to hear, because The Bachelor Season 29 finale preview paints a slightly different picture:

Will Grant Ellis really take it down to the wire to choose who, between Zoe McGrady, Juliana Pasquarosa and Litia Garr, he wants to marry? And how does his future wife feel watching that back?

We don’t have to wait long to find out! Tune into The Bachelor for Fantasy Suites at 8 p.m. ET Monday, March 17, on ABC and streaming the next day with a Hulu subscription. The three-hour Season 29 finale will follow on March 24.

Spoiler alert! This story contains spoilers for the March 3 episode of The Bachelor Season 29. You can also see the spoiler for who Grant chooses here, but if you’re not caught up, you can use your Hulu subscription to stream the latest episodes.

It feels like Grant Ellis’ season of The Bachelor just premiered on the 2025 TV schedule, and yet, here we are, down to our final three women. In the latest episode, the Jersey boy hit the road for Hometowns to meet (some of) the contestants’ families before ultimately eliminating one of the Season 29 contestants. His decision sparked some shocked reactions from Bachelor Nation, and Grant has spoken out to explain his reasoning.

Grant Ellis Explains Why Zoe McGrady Got A Rose After Hometowns

Dina Lupancu was sent home Monday night after she and Grant Ellis enjoyed a date in Chicago with her friends (her family refused to participate), while Litia Garr, Juliana Pasquarosa and Zoe McGrady advanced to Fantasy Suites. The fact that Zoe is still around — and part of his final three! — left fans flabbergasted, as Zoe didn’t get a one-on-one date this season and seemingly hasn’t spent that much time with Grant.

However, he told The Wrap that Zoe opened up on her Hometown date in New York City in ways that resonated with him, saying:

Grant Ellis also said Dina Lupancu’s absent family “didn’t affect” his decision; it was just that his time with Zoe McGrady gave him reassurance.

Bachelor Nation Reacts To Zoe McGrady Advancing To Fantasy Suites

However, many fans have been expecting Zoe McGrady to be eliminated for weeks, and especially after she didn’t even get a one-on-one this season, things didn’t look good for the tech engineer/model. Fans didn’t agree with Grant’s choice, to put it mildly, as one called it straight-up “robbery”:

No offense whatsoever to Zoe McGrady, but after some initial bad vibes with the other women in the house, she (and everyone else) kind of took a backseat to Carolina Quixano’s drama, with Zoe getting no real alone time with Grant. Another fan wrote on X (Twitter):

Lots of people spoke out about how wild it was that for their first date, Zoe McGrady took Grant Ellis to do an engagement and wedding photo shoot. Some found the activity awkward and said the couple lacked chemistry, as more social media reactions included:

• Having an engagement photo shoot on your first date with Grant is quite the choice Zoe... – mike_h1990
• Zoe isn’t the one for Grant. She never even got a 1 on 1 and made it this far. That’s a 🚩 and that’s Grant’s fault 🤷🏻‍♀️ – karina438
• I’m sorry is there chemistry between Zoe and Grant that they’ve been hiding from us? – gabbycastano
• This truly felt like a hometown date between strangers… – zoececkem

It seems like a bit of a mystery to many out there why Zoe McGrady is still on The Bachelor Season 29 and not Dina Lupancu, but Grant Ellis said his Hometown dates gave him all the answers he needed. I’m excited to see just how far Zoe can take this.

Tune in at 8 p.m. ET Tuesday, March 10, for the Women Tell All, before continuing Grant’s journey with Fantasy Suites on March 17.

Shockwaves reverberated throughout Bachelor Nation earlier this month when the season of The Bachelorette slated to air on the 2025 TV schedule was canceled, followed by a report about the “toxic” workplace culture of the franchise. To add to the confusion of it all, it seems the decision to pause the spinoff was a sudden one, as reports suggest a Season 22 lead had already been chosen — and it allegedly wasn’t one of the current contestants from Grant Ellis’ season.

Who Was Allegedly Picked As The Bachelorette Season 22?

As a longtime Bachelor watcher, I was surprised and disappointed to learn that I wouldn’t be able to see one of Grant Ellis’ eliminated contestants get a second chance at love on her own season of The Bachelorette. It turns out I wouldn’t have gotten that even if the show hadn’t been put on hiatus, because the woman allegedly chosen to lead Season 22 was a familiar face from Joey Graziadei’s season.

The Bachelor alum Ashley Iaconetti reports on her Almost Famous podcast (via Swooon) that fourth-place finisher Maria Georgas was producers’ first pick for the upcoming season, saying:

Maria Georgas — who made headlines recently for allegedly breaking up with Pete Davidson (a rumor Georgas firmly refuted) — has said she was the first choice to lead Season 21, but that she decided to back out. Jenn Tran was ultimately chosen as The Bachelor franchise’s first Asian lead, but she denies that she was the backup option.

Almost Famous co-host and former Bachelor Ben Higgins weighed in on what he’d heard about the decision to cancel the season rather than pick a different lead. He alleges:

Ashley Iaconetti said her sources suggested two women from Grant Ellis’ season were on the short list for Season 22, as well as Rachel Recchia, who was a co-lead with Gabby Windey on The Bachelorette Season 19. Recchia, meanwhile, didn’t name names but told Iaconetti and Higgins (per US Weekly) that she also heard a decision had been made:

Could The Bachelor veterans be correct about Maria Georgas being the reason for hitting pause on The Bachelorette, or was it the result of the ensuing accusations of executive producers fostering a toxic work environment?

Production Crew Accuse Bachelor EPs Of Fostering Hostile Environment

Following news of The Bachelorette’s hiatus, the majority of the staff who would have worked on the production were reportedly laid off, but ahead of that, Deadline reports that one producer described the franchise as a “dumpster fire” under its current EPs — Claire Freeland (who, according to the report, was allegedly responsible for the "cruel" treatment of Jenn Tran during her finale) and Bennett Graebner. Another producer reportedly said:

Additional reports said the executive producers gave passive-aggressive criticism to work of longtime employees, stayed in closed offices with little communication with the staff and ignored senior members of the team. Workers were allegedly led to believe that they would be fired if they didn’t “step in line.” Warner Bros Television Group is reportedly looking into the complaints.

Things definitely seem to be getting messy behind the scenes of ABC’s reality dating franchise, so while we wait to see what comes of all the drama, we can always escape into Grant Ellis’ love story. New episodes air at 8 p.m. ET Mondays on ABC and streaming the next day with a Hulu subscription.

As far as The Bachelor breakups go, Matt James has kept things pretty clean since announcing that he had ended his four-year relationship with Rachael Kirkconnell, and after relaying her side of the breakup on Call Her Daddy, Kirkconnell seems to be doing her part to keep things from getting too messy as well. The Bachelor Season 25 winner has partnered with Brawny paper towels in a new ad, and fans are here for the “savage” trolling of her ex.

It’s been a month since Matt James and Rachael Kirkconnell’s split rocked Bachelor Nation, and even as a new season of The Bachelor airs on the 2025 TV schedule, I have to admit I’m kind of obsessed with a different love story after Kirkconnell posted her hilarious new ad for paper towels. Check it out on her Instagram:

Rachael Kirkconnell and the Brawny Man is the ship I never knew I needed. The Bachelor alum never actually mentions Matt James by name in the ad, but she doesn’t need to. Anybody who’s followed the story of this breakup likely picked up on the not-so-subtle jabs, including finding someone she can always depend on who is strong and reliable, no matter what surprises come her way.

Her mentioning the pressure to pick out the perfect dinner spot was surely also a reference to the food bloggers’ relationship. More specifically, Rachael Kirkconnell said the argument that led to her breakup started because she felt her restaurant choice that night wasn’t good enough. Even the fact that they were making pizza in the ad seemed to throw back to their final video together — posted mere hours before Matt James allegedly blindsided Kirkconnell by announcing their split to the world — that showed them eating pizza.

Just as the women of Bachelor Nation supported Rachael Kirkconnell post-breakup, former Bachelorettes and others gave their stamp of approval for the new ad in the comments:

• Miss Rachael you’re iconic – Jenn Tran
• ITS GIVING Ariana Madix 👏👏 – Kaitlyn Bristowe
• The marketing team who pitched this collab need a raise STAT 🤣👏 – @iskra
• Savage – @thetessasmith
• I feel like we all just won the lottery 🤣😮‍💨🤍 – @smearbybrit
• This is toooooo goood💀 – @holisticrendezvous
• Rachael you dirty dog….I love it – meg.bossert

In addition to support from her family and friends, Rachael Kirkconnell has said her Taylor Swift playlists have been helping her cope with the end of her romance with Matt James. The couple met on The Bachelor in 2021, but their season was rocked by a racism scandal when photos and social media activity from Kirkconnell’s past resurfaced. Franchise host Chris Harrison ultimately parted ways with ABC after the backlash he received for defending Kirkconnell’s attendance at a plantation-themed fraternity party.

While Wells Adams has suggested Matt James and Rachael Kirkconnell join Bachelor in Paradise for its 10th season later this year, I much prefer the hilarious savagery of this paper towel ad. Brawny Man is ready to clean up any messes, so feel free to spill all the tea!

In the meantime, you can also experience Grant Ellis’ journey to find love on new episodes of The Bachelor at 8 p.m. ET each Monday on ABC and streaming with a Hulu subscription.

Spoiler alert! This story discusses some of the events of The Bachelor episode that aired February 10. Stream it with a Hulu subscription if you need to catch up, and if you want real spoilers, find out who wins Grant Ellis’ season here!

Bachelor Nation was shocked — and a little worried, to be honest — when one of the contestants on Grant Ellis’ season of The Bachelor (currently airing on the 2025 TV schedule) disappeared from the show just before she was supposed to leave for a one-on-one date. Beverly Ortega has now spoken out about what led to her sudden exit from the season, revealing she had to have “emergency surgery.”

Beverly Ortega was not intended to be one of Grant Ellis’ eliminated contestants this early in his season, and fans became concerned when it was said on the episode she had become “very sick” and wouldn’t be returning to Bachelor Mansion. Ortega went on the Bachelor Happy Hour podcast to clarify her sudden disappearance, saying she had woken up with “excruciating” stomach pain and proceeded to throw up for 12 hours. She said:

What a scary thing to have happen, especially with the New Yorker being so far away from home. Beverly Ortega said she’d thought maybe it was food poisoning or even anxiety, which has caused her to throw up in the past.

After being diagnosed with appendicitis, the insurance salesperson had to go into surgery immediately, without any of her family there and without being able to talk to any of her friends on the show or even Grant Ellis. Beverly Ortega continued:

With the grueling filming schedule The Bachelor follows, as well as the travel and often-physically demanding dates, it definitely seems like the smart choice for Beverly Ortega to bid farewell to her reality TV dreams and return home… at least for now.

With Bachelor in Paradise making its return this year for Season 10, Beverly Ortega said she’s definitely down to continue her search for love on the beach. After such a harrowing experience and only getting to be on The Bachelor for a couple of weeks, it only seems fair that she’d get an invitation, right? We’ll have to wait and see!

For now, we’ve got Grant Ellis’ journey, which is still in the early stages, so tune in for new episodes at 8 p.m. ET each Monday on ABC and streaming the next day on Hulu.

Even as a new season of The Bachelor is underway on the 2025 TV schedule, fans are still recovering from the sudden breakup of Matt James and Rachael Kirkconnell — one of the franchise’s longest-standing couples. Kirkconnell revealed what’s been getting her through the past three weeks, and it sounds like she’s got a good Taylor Swift playlist to help her mourn the end of her four-year relationship.

In the stages of breakup grief (as written by Taylor Swift), you have to get through “loml” and “The Smallest Man Who Ever Lived” before you can reach the level of “I Forgot That You Existed,” and the 2024 double breakup album TTPD seems to be exactly the era Rachael Kirkconnell is in right now, as she told Cosmopolitan what’s been helping her post-breakup:

Three excellent choices, if you ask me. After receiving support from the women of Bachelor Nation, Rachael Kirkconnell is soaking in the energy of some strong female celebrities, as well as indulging in the heartbreaking lyrics of The Tortured Poets Department.

The winner of The Bachelor Season 25 doesn’t consider herself a true Swiftie who stays up-to-date on all of Taylor Swift’s upcoming projects, but she does recognize that the singer has been a constant presence in her life when heartbreak rolls around. Rachael Kirkconnell said:

I’m not sure how The Bachelor franchise has associated itself with Taylor Swift to the degree that it has, but Rachael Kirkconnell is far from the first of the reality show’s contestants to summon the power of The Tortured Poet Department’s chairman. Just look at the Bachelor Nation’s history with the Eras Tour artist:

• Christina Mandrell, who appeared on Zach Shallcross’ season of The Bachelor and is now married to the dangle earring-wearing Brayden Bowers, was in Taylor Swift’s “Fifteen” music video.
• Former Bachelorette Katie Thurston hard-launched a new relationship through a “12 days of messy” series on social media, where she dedicated a Taylor Swift song to a different ex each day.
• Jenn Tran dropped hints about the end of her season by pairing a TS song with each new episode of The Bachelorette.
• Ex-Bachelor contestant Amanda Stanton was dragged recently for suggesting that Taylor Swift might be stealing her style.

It sounds like Rachael Kirkconnell is in good company when it comes to her Taylor Swift fandom. The biggest musician on the current season of The Bachelor, however, is Grant Ellis himself.

Tune in to see if more musical opportunities await on new episodes each Monday at 8 p.m. ET on ABC and streaming the next day with a Hulu subscription. (You can also see the spoiler for how Grant Ellis’ season ends and keep up with all of The Bachelor Season 29 eliminations.)

There’s big drama happening in Bachelor Nation right now, and it doesn’t have anything to do with Grant Ellis’ season of The Bachelor, which premiered this week on the 2025 TV schedule. In a move nobody saw coming (even, apparently, Rachael Kirkconnell) Season 25 Matt James publicly announced his breakup from the woman he met four years ago and started dating on his controversial season of the ABC dating show. Now, two weeks after his post, Kirkconnell has returned to Instagram, and the comments section was flooded with former contestants sending their love.

Rachael Kirkconnell broke her silence this week on the argument that led to the end of her and Matt James’ relationship while they were vacationing in Japan. On January 29, she shared several photos from the trip, with assurances that the latest drama has not sullied her opinion of her favorite travel spot. Kirkconnell posted to Instagram:

Not surprisingly, Matt James is not featured in any of the pics on the post, though we can only assume he was the photographer for the ones of her. The most recent Bachelorette Jenn Tran — who went through her own bad breakup on her “cruel” season finale in September — had the sweetest words The Bachelor Season 25 winner, commenting:

The Bachelorette Season 21 lead was just one of SO MANY of the dating show alumni to throw their support behind Rachael Kirkconnell during this difficult time. Her fellow contestants from Matt James’ season, several former Bachelorettes and more celebrated her for speaking out on the Call Her Daddy podcast and for having such a positive spin in her return to social media. More comments included:

• Beautiful inside and out 💗 loved how vulnerable you were on the podcast & can’t wait to continue and watch you shine ✨ you got this – Daisy Kent
• Love you my shining star ⭐️💝💝💝 – Kit Keenan
• Atta girl!!! 🙌🔥❤️ – Katie Thurston
• Queen 👑 – Abigail Heringer
• I promise you, there’s so much light, happiness and LOVE to look forward to. You got this!!! ♥️ – Tayshia Adams
• And we all love you!!! 🤍 – Rachel Recchia
• Keep pushing, only better things to come for you 💖 – Becca Kufrin
• We love you & are rooting for you ❤️ you got this 💪 😘 – Raven Gates
• We love you Rachael!!!!! 😍😍 – Becca Tilley
• Can’t dim that light! Nowhere but up from here beautiful girl! ♥️✨ – Jessenia Cruz
• Queen!! You got this❤️❤️❤️ – Vanessa Grimaldi

That doesn’t even include everyone from The Bachelor world who sent love, with some — including Jessica Girod, Kaity Biggar, Hannah Godwin, Susie Evans and Jade Roper — dropping emojis in solidarity.

Say what you will about the drama we see between the contestants sometimes, but this shows how much the women actually care about each other.

Matt James hasn’t had anything to say publicly for the past couple of weeks, so we’ll have to see if he ends up going on any podcasts to refute Rachael Kirkconnell’s side of the story or give his reasons for the seemingly sudden split. Until then, we’ve at least got Grant Ellis’ journey to focus on.

New episodes of The Bachelor air at 8 p.m. ET Mondays on ABC and can be streamed the next day with a Hulu subscription. If you can’t wait to see how it ends, check out the spoiler for who wins Grant Ellis’ season.

Spoiler alert! This story contains spoilers The Bachelor Season 29. The series can be streamed in full with a Hulu subscription, but if you just want to know how it ended, keep reading or skip to the spoilers to see who won Grant’s season.

Grant Ellis’ journey to find love as The Bachelor has officially ended, as America watched him propose to Juliana Pasquarosa during a three-hour season finale. It was a long journey to go from the 25 women who exited the limos on Night 1, which premiered on the 2025 TV schedule in January, down to just one. A lot of hearts were broken along the way, and I kept track of every rose ceremony and elimination.

While there were no dramatic 2-on-1 dates, there was plenty of drama in Bachelor Mansion on Grant Ellis’ season. So whether you missed a week or just can’t remember what happened to a particular cast member, I’ve got you covered. Let’s take a look at the order everyone was sent home on The Bachelor Season 29:

Night 1 Rose Ceremony: Seven Fail To Make An Impression

The first night in Bachelor Mansion is historically brutal. These contestants have gone through the long audition process, packed their bags and prepared to be away from home for weeks, and then all of a sudden, it’s over before it even really started. As is typical, Grant Ellis’ first night — which included a no-drama llama, several kisses and a surprise appearance from his sister — seemed overwhelming for all involved, but when it was over, seven women failed to receive the all-important flower at the rose ceremony. Grant said goodbye to:

• Christina Smith
• J’Nae Squires Horton (Maybe Grant’s not a LeBron James fan?)
• Kelsey Curtis
• Kyleigh Henrich (She heard he liked to salsa, so she brought him chips and salsa.)
• Neicey Baxter
• Radhika Gupta
• Savannah Quinn (You know that connection's not there when you bring cake and still get sent home.)

It’s typical to see about a third of the contestants sent home on Night 1. Joey Graziadei eliminated 10 of his starting 32 in Season 28, and before him, Zach Shallcross sent 10 of 30 home. Grant Ellis started with fewer women and therefore didn’t have quite as many Night 1 goodbyes.

Week 2: Four Sent Home In Rose Ceremony

Typically in Week 2, there are still tons of women we don’t really know yet, so the rose ceremony eliminations don’t always pack an emotional punch. However, Grant Ellis surprised me on February 3 with a couple of his choices. In all, four women went home (pictured above, left to right):

• Allyshia Gupta
• Ella Del Rosario
• Rebekah Garrett
• Vicky Nyamuswa

Allyshia Gupta was actually the first person to kiss Grant on Night 1, so I wouldn’t have expected her to go so soon. Also, when the energy in the house was off during this episode, the Bachelor pulled Rebekah Garrett aside to get her take on what was going on. That made me think he valued her opinion, so I thought he might keep her around. Am I wrong, or did he also have a good time with Ella Del Rosario at the cocktail party? Sadly we also lost our Vegas girl Vicky Nyamuswa.

This season's rose ceremonies got tough quick!

Week 3: Beverly Ortega Exits Suddenly After Becoming ‘Very Sick’

Beverly Ortega was one of two women this week to get chosen for a one-on-one date, so it was especially surprising to hear before that happened that she’d gotten “very sick” and wouldn’t be returning to the house. Reality Steve provided slightly more context on his blog, saying:

Beverly Ortega spoke out following her elimination to clarify that she was hospitalized for an emergency appendectomy, and rather than return to Bachelor Mansion following her surgery, she decided it was best to recover at home.

Week 3: Rose Ceremony Claims Three Victims

Drama between Carolina Quixano and Rose Sombke robbed some women of time with Grant Ellis during their prom with The Golden Bachelorette contestants, including Chloie Costello (above, left). I was sad to see the plus-size model go, but I love that The Bachelor finally gave us some body diversity. Thank you, Chloie, you will be missed!

Despite winning the group date and getting to spend her Grant bucks on one of The Bachelor’s T-shirts to sleep in, Bailey Brown (above, center) also failed to get a rose in Week 3. She and Alli Jo Hinkes — the third eliminated contestant — were fun but ultimately not Grant’s person.

Week 4: Rose Sombke Self-Eliminates After Carolina Did Her Dirty

Bachelor Nation finally got to see the promised moment from the previews, where Rose Sombke hisses, “You did me dirtyyyy.” Of course she was addressing Carolina Quixano, who was at the center of the drama for most of Season 29. What followed that ominous accusation was Rose telling Grant Ellis that she was going home. Grant agreed their relationship had stalled after he was accused of telling Rose he'd been thinking about her while dancing with Carolina.

Footage shown at the "Women Tell All" seemed to exonerate Grant, who did say he was thinking about Rose during all the dancing on the group date, but he didn't specify that it was when he was dancing with Carolina. Rose apologized for the misunderstanding.

Week 4: Two Eliminated At Rose Ceremony

Poor Parisa Shifteh (above left) had a rough week, waking up with a pimple and burning herself with her curling iron. Also, what was up with her spray tan? Even though she did her best to stay positive and turn things around, Grant added the cherry to her worst-week sundae by sending her home at the rose ceremony. We also lost Natalie Phillips (above right), who was fun to watch but didn’t seem to have much chemistry with the lead.

Week 5: The Carolina Show Is Finally Over

Someone remind me, does Carolina Quixano enjoy or not enjoy group dates? Once again, the 28-year-old PR producer (above, left) dominated Grant’s attention by pouting about the other women, but after her spat with Dina Lupancu, I did appreciate that she buried the hatchet with her friend at the cocktail party. The Bachelor, meanwhile was finally ready to put an end to the drama and did not hand Carolina a rose.

Unfortunately for Alexe Godin and Sarafiena Watkins (above, center and right, respectively), the situation involving Carolina probably did keep them from spending more time with Grant this week, and they also will not be introducing Grant to their families.

Hometowns Rose Ceremony: Did Dina Lupancu’s Family Doom Her?

Grant Ellis met a LOT of people when he visited his final four’s hometowns on March 3, but his trip to Chicago to see Dina Lupancu’s loved ones was a bit different, with her family opting out because they were not comfortable meeting a man who was still involved with other women. Grant still got to see Dina in her environment with her best friends, but not having the family’s support is a pretty big obstacle for Grant to face at this point. Whatever his reasons, Dina went right back to her hometown following the rose ceremony.

Fantasy Suites Rose Ceremony: 3 Women, 2 Roses, 1 Grant

Our Season 27 Bachelor had a solid plan for Fantasy Suites, and he definitely got the job done, as Grant Ellis said he is officially in love — possibly with two women. Unfortunately that meant this was the end of the line for Zoe McGrady. The elimination honestly didn’t come as a surprise to Bachelor Nation; in fact, fans were shocked Zoe made it this far.

Grant Stuns Litia In Finale Elimination: ‘The Switch-Up Is Crazy’

Grant Ellis seemed super conflicted going into proposal day, but Litia Garr was confident she was getting engaged. When Grant told her he wasn’t her person, she was visibly shocked, and she revealed afterward that he had basically been telling her she was it since their one-on-one date in Week 2. He even told her mom that! Brutal.

That means Juliana Pasquarosa was the last woman standing! After that tough breakup, we saw Grant get down on one knee, and they made their first official appearance as an engaged couple on “After the Final Rose.”

That brings Season 29 to a close! Thanks for hanging with me, and if you want to relive any of Grant Ellis' journey, you can stream The Bachelor on Hulu, one of the best streaming services to subscribe to.

Spoiler alert! This story discusses rumors about the end of The Bachelor Season 29, including who Grant Ellis allegedly proposes to. Turn back now if you want to avoid MAJOR SPOILERS.

New love is in the air, as Grant Ellis is set to kick off the 29th season of The Bachelor on the 2025 TV schedule. After getting eliminated before Hometown dates on Jenn Tran’s season of The Bachelorette, the New Jersey day trader was chosen as the second Black man to lead the dating franchise’s flagship series. The season may just be getting started, but filming actually wrapped back in October, so if you can’t wait to find out which four women get to bring Grant home or to see who he proposes to in the end, we’ve got The Bachelor Season 29 spoilers right here.

Twenty-five women will exit the limos on January 27 to kick off Grant Ellis’ journey to find love, and that’s quite frankly a lot of people to keep up with. Many Bachelor Nation fans prefer to know which women make it the farthest on the season in order to focus attention on them. Knowing how the season ends doesn’t need to ruin the experience; it can enhance it by allowing you to know whose love story you’re watching. As per usual, Reality Steve is reporting the alleged winner, so if you want to know who that is, check out his Instagram post below:

It looks like congratulations are in order for Juliana Pasquarosa, a 28-year-old client service associate from Massachusetts, as she is reportedly engaged to Grant Ellis. According to her official ABC bio, Juliana is bubbly, outgoing and not afraid to speak her mind. She was looking for a man with a good heart and strong ambition and who loves to hang out with family. Hopefully she’s found that with Grant!

Juliana Pasquarosa’s bio also mentions that she isn’t afraid of heights, but she has no interest in jumping off of something high. Who’s placing bets on how many weeks before we see The Bachelor producers make her jump from a high distance?

According to Reality Steve’s post, Litia Garr, a venture capitalist from Salt Lake City, Utah, finishes the season at runner-up. His spoiler blog also reveals the other members of Grant Ellis’ top 4: Dina Lupancu (pictured below, left), an attorney from Chicago, was allegedly sent home on Hometown week, while Chicago tech engineer Zoe McGrady (below, right) got the boot during Fantasy Suites.

Reality Steve has been reporting on the ending of The Bachelor and its spinoffs for the majority of the franchise’s 23-year run. He does not reveal his sources, but suffice it to say he’s right more times than not.

Hopefully this little spoiler will help to enhance your viewing pleasure as Grant Ellis begins what looks like a great season on his quest to find his forever person on The Bachelor. Season 29 premieres at 8 p.m. ET Monday, January 27, on ABC and can be streamed the next day with a Hulu subscription.

I don’t know about you, but when it comes to the 2025 TV schedule, the series I’m starting my year hooked on is the U.S. version of The Traitors. I know, I know, it’s been a hot topic for those with a Peacock subscription since the U.S. version of the show started in 2023, but I’m just getting into watching all the lying and treachery this month. I want to talk about why it took me so long, and why I’ve just about never binged a series faster.

If you too are catching up on the hype, The Traitors is a reality game show that has a group of people venturing to a castle in the Scottish Highlands to play a social deception game. A select few are secretly selected by host Alan Cumming to serve as as “traitors” while the rest of the contestants are “faithfuls”. Oh, and $250,000 is on the line to win. While the Traitors are tasked with anonymously "killing" a contestant each week, it is the job of the faithfuls to suss out the traitors, because if there are any left in the game at the end, they will be the only ones to win money and thus, the faithfuls will leave Scotland empty handed. Now, I’ll get into my fun journey with the show as a recent first-time viewer.

I Waited To Start The Traitors Because I Don’t Know Most Of The Contestants

When it comes to reality TV, I wouldn’t say that I am a frequent viewer. In recent years, I have fallen into the trap of dating shows within Bachelor Nation and Netflix series like Love Is Blind, and every once in a while I’ll get into a competition show like Dancing With The Stars or The Voice. So when, I decided to turn on the first season of The Traitors, I really didn’t know anything about most of the contestants from shows like Survivor, Big Brother or Real Housewives. The only familiar one for me, was Arie from The Bachelorette and The Bachelor.

This was the main reason why I steered clear of The Traitors. In the ads for the show, it seemed to market the personalities of these shows as selling points, when I’d never seen them before in my life. However, when I decided to just give it a try, it was only the first episode or two that had me feeling like I had to fill in the gaps about who the players were. After that, I was really able to settle into the game and not feel like I was missing much by not seeing the shows some of the players are from.

But, As Soon As I Started I Had To Be Pulled Away From My TV

I wouldn’t call myself much of a binge-watcher either, but as soon as I understood the concept of The Traitors and started seeing it play out, it felt like all I wanted to do was sit on my couch and hit play until the finale. Over just a few days, I experienced the first season, and was really impressed with how much I enjoyed it. Wow, these people are ruthless for money!

Why am I so into this show? First off, I think it’s really cleverly executed. I’m someone who would absolutely cringe if I had to play a social deception game because I’m a horrible liar, but to sit back and watch one play out where the stakes is hundreds and thousands of dollars, it feels like one big social experiment along with having players who know how to both be entertaining and have a good time with it.

It's always intriguing to see shows that have people work for big sums of cash, and between his elaborate outfits and performance, Alan Cumming is one of the best series hosts I've ever seen. He's committed to a theatrical character, and it just works so well. Oh, and the sets! The sets are gorgeous. It does feel like you're watching a movie play out with how well thought out each part of the game is.

At first I enjoyed the “game show” element of there being missions and being clued in on the traitors strategy, but ultimately I think my curiosity grew and grew because it’s addicting to watch the group of people know multiple people are lying to gain for themselves, and how that poisons the water and affects how they act and go about things. What does it take to be successful in The Traitors? What twists would come up next? I was on the edge of my seat.

Why Not Knowing The Contestants Actually Makes It A Lot Of Fun

While I initially thought that The Traitors wouldn’t be for me because of its connection with so many reality shows, ultimately I think it’s accessible to anyone. I’d even recommend more people who are not into reality TV get into it with me, because I I feel like I had perhaps an even better time being short-sided by what I would be getting from each player and how they would react in different situations. In Season 1 for example, one who has watched Survivor might already be privy to the fact that Cirie is a master at reality TV game play, but since each player was seen in my eyes as an equal in the beginning, I watched as they presented themselves and their strategies in different situations.

If you do join the dark side with me, I do recommend starting at the beginning. I’m happy I didn’t throw myself into streaming The Traitors Season 3 first, because Season 1 is the only season of the U.S. version that has a mix of civilians and stars. It was also a blast to see the reality veterans interact with fans of reality TV, because it added a new layer of deception for the players, too.

After Finishing The First Season I Totally Understand Why It Needs All The Reality Stars

Since starting Season 3 and seeing who Alan Cumming chose out of a castle full of big names, I understand why the series decided to fill the entire castle with reality stars going forward. They are more likely to be big personalities who stir the pot, and the faithfuls in the first season seemed to lose an edge because they were not playing to the same cunning level as the reality stars.

Sure, there’s a part of me that just wants to see everyday people play this social deception game, but after watching the first season and getting into the current season, I’m aware that the reality TV stars just add so much gloss and danger to the game.

Anyway, I’ll be watching the new season week by week and watching what I missed at a later date. I'm an officially a faithful to The Traitors.

We’re mere days away from Grant Ellis making his debut on the 2025 TV schedule as The Bachelor’s second Black lead, but for the last week or so, fans’ attention has been laser-focused on the first. Matt James shocked Bachelor Nation with his post announcing that he had split from Rachael Kirkconnell four years after they met on Season 25 of the ABC dating show. Despite the breakup seemingly coming out of nowhere, a source alleges it was a “long time coming,” and fans have gotten to work dissecting Kirkconnell’s social media activity for clues as to what may have happened.

Source Discloses What Allegedly Led To Matt And Rachael’s Split

Given The Bachelor’s racism scandal that Matt James and Rachael Kirkconnell weathered following their televised courtship, coupled with their frequent social media posts eating and traveling together, Bachelor Nation had little reason to believe trouble was afoot in this relationship. In fact, the suddenness of it all had fans theorizing that it was a prank or that James had been hacked. An insider for US Weekly, however, claims there was more going on behind the scenes than we realized. They said:

Rachael Kirkconnell’s sister commented on a TikTok video about the breakup, allegedly saying that Matt James had ended the relationship just three hours before posting the Instagram announcement. With so much tea just begging to be spilled, fans have found several potentially telling clues from Kirkconnell’s own social media activity.

Is Rachael Kirkconnell Subtlely Revealing What Happened With Matt James?

Rachael Kirkconnell’s last post on Instagram is from December — a birthday tribute to the former Bachelor — but within the comments of that post there seems to be a clue regarding the events surrounding the breakup. Kirkconnell “liked” a comment from mac_hodgdon that read:

A source for US Weekly, however, clarified that Rachael Kirkconnell was blindsided by Matt James’ fast public announcement, not the breakup itself.

Some fans are also wondering if infidelity was involved, after The Bachelor contestant reportedly reposted a couple of TikTok videos that mentioned cheating. In one, a woman hides behind the door at the house of her friend’s supposedly cheating boyfriend and tackles him when he walks in. Another shows visuals from Sex and the City, with Carrie telling Aidan that she misses him and him responding, “You broke my heart!” by cheating on him with Mr. Big.

With Matt James not saying much about the split and Rachael Kirkconnell not really saying anything, all fans can do is speculate on why the couple ended their four-year relationship. While we wait for any official explanation, Bachelor Nation can tune in for Grant Ellis’ journey, which kicks off at 8 p.m. ET Monday, January 27, on ABC and streaming the next day with a Hulu subscription.

Spoiler alert! This story contains spoilers for all episodes of Special Forces: World’s Toughest Test Season 3 through January 15’s “Terror” and “Brotherhood.” You can catch up by streaming episodes with a Hulu subscription.

It feels like the third season of Special Forces: World’s Toughest Test has barely begun airing on the 2025 TV schedule, and already a ton of celebrities have been booted. From the recruits so far, we’ve seen anticlimactic exits — like that of proud grandpa Stephen Baldwin, who was disqualified after voicing concerns about being injured — as well as scary medical withdrawals from athletes like Marion Jones-Thompson and Landon Donovan. As a fan of The Bachelor franchise, I’m devastated that we’ve also already lost both Ali Fedotowsky-Manno and Trista Sutter, but my reason is deeper than simply not getting to watch them on the show anymore.

The fact that both Trista Sutter and Ali Fedotowsky-Manno have withdrawn from the Fox competition show — and so early in the season — is so disappointing to me because of how well Bachelor Nation alumni have done historically on Special Forces: World’s Toughest Test. In fact, before this season, every Bachelor/Bachelorette contestant who’s been on this show has won it — Hannah Brown in Season 1, and Nick Viall and Tyler Cameron in Season 2.

I'm really bummed that the finger injury suffered by Ali Fedotowsky-Manno — who appeared on Jake Pavelka’s season of The Bachelor before becoming The Bachelorette in Season 6 — put an end to the dating franchise’s dominance on Special Forces. You could tell how disappointed she was at having to medically withdraw, which made it all the more painful for fans to watch.

She was followed shortly after by one of the franchise’s most famous contestants, Trista Sutter, who was the runner-up on Season 1 of The Bachelor and went on to become the very first lead of The Bachelorette. Trista is still married to the guy she met on that show, Ryan Sutter, and who can forget the mess he made this past summer when Trista “disappeared” to film Special Forces? Her exit came after she reportedly went into hypothermic shock after a challenge. Trista told TV Insider:

That sounds actually really serious, and even in the disappointment over losing our Bachelor Nation representatives, nobody can argue that both were valid withdrawals. It just would have been so cool to continue the trend of the dating show contestants owning a competition that’s so physically and mentally demanding.

After hearing the literal torture that former Bachelorette Hannah Brown endured during the final interrogation of Special Forces: World’s Toughest Test, I’m not sure how anybody would volunteer to partake in the show. Sure enough, however, Season 2 came along featuring former Bachelor Nick Viall and Tyler Cameron, who was the runner-up on Hannah Brown’s season. Both made it through the interrogation that capped that season.

We’ll have to see who’s got what it takes to complete Season 3, but for Bachelor Nation, it’s a hard pill to swallow that it won’t be one our own this time around. Tune in to new episodes at 8 p.m. ET Wednesdays on Fox, and start scouting for potential future contestants when Grant Ellis’ season of The Bachelor premieres at 8 p.m. ET Monday, January 27, on ABC.

Matt James and Rachael Kirkconnell caused quite a stir in Bachelor Nation back in 2020, when a racism scandal rocked The Bachelor’s 25th season — its first to feature a Black lead. Despite the “devastating” revelations of Kirkconnell’s past and a controversial interview that resulted in host Chris Harrison stepping away from the franchise, James and Kirkconnell remained one of Bachelor Nation’s longest-lasting couples for the better part of five years — until now. The former football player announced January 16 that he and Kirkconnell decided to “end our relationship,” causing a frenzy amongst fans, as the announcement came just hours after a video showed the couple vacationing together.

Days ahead of The Bachelor Season 29 premiere on the 2025 TV schedule, rumors are flying on social media after Matt James sent up a prayer to mend his and Rachael Kirkconnell’s broken hearts in a somber breakup post that included an image from The Bachelor. He wrote:

Matt James and Rachael Kirkconnell kept a pretty low profile after all the drama that ensued on The Bachelor, but given how long they were together — and the obstacles they’d overcome at the start of their relationship — much of Bachelor Nation has long had them pegged as endgame. If the breakup alone wasn’t enough to shock fans, consider the fact that it came just hours after this video of James and Kirkconnell eating pizza together in London:

Is it possible that the pizza video and other posts from their London trip were taken a while ago, and that Matt James had to his fulfill sponsorship agreements before announcing the breakup? Whatever the circumstances, Bachelor Nation had thoughts — some of them quite amusing — as they speculated in the comments section:

• Did we skip to Aprils fools day?! – skylar.michaelis
• How bad was the pizza? – sara.eats.world
• Y’all was just eating pizza together?!? Just get some hot wings and tell her you are sorry 😟 – optimistjay19
• Wait I feel like this is sketch. I can’t believe the break up. Something is happening. – ezahbellahh

Breakups in Bachelor Nation aren’t exactly unusual, so it’s pretty wild to see fans expressing such disbelief over this one. In fact, Rachael Kirkconnell and Matt James’ split seemed so unlikely that many were asking on posts on both of their pages if the ex-Bachelor was possibly hacked. They said:

• It’s so weird. I wonder if he got hacked – lexiii413
• With all due respect, the math ain’t mathing on this one Matt … have you been hacked? – jordannleitnerr
• What is happening was he hacked?? Are you really over ?!?!?? – xoxamyyyy
• He was definitely hacked – mrsdsteve
• I was wondering if he was hacked too!! – stahl_karen

Fans may be suspicious of the timing of the post, but hours after the breakup news started to circulate, neither Matt James nor Rachael Kirkconnell had spoken out with any additional clarity. In fact, the last post on Kirkconnell’s Instagram is a photo from five weeks ago celebrating her partner’s birthday.

Many are sad to see this Bachelor success story come to an end, but I, for one, am ready to watch the dating franchise’s next attempt. Grant Ellis’ season of The Bachelor premieres at 8 p.m. ET Monday, January 27, on ABC and can be streamed the next day with a Hulu subscription.

The number of Swifties who would openly consider themselves obsessed with Taylor Swift’s outfits are countless, and I’d venture to guess that most of those fans are looking for easter eggs, possibly regarding the release date of Reputation (Taylor’s Version) or another of Swift’s upcoming projects. However, that’s not the case for one former constestant on The Bachelor. Amanda Stanton has apparently noticed some similarities between the Midnights artist’s wardrobe and her own, and she’s getting dragged on social media after the wild claims that Swift might be stealing her style.

Amanda Stanton made it to Hometowns on Ben Higgins’ season of The Bachelor in 2016, then went on to get engaged to one of Bachelor Nation’s more controversial winners, Josh Murray, on Bachelor in Paradise Season 3. That relationship didn’t last, but the fame she got from her reality TV stints did — so much so that Stanton thinks even Taylor Swift may have taken notice. In an Instagram Story, the fashion blogger voiced a pretty bold theory after seeing pics of Swift out on a date night recently with Travis Kelce. Stanton wrote:

Amanda Stanton included an image of her black jacket with silver embellishments alongside Taylor Swift’s black jacket with silver embellishments. However, as she noted, the two were completely different. It’s a shame Stanton didn’t bring receipts for the other six occurrences, but she probably didn’t realize how seriously everyone would take the quasi-accusations. (As a Swiftie herself, Stanton definitely should have known better.)

TikToker Stephanie Tleiji captured the post and roasted Amanda Stanton as “delulu,” saying:

Fans echoed the TikToker’s sentiment in the comments, adding their own jabs at the Bachelor Nation alum:

• I wanna be this delulu – sem.pan
• Sparkles in Christmas… groundbreaking – caitlinn0904
• I wear a red lip and Taylor Swift keeps wearing a red lip, she’s obsessed. – joseycastellanos
• Do you know the mental lengths you have to go to to convince yourself Taylor Swift it copying you 😫😭😭 – goodnightem
• Is she okay? 😭😭😭 – nicklepickle777
• I almost spat my Diet Coke right outta my mouth when I saw this 😂 – docksidelove
• Omgosh, I was born in the late 80s and then Taylor was born in the late 80s. I’m just saying totally different years, but this is like the 2nd time someone famous was born after me. – swiftie6775

It’s brutal out there.

To Amanda Stanton’s credit, US Weekly did find at least one other twinning instance between the two, with The Bachelor alum posting images of a blue long-sleeved minidress with a fringed hem around the same time as Taylor Swift was seen in a similar look. It’s definitely more likely that they share similar tastes and are into the same trends than Swift rushing out to dupe the outfits that Stanton posts to social media.

Surely, the Bachelor Nation star knows that (right?), but either way, I’d still love to see some receipts.

This has been quite a monumental year for Joey Graziadei. After falling in love and getting engaged to Kelsey Anderson on The Bachelor (which will return to the 2025 TV schedule in January), the tennis pro competed on and won the 33rd season of Dancing with the Stars. Will the new year hold just as much good fortune for the reality star? A source reports that Graziadei and Anderson are looking at what’s next, and if the rumors are true, it sounds like they could have some big plans to return to TV.

Joey Graziadei may still be trying to process the events of the last 12 months, during which he found love on reality TV and then Tarzan-danced his way to a Mirrorball Trophy with Jenna Johnson. His fiancée Kelsey Anderson has been by his side the whole time cheering him on, but according to a source for OK! magazine, they haven’t gotten too far into wedding planning just yet. The insider divulges:

After we saw distance play a role in ending the marriage of The Golden Bachelor couple Gerry Turner and Theresa Nist, it’s good to know that Joey Graziadei and Kelsey Anderson have at least taken that step. It also means he’s no longer couch-surfing with Anderson and her roommates, which is a very, very good thing.

The Bachelor Season 28 stars previously revealed that they’d had conversations in the Fantasy Suites about what steps they wanted to take after the show and how public they wanted their relationship to be. If the sources are correct, ABC is really hoping to be included in those ongoing discussions, which means it’s possible we’ll see them on our screens again soon. The insider said that allegedly:

Either one of those options would be huge for Bachelor Nation. We have seen a handful of couples tie the knot in a televised wedding special — the most recent of which was, of course, Gerry and Theresa’s unhinged affair — and it sounds like The Golden Bachelorette’s Joan Vassos and Chock Chapple may follow in their footsteps.

However, it’s rare to be talking about an actual spinoff. Only a handful of The Bachelor couples have gone on to star in their own shows, most notably Ben Higgins and Lauren Bushnell in their Freeform series Ben and Lauren: Happily Ever After in 2016 (spoiler alert: It was not, in fact, happily ever after.).

JoJo Fletcher and Jordan Rodgers have hosted a couple of series together including the reality dating show The Big D, and while they never appeared together on the ABC shows, Chris Lambton and Peyton Wright — runners-up on their respective seasons of The Bachelorette and The Bachelor — got married and starred in the HGTV series Going Yard.

America has fallen in love not only with Joey Graziadei on three different ABC shows (starting with Charity Lawson’s season of The Bachelorette), but also Kelsey Anderson and even her father Mark, who appeared on The Golden Bachelorette and was considered a possible frontrunner to lead The Golden Bachelor Season 2. Now that he appears to be dating One Tree Hill actress Barbara Alyn Woods, I’m convinced this family is made for television.

Hopefully we will see more of Joey and Kelsey in the new year, and be sure to catch Grant Ellis’ season of The Bachelor, which premieres at 8 p.m. ET Monday, January 27, on ABC and streaming the next day with a Hulu subscription.

Looking for love on reality TV can’t be an easy thing (as Grant Ellis is about to find out when The Bachelor premieres on the 2025 TV schedule), and yet, Katie Thurston built her career doing just that. The former Bachelorette was thrice unsuccessful in finding her forever person in front of the dating show cameras, but it wasn’t like she could just hit the apps anonymously anymore. Thurston opened up about the biggest change she had to make, and I was actually surprised by her perspective.

America first met Katie Thurston when she appeared as a sex-positive contestant on Matt James’ season of ABC’s dating show in 2020, armed with her trusty purple vibrator. She went on to to lead Season 17 of The Bachelorette, and in 2023 she was one of the leads of The CW’s FBoy Island. After the last of those relationships ended, a lot was different about the way she had to approach finding a partner, and in Q&A on her Instagram Stories, she revealed the biggest change, writing:

After appearances on three reality dating shows (not to mention her guest role on Bachelor in Paradise), Katie Thurston had gained hundreds of thousands of Instagram followers, and plenty of her fans were invested in her love story. Not only did she have to find someone who was OK with her being a public figure in that way, she had to make sure any prospective partner wasn’t using her for her newfound fame.

That seems like a huge burden, especially with fans who are used to getting such an intimate look at her relationships, so I was surprised by that second part of her answer, where she suggests she’s grateful that her followers have been quick to alert her to any red flags in the guys she’s posted with. I would think it would be such a pain to deal with DMs regarding any and all potential boyfriends, but she admits it was for the best that she was able to have them basically vetted by the general public.

Of course, it seems she learned her lesson from that, too, as she continued:

I guess you can’t have it both ways. Putting a relationship out there for public consumption too soon can put a lot of pressure on it, and if the spark ends up fizzling anyway, it was all for nothing. However, waiting until things are a little more serious before hard-launching a new fella also means she doesn’t have the opportunity for those skeletons to be unearthed in a timely manner.

Thankfully for Katie Thurston, she doesn’t have to worry about that anymore. She’s now engaged to fellow comedian Jeff Arcuri after meeting him earlier in 2024.

After competing for Matt James’ heart on The Bachelor, Thurston got engaged to Blake Moynes during a dramatic Bachelorette finale that included her accusing contestant Greg Grippo of lying and gaslighting. She ultimately called off her engagement and began dating John Hersey, another contestant from her season, before that also ended and she went on FBOY Island.

Maybe reality TV didn’t lead directly to love, but it got her fame, as well as a pretty positive perspective on the upside of a public relationship.

Considering Dancing with the Stars' Season 33 cast features a Bachelor and a Bachelorette, it makes sense that the internet is thinking about who could take over that mantel from the DWTS ensemble. A frontrunner, in a joking way, is Ilona Maher, who has posted numerous times about wanting to find her person. Now, the rugby player and her partner Alan Bersten have hilariously laid out the requirements for her potential eligible bachelors, and I hope ABC is taking notes.

After DWTS’ 500th episode aired on the 2024 TV schedule, and Maher and Bersten survived the instant dance challenge, they did a slew of post-show interviews. While chatting with ET, they were asked about previous comments regarding The Bachelorette. And instead of turning the question down, they played with it and explained all the qualities that could make her dream man:

Obviously, the duo seems to be joking. However, they made some great points, and there’s no denying that Ilona Maher would be a great lead for The Bachelorette (or any reality show, really). Plus, she’s been competing alongside last season’s lead, Jen Tran and the most recent Bachelor Joey Graziadei for weeks now. So, she could easily get pointers.

However, based on the specific list of requirements Alan had, I think these two have it covered. So, Bachelorette producers, listen up. We’re looking for 30 men, and Ilona's partner has a great list of qualifications for them, starting with:

Considering Ilona Maher is a professional rugby player who has an Olympic medal for the sport, I think this is a good requirement. However, she made a fair point after that, saying that they could be “just, like strong” too.

Along with that, Bersten noted a height requirement, asking Maher if 6'2" or 6'5" is preferred. She clarified that 5’ 10” – which is her height – or taller is ideal.

The final two requirements are super important too. As you know if you follow the athlete on TikTok, she loves to read, and her partner said that her man also needs to “be able to read books.” Meanwhile, Maher laid down one more law herself, making it clear that her potential love interest must be into food. She will have no one who isn’t appreciative of a good meal. And overall, I agree with all of that.

So, let’s get the casting call out, shall we? This sounds like a lock to me!

As you know if you’ve followed The Olympics and DWTS, Ilona Maher is an empowering woman. She’s also incredibly funny – as you can see in any of her TikToks, including the one where she and Bersten tried Danny Amendola’s viral life. Plus, she seems so grounded and caring. So, she’s deserving of love, and maybe she’ll find it on The Bachelorette.

While Ilona and Alan were joking about this all, I’d certainly sign up to watch a season of The Bachelorette led by the Olympian. Plus, I’d love to see the men they find who obviously must meet all the qualifications listed above.

Well, even though this all might be a pipe dream, it’s fun to dream and joke about. And thankfully, we haven’t seen the last of Ilona on our TVs as she’s still competing on Dancing with the Stars. You can see her dance with Alan next week by watching DWTS on ABC or with a Disney+ subscription on Tuesday at 8 p.m. ET.

Last September, I was right there with the rest of America, tearily cheering The Golden Bachelor Gerry Turner on as he searched for love again. However, as a longtime Bachelor fan, I wasn’t exactly surprised when he and Theresa Nist announced their divorce. Emotionally devastated? Sure. Just not surprised. So as Joan Vassos’ season of The Golden Bachelorette is set to hit the 2024 TV schedule, I completely understand why Bachelor Nation feels burned. However, there’s one huge reason why viewers shouldn’t be deterred from watching, and it has to do with the history of the franchise.

It turns out the first season of The Bachelor didn’t end in a “till death do we part” fairy tale either, but The Bachelorette has always been a whole different story. Let’s take a look back, shall we?

Could Gerry and Joan’s Seasons Mirror The First Seasons Of The Bachelor And The Bachelorette?

Back in 2002, Alex Michel and Amanda Marsh became The Bachelor’s first official couple. Never heard of them? Yeah, they are definitely not amongst the most famous Bachelor alums, and that might be because their relationship ended less than a year after they filmed the Season 1 finale. But you know who else was on that inaugural season? Trista Sutter.

When she appeared as a contestant on Alex Michel’s season, she was still Trista Rehn, and after she finished in second place, ABC decided to make her the very first lead of The Bachelorette. The rest is history, because to this day she remains married to Ryan Sutter (pictured above with Trista), who was a 28-year-old firefighter when he proposed back in 2003.

Think about it, if we’d given up on The Bachelor after Alex Michel’s breakup, we wouldn’t have gotten Trista Sutter’s decades-long love story or the incredible highs and lows of the other 47 seasons that have aired on ABC since then. So we can’t give up on Joan Vassos and the Golden franchise just because Gerry Turner and Theresa Nist didn’t last.

The Bachelorette Couples Have Historically Been More Successful Than The Bachelor’s

It’s not just the first two seasons of the flagship series either. The Bachelorette has resulted in more marriages between the lead and the man they choose in the end than its counterpart, and as far as successful relationships go, until recently, it wasn’t even close. Sean Lowe remains the only Bachelor to make it to the altar with the woman he proposed to on the show. Compare that to five weddings for The Bachelorette in fewer seasons.

When you break it down a little further, however, the women don’t have quite as much of an advantage. Of the five Bachelorette couples who married, only three remain together:

• Season 1’s Trista and Ryan Sutter (married in 2003)
• Season 9’s Desiree Hartsock and Chris Siegried (married in 2015)
• Season 12’s JoJo Fletcher and Jordan Rodgers (pictured above, married in 2022 after a six-year engagement).

The other two have since gotten divorced, with Season 7’s Ashley Hebert splitting with J.P. Rosenbaum after eight years of marriage and Bryan Abasolo filing for divorce from Season 13’s Rachel Lindsay in January 2024 after four years as husband and wife.

Then there’s Season 25’s Charity Lawson, who is currently engaged to Dotun Olubeko. Will they be the sixth Bachelorette couple to say “I do”?

Over on The Bachelor side, as previously mentioned, Season 17’s Sean Lowe and Catherine Giudici have been married since 2014. While they’re technically the only final couple to marry, some may count Season 13’s Jason Mesnick and Season 22’s Arie Luyendyk Jr., who each changed their mind following their finale proposal and ultimately married (and remain married to) their runners-up, Molly Malaney and Lauren Burnham, respectively.

You’ve also got several final Bachelor couples who are still together but not married (yet?). Matt James and Rachael Kirkconnell are still together after their roller coaster of a season in 2021, and the two most recent Bachelors — Zach Shallcross and Joey Graziadei — remain engaged to Kaity Biggar and Kelsey Anderson, respectively.

The Golden Franchise Is Bigger Than Its Relationships

Looking at it through the lens of history and women seeming to have more success than the men does give me hope that Joan Vassos might just find what she’s looking for. However, even if you take the romance out of it, there are other important reasons why we can’t give up so soon on the Golden shows. Simply put, too much good came out of Gerry Turner’s season to reduce it to his divorce from Theresa Nist.

The Golden Bachelor did appeal to viewers because of its love story, but it was so much more than that. The series was wholesome and full of heart, but it was tragic in a way as well. It gave its contestants a platform to discuss grief and loss in an honest way with peers who could empathize, and that’s simply something that isn’t seen on TV.

Not only did the dating spinoff give people hope that love can be found no matter how old they are, it let us witness eye-opening conversations about sex, friendship and aging. It allowed people like Joan Vassos to not feel invisible.

Sure, I’ve still got some skepticism going into it. Joan opened up about a conversation she had with Gerry Turner on his season regarding her unwillingness to move away from her family. Location is likely to be an enduring issue for the Golden seasons, as people with children and grandchildren aren’t going to be as willing to pick up and move for a relationship as singles in their 20s and 30s. Still, at least we’ve got history on our side.

I’m trying to remain optimistic that The Golden Bachelorette will end in success, even in the wake of Gerry Turner and Theresa Nist’s failed marriage, the same way that Trista Sutter followed Alex Michel. Either way, we don’t have long to find out now. Joan Vassos’ journey kicks off at 8 p.m. ET Wednesday, September 18, on ABC and can be streamed the next day with a Hulu subscription.

Moments after Grant Ellis was eliminated from Jenn Tran’s season of The Bachelorette, ABC surprised Bachelor Nation with the announcement that we’ll be seeing a lot more of him in the new year. Ellis, a 30-year-old day trader from Houston, Texas, will be the star of The Bachelor Season 29, becoming the series’ second Black lead. After Ellis officially introduced himself to America on Tuesday, I’m getting really excited for another great season of the reality dating show.

While fans were over the moon about Grant Ellis’ announcement, we couldn’t help but notice how unusual it was for ABC to make his identity known so early. Many bristled at the fact that Ellis wasn’t given Good Morning America as a platform, or announced during The Bachelorette season finale, which is typically how such news is revealed. That was quickly remedied, as Jenn Tran’s ex-boyfriend appeared on GMA remotely to speak out for the first time as The Bachelor. Ellis said:

OK, so this statement is pretty generic, and I’m a little disappointed that Grant Ellis’ official introduction as The Bachelor didn’t allow more of his personality to shine through. That’s what has endeared Bachelor Nation to him on Jenn Tran’s season, after all. The Bachelorette viewers certainly felt for him after he was sent home from The Bachelorette, as he lamented:

Having seen that level of emotion on top of how much fun he can be and how he handled himself amid all the drama on The Bachelorette, I’m very confident we’re in for a great season.

He’s got some pretty big shoes to fill, too. The Season 28 lead, Joey Graziadei, was widely praised by fans as the best Bachelor ever for the way he treated the women. He and Kelsey Anderson — who Graziadei proposed to in the season finale — are still together, which is a big deal in Bachelor Nation, where few final couples actually make it to the altar.

ABC must see similarities in Joey Graziadei and Grant Ellis’ popularity, too, because that’s allegedly the reason for Ellis' early announcement. Executive Rob Mills took to X (Twitter) amid all the commotion that followed Monday’s episode, tweeting that they decided to reveal the new lead as soon as possible to give interested parties time to apply to be on The Bachelor Season 29. Casting has likely already started, as production should kick off in the next couple of months.

I’m really excited to see another person of color leading The Bachelor franchise, and Grant Ellis seems to be a great option. I’ll definitely be tuning in next January, but in the meantime, we’ve got Jenn Tran’s season to finish out, with new episodes airing at 8 p.m. ET Mondays on ABC and streaming the next day with a Hulu subscription. The Golden Bachelorette, as well, will premiere on the 2024 TV schedule at 8 p.m. ET Wednesday, September 18.

Spoiler alert! This story contains spoilers for the August 12 episode of The Bachelorette. Episodes are available to stream the next day with a Hulu subscription.

Grant Ellis took it pretty rough when The Bachelorette’s Jenn Tran sent him home during the last rose ceremony before Hometowns. However, the heartache didn’t last too long — at least for viewers — because immediately following the August 12 episode, the day trader from Houston, Texas, was announced to be the lead of The Bachelor Season 29. Grant will be the second Black man to serve as the lead of the franchise after Matt James in 2020, and while that had much of Bachelor Nation excited, some fans were disappointed by the way the announcement was made.

ABC rarely announces its next leads in the middle of a season, often opting to wait until the “After the Final Rose” special or even Good Morning America after the season finale. Grant Ellis became something of a fan favorite on Jenn Tran’s season of The Bachelorette, largely staying out of the drama that swirled around Devin Strader and Sam McKinney. Many seemed to feel a little let down that the surprise announcement was made, with one fan tweeting:

Other responses to Grant Ellis big news included:

• really? no big reveal / tease / surprise on the finale? this is probably the earliest announcement ever… – ODedOnRealityTV
• A Twitter announcement tho?? – thatdidntlast
• Grant deserved a better Bachelor announcement! – BachelorJedi
• why is Grant’s bachelor announcement so… awkward – MoodieForBach
• Why not give Grant a proper Good Morning America / After the Final Rose announcement … – hkchura

However, others were just happy that we can expect more Grant Ellis on our screens in 2025. One enthusiastic member of Bachelor Nation exclaimed:

Others also took to social media to celebrate the big news. It may have been a surprise, but it seems to have been a pleasant one, with fans writing:

• OMG yay i like grant!!! can’t wait to see more of him! i wish he got more screentime – shannon4g
• i can’t believe i told my brother “we need Grant as the bachelor” and it HAPPENS. WHAT?! – VickyDiTullio

The early announcement was addressed by Rob Mills, Disney’s executive vice president of Unscripted and Alternative Entertainment, who hit social media to respond to fans’ question of why an announcement was made before the end of Jenn Tran’s season. He posted:

The Bachelor producers Claire Freeland and Bennett Graebner addressed the franchise's historical lack of racial diversity earlier this summer, calling it "inexcusable" that it took 15 years to cast a Black lead. That honor went to Rachel Lindsay, who was named The Bachelorette in 2017. It took even longer for a Black man to lead The Bachelor, with Matt James getting the nod three years later. Jenn Tran herself was a history-making choice for the franchise, as she is the first Asian lead on either series.

New episodes of The Bachelorette air at 8 p.m. ET Mondays on ABC, and as we wait for Grant Ellis to start his journey next January, be sure to check out our 2024 TV schedule to see what's coming in the meantime.

Anytime a new Bachelor Nation reality dating show hits the TV schedule, there’s a certain lexicon that The Bachelor fans have come to expect. Things like "Fantasy Suites" and someone being there “for the wrong reasons” have come up time and again since the series premiered in 2002. Now one Bachelor expert has taken those familiar sayings and ideas and turned them into a country music album with the help of A.I., and as a longtime Bachelor fan, I am shocked at how much fun this music is.

Chad Kultgen hosts The Bachelor podcast Game of Roses with Lizzy Pace, and the duo also co-authored the book How to Win The Bachelor, so he definitely knows his stuff. Under the name Chad K, Kultgen used artificial intelligence to create an eight-song album called For The Right Reasons, and here’s why every member of Bachelor Nation needs to get on this immediately.

If You Love The Bachelor, These Songs Will Resonate With You

If you’re as big a fan of The Bachelor as I am, you can already see from the album title For The Right Reasons what kind of content you’re in for, and that title track is one of my personal favorites. However, all of the songs refer to a different familiar aspect of the show:

• “First Impressions”: All about getting that first impression rose on Night 1, baby.
• “I’m Not Here To Make Friends”: Spoken by every villain ever.
• “Can I Steal You”: A common cocktail party question sure to get tempers flaring.
• “Goodbye”: That moment when Jesse Palmer asks you to take a moment and say your goodbyes.
• “Hometown”: Time to meet the families!
• “How Could You (Make Love To Me)[Nick’s Song]”: A hilarious reference to Nick Viall’s question to Andi Dorfman on The Bachelorette Season 10 finale.
• “Fantasy Sweet”: An obvious word play on the all-important overnight dates.

These songs scream The Bachelor, and they never fail to get me hyped for whatever Jenn Tran is going to jump out of or off of next on The Bachelorette. However, this album can — and should — absolutely be enjoyed by people outside of Bachelor Nation. Here me out:

For The Right Reasons Is Enjoyable Even If You’re Not A Bachelor Fan

I am, unfortunately, the primary reality TV fan in my household; however that has not kept my family from listening to For The Right Reasons right along with me. By using A.I. tools to make the album, Chad Kultgen was able to tap into melodies that you could easily hear on country music radio today. Some songs are more country-pop, others are folksy. “Hometown” has a very Toby Keith, Americana vibe.

As far as the lyrics go, sure, some of them are more obviously about reality TV than others (i.e., “This is all a fantasy made for TV, and even though it’s just a show, it’s real to you and me,” from “Fantasy Sweet”). However, as with most music, lyrics can be interpreted in their own way by each listener, and I’d say most of For The Right Reasons could easily be applied to everyday relationships and situations.

For The Right Reasons is actually the marriage of two areas of Chad Kultgen’s expertise. In addition to his work breaking down all things Bachelor Nation on Game of Roses, he also co-hosts the A.I.-centric podshow Dudesy with Young Sheldon actor Will Sasso. Dudesy has made headlines over the past couple of years when its A.I. comedy specials impersonating Tom Brady and George Carlin were met with backlash from the retired athlete and late comedian’s estate, respectively. I guess they thought he was here for the wrong reasons?

Check out Chad K’s For The Right Reasons wherever you get your music, and catch The Bachelorette at 8 p.m. ET Mondays on ABC or stream it the next day with a Hulu subscription. The Golden Bachelorette, meanwhile, will premiere at 8 p.m. ET Wednesday, September 18.

There's no TV franchise quite like Bachelor Nation with its vast fanbase and long list of alums over decades of reality TV. Sadly, one of those alums has passed away far too young. Hailey Merkt, who vied for Nick Viall's heart in Season 21 of The Bachelor, died on July 26 at the age of 31.

Hailey Merkt made her Bachelor debut back in 2017 as part of the cast of the 21st season, led by now-infamous Bachelor Nation veteran Nick Viall. She was 23 years old and billed as a photographer at the time.

The news of her death after a struggle with acute myeloid leukemia (AML) was posted on her Instagram page on July 30, with a lovely message about the Vancouver native. Take a look:

Details of Hailey Merkt's passing on July 26 come via the family's GoFundMe page, which was set up last year while she was undergoing treatment for AML. Heartbreakingly, she had been told to expect nine months cancer-free, but ultimately learned just six weeks later that "leukemia cells were back and moving fast." At the time of writing, the fundraiser had reached more than $112,000 CAD of the $125,000 goal from nearly 900 donations.

The update regarding her death also included a touching note to the people who were able to donate in support of Merkt prior to her death:

The update also noted that "100% of all funds raised will be donated directly to the beneficiary," who is Hailey Merkt's mother Michele. Proceeds will "be used to afford remaining costs that have overwhelmed Hailey's mother and family," with any additional donations requested "in lieu of flowers."

One of Hailey's wishes was not to have an official funeral, but the GoFundMe page suggests leaving a message for family and friends to commemorate Hailey on her Instagram page. The latest update ends with:

Even more heartbreakingly, the most recent update before the news of Hailey Merkt's death was one from Hailey herself back in April, celebrating that she was "LEUKEMIA FREE!!!!" following an experimental treatment and stem cell transplant, with an expected 2% chance of success. Her brother was her stem cell donor. She thanked GoFundMe contributors for helping them pay their "rent, groceries, and hundreds of Uber rides back and forth from the hospital." Her final message before signing off was "Don't sweat the small stuff ;)."

While Hailey Merkt is undoubtedly most widely known for her appearance in The Bachelor Season 21, it's clear that those who knew her best loved her deeply and are already mourning. Hopefully people will have memories to share on Hailey's Instagram page in the coming days. Our thoughts here at CinemaBlend are with the family, friends, and loved ones of Hailey Merkt in this difficult time.

The Bachelor has been on TV for a long time — 22 years to be exact — and while loyal viewers know a lot about the show and what to expect, there are still a few secrets that remain about ABC’s reality dating franchise’s inner workings. Chief among those is one big question — why don’t the contestants ever eat the food when they’re out on dates? Host Jesse Palmer might have just solved that mystery, as he revealed to The Bachelorette’s Jenn Tran that it's all his fault that became a rule.

On the July 29 episode of The Bachelorette, before Jenn Tran set out on her dates in New Zealand, she sat down for a meal with Jesse Palmer. Possibly inspired by the mountains of food that were being brought to their table, the host decided to drop a bit of Bachelor lore on Jenn. Before Jesse was the host of The Bachelor franchise, back in the year 2004, he was the lead of Season 5, and he told Jenn he’s actually to blame for contestants being told not to eat the food. The host said:

Jesse Palmer’s confession came with a couple of clips from his season that showed him trying to talk through mouthfuls of food, and my goodness did the producers make the right decision. I cannot believe nobody went and ripped that corn on the cob right out of his hand. Can you imagine — with all the trauma dumping that happens on the one-on-one dates — trying to tell your life story while your date acts like they haven’t seen food in a week? I know Jesse was a football player, but I’m wondering if he was being deprived of food when he wasn’t on camera. Seriously, I died laughing at those clips.

I’ve read different theories over the years about why the date food goes untouched, and former Bachelorette Tayshia Adams previously said it’s because it’s hard to get soundbites over all the noise that comes with eating. I mean, how are producers supposed to get clips to franken-bite together if they’re having to edit around chewing? Former Bachelor Sean Lowe said as much in his book For the Right Reasons. He also pointed out that by the time the couple arrives on the date, the food has been sitting out for a while.

So now we seemingly have confirmation that they’re not supposed to eat the food because producers don’t want the contestants eating while they talk, and it’s actually pretty funny that it all started with the man who would become the host. Thanks, Jesse.

If you want to tune in to watch Jenn Tran and her remaining men not eat their meals, new episodes of The Bachelorette air at 8 p.m. ET Mondays on ABC and can be streamed the next day with a Hulu subscription.

Joey Graziadei and Kelsey Anderson seem to be having the time of their lives since getting engaged on The Bachelor Season 28, as their social media accounts document their travels and new influencer lifestyle. However, the tennis pro sparked some concern from Bachelor Nation when he revealed that his credit score had tanked when he went on the reality dating show, preventing him from getting an apartment, and he was therefore living with his fiancée and her roommates. No need to worry, though! Graziadei has spoken out to reassure fans that he’s “doing just fine.”

Joey Graziadei, who first joined the franchise as a contestant on Charity Lawson’s season of The Bachelorette, went viral on the Trading Secrets podcast in June when he revealed he and Kelsey Anderson were in a New Girl-like situation, living with her roommates in New Orleans. He had apparently missed a credit card payment during filming, which he said dropped his credit score by 80 points to 650. However, after fans expressed concern that he had no place to live, Graziadei took to Instagram Stories to clarify his situation, saying: 

There seems to be no cause for concern over the couple’s living arrangements, and I’d have to imagine the roommate situation is more ideal than a long-distance relationship. Before moving to New Orleans, Joey Graziadei had been staying with his sister in Philadelphia after moving from Hawaii. 

The fact that the tennis instructor was able to pick up and move to Louisiana is a privilege that we haven’t yet seen translate to The Golden Bachelor spinoff. Gerry Turner and Theresa Nist announced their divorce just three months after tying the knot on live TV, reportedly because neither one was willing to move away from their established homes and families. Joan Vassos, who will star in the inaugural season of The Golden Bachelorette is already talking about living dual lives with whomever she chooses.

Looking at all the fun opportunities Joey Graziadei and Kelsey Anderson have had since going on the dating show, I have to wonder how much time they actually spend at home anyway! I also think their living situation was probably part of their big Fantasy Suite conversation, as they also told podcast host Jason Tartick that they discussed what they wanted to get out of the fame they’d found on The Bachelor.

The couple plans to move to New York by the end of the year, so the New Girl situation was never intended to be long term, and as for the rest of Bachelor Nation, we’re ready to set our sights on Jenn Tran, as The Bachelorette Season 21 hits the 2024 TV schedule at 8 p.m. ET Monday, July 8, on ABC. Episodes will also be available to stream the next day with a Hulu subscription. 

Bachelor Nation contestants have had some seriously scary incidents involving boats! After the earring-loving Brayden Bowers and his Bachelor in Paradise castmate Aaron Schwartzman were stranded in the water for nearly four hours when their boat sank 15 miles away from shore last fall, Jenn Tran — the star of The Bachelorette Season 21, which hits the 2024 TV schedule on July 8 — revealed that she was nearly decapitated in a boating accident. In fact it was apparently that harrowing experience that inspired her to look for love on The Bachelor in the first place.

Jenn Tran is set to kick off her journey to find love, but it turns out she very nearly rejected The Bachelor producers’ offer to appear on Joey Graziadei’s season. While she had gone through the audition process after being contacted by the show, she was in school to be a physician assistant and, as she said on the Call Her Daddy podcast, she didn’t think she could put her studies on hold. However, right before filming started, a close call changed everything. Jenn said: 

There’s nothing like a little near-death experience to put things in perspective! Jenn Tran decided to take the leap into reality dating, and if she hadn’t joined Joey Graziadei’s cast, she wouldn’t be where she is today — representing The Bachelor franchise as its first Asian-American lead. It is scary to hear the circumstances she went through to make that decision, though, even if everyone turned out OK. She said of the wreck: 

It sounds like Jenn’s life flashed before her eyes, and she decided after that to fully embrace the opportunities that came her way. The upcoming Bachelorette continued: 

Jenn Tran made it to Week 7 before being sent home by Joey Graziadei in the last rose ceremony before Hometowns. Now she’s making history as The Bachelorette’s first Asian lead — which is a huge deal in a franchise that has faced criticism for its lack of diversity. New executive producers Claire Freeland and Bennett Graebner recently addressed the issue, saying it was “inexcusable” that it took 15 years for the franchise to cast a Black lead. To date, only 5 leads in 48 seasons have been people of color. Jenn Tran will be the sixth.

Tune in to see how it all plays out! The Bachelorette Season 21 premieres at 8 p.m. ET Monday, July 8, on ABC, with episodes available to stream the next day with a Hulu subscription. 

Diversity has always been a glaring issue for The Bachelor franchise on ABC, as 48 seasons into the reality dating shows — 28 seasons of The Bachelor and 20 of The Bachelorette — only five people of color have been chosen as leads. As Jenn Tran prepares to make history as the first Asian to star on her own season (hitting the 2024 TV schedule on July 8), producers are finally speaking out about the “inexcusable” lack of representation over the past two decades.

Claire Freeland and Bennett Graebner, two of the three executive producers who took over following Mike Fleiss’ exit from the franchise, sat down with the L.A. Times to finally admit that The Bachelor has an embarrassing history when it comes to casting people of color. It’s caused many Bachelor Nation fans to stop watching the reality dating shows, and Graebner acknowledged that, saying: 

Rachel Lindsay was cast as The Bachelorette in 2017, serving as the franchise’s first non-white lead. It wasn’t until 2020 that The Bachelor followed suit, choosing Matt James as its Season 25 star. Even then, however, his love story was overshadowed by a racism scandal involving the eventual winner Rachael Kirkconnell, when photos of her attending an Antebellum-themed fraternity party resurfaced. Bennett Graebner spoke on that as well, saying: 

Going forward, the EPs said the franchise is making it a “priority” to cast another Black Bachelor in the near future, whose season will allegedly correct some of the mistakes made with Matt James.

The Bachelorette has featured slightly more diverse casting in its leads, with Season 20’s Charity Lawson serving as the fourth woman of color to get the gig, following Rachel Lindsay, Tayshia Adams and Michelle Young. However, that doesn’t mean that series has been free of racism. 

Season 19 winner Erich Schwer had a photo resurface as that season aired in 2022 that showed him in Blackface, and while he issued a social media apology, the issue was never addressed on the show itself. (The Bachelor Season 27 contestant Greer Blitzer had a similar Blackface scandal in 2023 that was talked about at the “Women Tell All.”)

Most recently, Rachel Nance of The Bachelor Season 28 opened up about the racism she and her family faced after her appearance on the show, and while host Jesse Palmer expressed regret over the situation, he avoided saying the word “racism” and changed the conversation slightly to make it about the social media hate that all of the contestants had received.

Claire Freeland spoke about that to the L.A. Times, saying:

During this same conversation, Bennett Graebner also added: 

The Bachelor’s executive producers finally addressing the show’s lack of diversity does seem to be a step in the right direction, and we’ll have to wait and see what actions follow. In the meantime, tune in to see Jenn Tran’s journey to find love, with The Bachelorette Season 21 premiering at 8 p.m. ET Monday, July 8, on ABC and available to stream the next day with a Hulu subscription. 

For many of us, reality TV is the ultimate guilty pleasure. Whether we’re watching people look for love, show off their talents or navigate challenges en route to a cash prize, one thing is always guaranteed — there will be drama. The biggest moments have a way of transcending their individual series to become a larger part of pop culture, and below are 32 of those iconic reality TV moments.  

Real Housewives Of New Jersey Table Flip 

Everyone’s heard of Teresa Giudice, and that’s thanks in part to the infamous table flip in Season 1 of The Real Housewives of New Jersey. After being told by Danielle Staub to “pay attention,” as she addressed rumors and gossip being spread about her, Giudice went ballistic, banging her hands on the table and ultimately flipping it in rage. 

Tyra Banks Screams At America's Next Top Model Contestant 

On Season 4 of America's Next Top Model, Tyra Banks could not maintain her composure after contestant Tiffany Richardson appeared to have a blasé attitude about that week's challenges. After it was announced that Richardson had been eliminated, Banks gave her now-famous speech, shouting, "I was rooting for you! We were all rooting for you!"

Kim Kardashian Cries Over Her Lost Earring 

Kim Kardashian is the queen of reality TV, thanks to iconic moments like the 2011 episode of Keeping Up with the Kardashians in which her then-fiancé Kris Humphries threw her in the water during a family vacation, causing one of her $75,000 earrings to fall out. Not only did we get a great ugly cry face in this scene, but her sister Kourtney's iconic quote: "Kim, there's people that are dying."

Snooki Is Punched By A Stranger On Jersey Shore 

By all accounts, Jersey Shore has got to be one of the guiltiest of guilty pleasures, but things got serious in the first season when an altercation between Nicole "Snooki" Polizzi and a guy in a bar resulted in him punching her in the face. MTV controversially showed the whole scene in its original 2009 airing but blacked out the screen during the assault on repeats. The man was arrested and reportedly got fired from his job when the episode aired.

Lauren Conrad’s Mascara Tear On The Hills  

Lauren Conrad was involved in plenty of drama during her time on The Hills, but one image sticks out more than any other. Her Season 4 fight with Audrina Partridge had L.C. in her feelings, with a single black tear falling down her face, leaving a trail that went unwiped and unforgotten.

Giannina Is Love Is Blind’s Runaway Bride 

On the first season of Love Is Blind, Giannina Gibelli was completely humiliated when, after saying "I do" to Damian Powers, he did not return the favor. Gibelli quickly walked up the aisle, straight out the door and took off running as a camera crew chased her. She trudged down a road, through some grass and ultimately got mud all over her wedding dress when she slipped in a ditch.

Real World: Seattle’s Stephen Slaps Irene

Stephen and Irene were a hot mess on Real World: Seattle. After Irene announced that she was leaving, the two exchanged some heated words, with Stephen throwing her teddy bear in the water and her outing him as a "homosexual" on national TV. As Irene's cab started to pull away, Stephen chased her down, opened her door and shockingly slapped her in the face.

William Hung’s Infamous American Idol Audition 

In the early days of American Idol on Fox, the show would sometimes feature "bad" auditions for the sake of humor. The most famous of these was undoubtedly William Hung, who became a laughingstock with his cover of Ricky Martin's "She Bangs." 

The Note On Jersey Shore 

In an attempt to anonymously clue Sammi Giancola in on Ronnie Ortiz-Magro's cheating on Jersey Shore Season 2, Nicole Polizzi and Jenni Farley typed out all of his transgressions in The Note. After an investigation within the house led right back to Snooki and JWoww, a huge brawl ensued between Farley and Giancola.

Justin Timberlake Cries On Punk’d 

In the very first episode of Ashton Kutcher's Punk'd on MTV, Justin Timberlake was told by a fake IRS agent (an unknown-at-the-time Dax Shepard) that his house, cars and even his dogs were being repossessed by the government because he owed hundreds of thousands of dollars in back taxes. The pop star cried and called his mom until the That '70s Show actor revealed himself.

Jonny Lies About Grandmother’s Death On Survivor: Pearl Islands  

Jonny "Fairplay" Dalton went full pro-wrestling heel on Survivor: Pearl Islands, crying as he told his castmates that his grandmother had passed away. He later revealed to cameras that it was all a ruse to gain an advantage in the game. 

Pedro Zamora Reveals He’s HIV Positive On Real World: San Francisco

The subject of HIV and AIDS was highly misunderstood by many in the '80s and '90s, and while divulging such personal information would take great courage even today, coming out as gay and HIV positive on TV was simply unheard of back in 1994. On The Real World: San Francisco, Pedro Zamora educated his housemates — and America by proxy — about the disease, making him one of reality TV's most important figures. He died at the age of 22, just hours after the final episode of The Real World: San Francisco aired.

Jessica Simpson’s Chicken Of The Sea Mixup 

Jessica Simpson has released pop albums, acted in movies, and started a fashion line, but she'll always be remembered for not knowing if her tuna was fish or chicken on Newlyweds: Nick and Jessica. 

RHOBH Fight Becomes A Meme 

If you've never seen the above image before, I'm going to guess you've never been on any social media platform. This photo of Taylor Armstrong from The Real Housewives of Beverly Hills crying and pointing her finger at Camille Grammer has become the go-to meme to illustrate anyone with a passionate opinion.

The Bachelor’s Colton Underwood Jumps The Fence 

Colton Underwood's time on The Bachelor was not easy, but things really came to a head after Cassie Randolph broke up with him, causing him to jump a fence to escape production. Chris Harrison was sent after him, calling out as he and the camera crew searched for Underwood down a pitch-black road.

Jon & Kate Plus 8 Separation Announcement 

It was clear to any viewer of the TLC reality series Jon & Kate Plus 8 that there was tension between Jon and Kate Gosselin, but that didn't make it any less shocking when they announced their split on a May 2009 episode. In separate interviews, Jon and Kate each revealed that they had decided to separate for the sake of their children.

Trading Spouses’ God Warrior 

Fox's Trading Spouses got more than it bargained for (or maybe exactly what it wanted) when Marguerite Perrin, thereafter known as the "God Warrior," moved into a Wiccan home. Upon returning to rural Louisiana, Perrin's tirade went viral — not an easy thing to do in 2005 — and that scream of, "She's not a Christiaaaaan!" is still ringing in our ears.

The Bachelor Airs Unedited Footage Of Arie Dumping Becca  

Shortly after Arie Luyendyk proposed to Becca Kufrin on Season 22 of The Bachelor, the racecar driver had a change of heart and chose to dump Kufrin in favor of runner-up Lauren Burnham. The breakup was filmed by ABC's cameras and then aired on what was, for obvious reasons, a controversial season finale. The footage was supposedly unedited, utilizing a split screen to show the incident from Kufrin and Luyendyk's perspectives simultaneously.

Dan Stages His Own Funeral On Big Brother 

Dan Gheesling knew he was a "dead man walking," so to speak, on Season 14 of Big Brother, so he concocted one of the wildest plans in reality TV history, staging his own funeral and falsely accusing his top ally Danielle of betrayal. His big swing paid off, as Gheesling survived not just the week, but all the way to the final two that season.

The Voice’s Adam Levine Throws His Team Member Under The Bus

In one of the most controversial moments in The Voice's history, Adam Levine played favorites on Season 15 when he found two of his team members in the bottom three. After DeAndre Nico performed to try to earn America's Instant Save, Levine shockingly asked viewers to vote instead for Nico's teammate Reagan Strange, who was sick and unable to perform. While many were confused by the move, it worked, and Nico was eliminated.

Flavor of Love’s Mess On The Stairs 

When you gotta go, you gotta go. Flavor of Love 2 contestant Tykeisha Thomas, aka "Somethin," simply wasn't able to make it to the bathroom, and it wasn't long before Flavor Flav and the other women became aware of the No. 2 she left on the stairs.

Top Chef: The Case Of The Missing Pea Purée 

Where were you when the Pea-gate Scandal hit Top Chef's seventh season? After fretting over what to pair with his salmon, contestant Alex Reznik was shown plating his fish atop a pea purée. Meanwhile, his castmate Ed Cotton was running around the kitchen looking for his own pea purée that had gone missing from a cooler. Coincidence?

Survivor: Cagayan's J'Tia Dumps The Rice In The Fire 

J’Tia Taylor secured her place in reality TV lore on Survivor: Cagayan, when she went on an epic rant and dumped all of the rice that her already-whittled-down and hungry tribe had left into the fire.

Abby Lee Miller Gets Slapped In The Face On Dance Moms 

Dance Moms was known for plenty of fighting but rarely did anything turn physical. During possibly the most intense scene on the Lifetime show, Brooke and Paige's mom Kelly Hyland slapped Abby Lee Miller and pulled her hair after the dance instructor advanced on her while gnashing her teeth. Hyland was arrested and charged with assault, and she filed her own lawsuit days later alleging assault, breach of contract and other offenses.

Love Is Blind’s Zanab Destroys Cole At The Altar 

It's always a big moment when someone says "I don't" at the altar on Love Is Blind, but Zanab Jaffrey went a step further by absolutely demolishing fiancé Cole Barnett in front of their friends and family. As far as wedding vows go, it's probably not a good sign when they start with: "You have disrespected me. You have insulted me. You have critiqued me. And for what it is worth, you have singlehandedly shattered my self-confidence."

Kourtney Kardashian Delivers Her Own Baby 

The Kardashian family members have made quite a few boss moves over the years, but possibly none of them was more impressive than when Kourtney Kardashian reached down during labor to bring her own son Mason into the world on Keeping Up with the Kardashians.

90 Day Fiancé: Danielle Calls Mohamed A User 

90 Day Fiancé couple Danielle Mullins and Mohamed Jbali seemed doomed from the start, with her family (and viewers) questioning the Tunisia native’s intentions. The bad vibes seemed to be warranted, as the couple became estranged after Mohamed got his green card, and things came to a head when Danielle confronted him in the streets of Miami with a binder of proof that, “You’re a user, Mohamed!” 

Amazing Race’s Mika Won't Go Down The Waterslide 

Mika Combs and Canaan Smith saw their journey on The Amazing Race 15 end after Mika, who was afraid of both heights and water, was unable to go down a six-story waterslide in Dubai. She had an epic meltdown as Canaan tried apparently for 45 minutes to get her to complete the challenge, even grabbing her arms and trying to force her onto the slide at one point.

The Hills’ Final Shot 

There were a lot of questions about how "real" The Hills actually was, and the series finale provided an answer in epic fashion. After a tearful goodbye between Brody Jenner and Kristin Cavallari in the final scene, he appears to be standing in front of the Hollywood sign as he watches her limo drive away. The camera then pans out to reveal they're in a studio backlot, and the Hollywood sign backdrop is wheeled away as Cavallari — whose limo never actually went anywhere — exits the vehicle and hugs Jenner.

Survivor’s Rat And Snake Speech 

Dozens of seasons into Survivor, perhaps the most infamous scene hails from the very first finale when Sue Hawk made TV history with a speech comparing Richard Hatch to a snake and his fellow finalist Kelly Wiglesworth to a rat. She appealed to the jury to let it end the way Mother Nature intended: “For the snake to eat the rat.” 

RHOA’s NeNe Leakes Says, ‘Close Your Legs To Married Men’ 

Kim Zolciak and NeNe Leakes had some wild moments on The Real Housewives of Atlanta, but one of the sickest burns was served up during the Season 1 reunion after Zolciak clarified her situation with “Big Poppa.” She told Andy Cohen that her on-off man was going through a divorce but was still legally married, ultimately prompting Leakes’ infamous line: “Close your legs to married men.” 

Phaedra Pleads ‘Not Ekin-Su’ On The Traitors 

Phaedra Parks has had plenty of noteworthy moments on reality TV, but she became an instant meme on The Traitors Season 2 with her reaction to learning that Ekin-Su Cülcüloğlu had drunk from the poisoned chalice. Parks’ mouth dropped, eyes rolling back in her head as she pleaded, “Oh my Lord, sweet baby Jesus, not Ekin-Su. Lord, not Ekin-Su,” fanning herself with a napkin as if she were about to faint.

As long as there's reality TV, there will continue to be iconic moments like these, and I for one can't wait.

Some people are simply made to be reality TV stars, and if one opportunity doesn’t work out, they move on to the next. That seems to be the case for OG Vanderpump Rules cast member Kristen Doute, who recently revealed that she was approached to appear on The Bachelor before becoming a Bravolebrity. Why did she turn them down? It turns out Tom Sandoval was involved in her decision.

Kristen Doute rejoined the reality landscape this year on the Vanderpump Rules spinoff The Valley, after she and other castmates were fired from the flagship show after Season 8. Things could have played out quite differently for her, though, had she not been dating Tom Sandoval when ABC’s producers found her bartending at SUR. On her podcast Balancing Act, she said: 

Well, Kristen Doute and Tom Sandoval certainly weren’t forever. The two had been dating for years and were even living together before Vanderpump Rules premiered in 2013, but they broke up in Season 2, with Sandoval eventually moving on with Ariana Madix (and we all know how that relationship turned out).

Who knows how Bachelor Nation’s history would have been altered if Kristen Doute had chosen to appear as one of the women on The Bachelor? Would she have gone on to be The Bachelorette? How would Tom Sandoval’s journey on Vanderpump Rules have played out differently? If only we had access to that alternate reality! 

So would The Valley star have gone on The Bachelor if she hadn’t been in a relationship at the time? She mused: 

Joe Amabile, aka Bachelor Nation’s “Grocery Store Joe,” was a guest on the podcast, and he confirmed that only the leads get paid on The Bachelor/Bachelorette, so it’s possible that Kristen Doute would have turned down the opportunity for that reason.

Either way, it seems reality TV stars find a way, and if you want to catch up with what Kristen Doute is doing these days, you can stream the recently wrapped first season of The Valley with a Peacock subscription or catch her on the first season of The Goat on another of the best streaming services, Amazon’s Prime Video.

Meanwhile in Bachelor Nation, Jenn Tran is set to kick off her historic season of The Bachelorette at 8 p.m. ET Monday, July 8, on ABC, and you can check out our 2024 TV schedule to see what else is on the horizon. 

The Bachelor has been on the air for more than 20 years, and The Bachelorette is about to kick off its own 21st season. Longevity aside, however, the franchise hasn’t always been known to foster long-lasting relationships. Just look at The Golden Bachelor, with Gerry and Theresa divorcing after a matter of months, and Bachelor in Paradise, whose disaster of a ninth season saw all of its couples split within a week of the finale airing. Could Joey Graziadei and Kelsey Anderson be amongst the rare success stories? I am optimistic, especially after learning how they spent their Fantasy Suite date.

Joey Graziadei proposed to Kelsey Anderson on The Bachelor Season 28 finale, but before he got down on one knee, the couple had a pretty important conversation on their overnight date. The tennis pro told Jason Tartick on the Trading Secrets podcast that they “100%” talked about their careers and what they wanted to do with the opportunities afforded to them by their reality TV fame. Joey explained: 

The Bachelor contestants sometimes are able to continue their fame once their seasons end, and while Joey Graziadei acknowledged that going on the show for clout would be considered “for the wrong reasons,” he also said “you would be a fool not to at least have that conversation” about what each party hoped to get out of the experience. He said it was something he and Charity Lawson talked about on The Bachelorette, and then again with Kelsey Anderson. The former Bachelor said: 

The conversation lasted at least an hour, they said, and the fact that they made sure their expectations for the future were aligned before they got engaged really gives me hope that they could go the distance. During their talk, they agreed they were willing to be open to the public, but that their relationship was the most important thing. Joey continued:  

Joey Graziadei really was the best Bachelor, wasn’t he? Despite the breakups we’ve seen from The Golden Bachelor and Bachelor in Paradise couples, the flagship series is on a bit of a win streak, with Zach Shallcross, Charity Lawson and Joey all remaining with the people they got engaged to on the show. Will they all be able to make it down the aisle? If they all had these kinds of frank conversations with each other beforehand, I have to say I’m optimistic. 

Meanwhile, a new love story is about to begin, with Jenn Tran’s season of The Bachelorette premiering on the 2024 TV schedule at 8 p.m. ET Monday, July 8, on ABC and streaming the next day with a Hulu subscription.  

The Bachelorette Season 1 contestant Ryan Sutter caused quite a bit of concern amongst fans last month, when he posted a social media message to his wife Trista Sutter that made it pretty clear the two were not in communication. The Bachelor Nation alum herself had to reassure fans that all was well when she returned to social media, and as she played it coy about why exactly she’d been off the grid, speculation began to circulate that she was off filming another reality show. That has allegedly now been confirmed. Let’s break down the whole crazy situation. 

Trista Sutter Will Reportedly Appear On Special Forces: World’s Toughest Test 

America first met Trista Rehn on the first season of The Bachelor, way back in 2002. She went on to star in the first season of The Bachelorette, ultimately marrying contestant Ryan Sutter, and she has remained one of the dating franchise’s most famous contestants. Trista served as a mentor of sorts to Gerry Turner on The Golden Bachelor, and she hosts the Bachelor-centric podcast Almost Famous OGs. TMZ reports that she was furthering her name in the reality TV space by filming Season 3 of Fox’s Special Forces: World’s Toughest Test.

Bachelor Nation has previously been successful on the Fox competition series, which takes celebrities and puts them through grueling physical and psychological challenges similar to the tests soldiers go through in the military’s selection process. Hannah Brown was one of the winners of Special Forces’ first season, with Tyler Cameron and Nick Viall each making it to the end of Season 2.

While Trista Sutter’s involvement — or any of the Season 3 cast — remains unconfirmed, if this is true, it will be interesting to see if she can continue The Bachelor franchise’s domination. 

Ryan Sutter Sparked Concern With Emotional Instagram Post 

Ryan Sutter got the attention of Bachelor Nation with an Instagram tribute to his wife on May 17, in which he said he missed her and longed to talk to her. You can read his words for yourself below: 

His followers commented that he made it sound like Trista Sutter had died, with others asking if the two had separated. Ryan attempted to clarify soon after that neither Trista nor their marriage was in danger, but he remained cryptic, as he explained that she was “unaccessible” to her family in another post, writing:  

About a week later, Trista Sutter was able to confirm for herself that everything was, indeed, fine. 

Trista Sutter Joked About Rumors In Return To Social Media 

Trista Sutter poked a little bit of fun at the whole situation upon her return to Instagram a week after Ryan’s seemingly worrisome posts. Alongside a picture of the couple on the beach with her kids, Trista wrote a lengthy caption that kicked off with a lighthearted message to fans. She said: 

However, she went on to get serious about her brief hiatus, renouncing the faction of Bachelor Nation “who’d rather focus on being critical and searching way too hard for darkness.” She also defended Ryan Sutter, pointing out that: “He doesn’t owe anyone any explanation or require permission to post what he wants to post and share what he wants to share.”

While some found the whole situation to be concerning, other fans immediately theorized that she was filming Special Forces: World’s Toughest Test Season 3, in part because her fellow Bachelorette Ali Fedotowsky Manno also disappeared from social media for the same amount of time. The Season 6 lead signed off of her Instagram on May 15 before returning 10 days later — the same day as Trista Sutter.

We’ll have to wait for Fox to confirm the cast of Special Forces Season 3 (expected to hit the 2024 TV schedule this fall) assuming it's real, I can’t wait to see how these two represent Bachelor Nation on the show. Either way, it’s good to know that Trista and Ryan Sutter’s love story remains a happy one. 

While The Golden Bachelor stars Gerry Turner and Theresa Nist seemed like a match made in heaven, things quickly dissolved between the two newlyweds. After falling in love on the ABC reality series, they tied the knot three months ago but were allegedly living in separate homes. Soon after, it was revealed that Gerry and Theresa had gotten a divorce, with living situations a major cause. Of course, they are not the only ones to break up after meeting on a Bachelor series, and former Bachelor contestant Tyler Cameron took some shots at their relationship and his own dating life.

Cameron appeared on Season 15 of The Bachelorette in the hopes of catching Hannah Brown’s eyes. He came close, as he was the runner-up. He also had brief relationships with Gigi Hadid, Stassie Karanikolaou, Paige Lorenze, and Kristin Cavallari. But even so, he admitted on Happy Hour on SiriusXM’s TODAY Show Radio that Gerry and Theresa’s short tryst make his own relationships seem like a lifetime:

Even though Cameron hasn’t had the best of luck with relationships, he did point out that his have lasted longer than Gerry and Theresa's. Three months is pretty short, so really, anything going beyond that can be seen as long. However, Cameron does know what they’re going through in a way, regardless of relationship length, and he does have some theories on why it didn’t quite work out:

Tyler Cameron, like fellow Bachelor alum Nick Viall, may be taking shots at both his love life and The Golden Bachelor, but he brings up some pretty good points, even if they may be a bit self-deprecating. When you do a show like The Bachelor or its numerous variations, you never know what could happen or what life will be like after the cameras stop rolling. 

Meanwhile, Cameron is not the only Bachelor contestant to comment on this recent divorce. A rejected Golden Bachelor contestant did not hold back, saying she “dodged a bullet.” There was no way of knowing how the first season of The Golden Bachelor would go, but it would be interesting to see how a second season goes following all this and if The Golden Bachelorette could also join the mix. 

Whatever happens, hopefully, there will be at least a little more communication on either The Golden Bachelor, The Golden Bachelorette, or any other series in the Bachelor universe. With a show like The Golden Bachelor, it really could have gone in any direction, and the divorce was disappointing but not necessarily a surprise.