‘The Bachelor’: Which Couples Are Still Together?

The inaugural season of The Bachelor followed Alex Michel on his journey to find love with 25 women. The season concluded not with an engagement, but a committed relationship. This would quickly become a frustrating, albeit understandable theme on the show. We watched 12 weeks of this just to see him ask her to be his girlfriend? At the conclusion of Season 1, Alex chose 23-year-old event planner Amanda Marsh. They continued to date for a few months, but eventually broke off the relationship.

The second season of The Bachelor starred Aaron Buerge, a banker from Missouri. The season premiered in September of 2002 and concluded with a proposal! Helene Eksterowicz, 27-year-old school psychologist, was named the winner. Sadly, the engagement was short lived. The pair ended their relationship mere weeks after the season finale. Aaron allegedly took Helene to Starbucks to tell her he was no longer ”emotionally invested” in their relationship after the strain of having to keep their engagement a secret while their season aired.

The third season of The Bachelor premiered on March 24, 2003. The season featured 28-year-old tire heir Andrew Firestone, a sales manager for Firestone Family estates. He proposed to season winner, Jennifer Schefft, but the engagement lasted only a few months. Jen went on to star as the third Bachelorette in 2005. She turned down Jerry Harris’s proposal in the final episode and is now happily married to a man outside the franchise.

Former Bachelorette contestant, Bob Guiney, became the fourth Bachelor in September of 2003. Once again, the show did not end in an official proposal. Bob chose mortgage broker Estella Gardinier, offering her a “promise ring” to signal their commitment to an ongoing relationship rather than an engagement ring. No wonder they didn’t last! Bob couldn’t even commit to a diamond, let alone a wife. The pair called it quits shortly after the season aired.

Canadian football player Jesse Palmer starred as the first athlete, as well as the first non-American Bachelor in 2004. He offered contestant Jessica Bowlin the final rose, but ultimately chose not to propose. The pair split a few months later. Jesse is now a TV host, sports commentator, and is engaged to Brazilian model Emely Fardo.

In September 2004, ABC announced the first divorced Bachelor, Byron Velvick. In this season, the women got to vote on the season lead after being given a choice between two men. Velvick won the vote and proposed to Mary Delgado in the final episode. The former Tampa Bay cheerleader accepted the proposal and the pair dated for five years. The relationship was allegedly toxic and Mary was arrested for punching Byron before the couple ultimately called it quits in 2009.

In 2005, Bachelor Charlie O’Connell chose Sarah Brice in the Season 7 finale, but did not propose. They continued an on-and-off relationship for five years before officially calling it quits in 2010. O’Connell launched an acting career following his stint on The Bachelor and is now married to Playboy model Anna Sophia Berglund.

In early 2006, Travis Lane Stork began a committed relationship with Sarah Stone, but chose not to propose. The doctor and teacher were one of the shortest lived couples in franchise history. They broke up shortly after Season 8 aired.

Italian business man Prince Lorenzo Borghese dated both the winner and the runner-up of his season. This became another emerging theme across Bachelor Nation. Lorenzo and Jennifer began a relationship after filming the season finale, but broke up in January 2007. He then dated Sadie Murray, the runner-up for the final rose, but that pair broke up as well later the same year.

US Naval Officer Andy Baldwin proposed to Tessa Horst in the Season 10 finale. After the show, the pair reneged on their engagement, but continued their relationship for a few more months. They officially broke up in September of 2007, six months after their season aired.

Brad Womack’s season of The Bachelor universally enraged Bachelor Nation. He chose DeAnna Pappas and Jenni Croft as his final two. However, he ended up breaking both their hearts in an infuriating season finale. Somehow, Brad got a second chance as the Season 15 Bachelor. Read on to find out how that went.

Season 12 of The Bachelor began airing in March 2008. Global financier, Matt Grant, proposed to Shayne Lamas in the finale, but they broke up later that year.

Just like many Bachelor couples (even the most successful ones), Jason and Molly’s relationship hasn’t always been smooth sailing. Season 13 Bachelor, Jason, originally proposed to another contestant, Melissa Rycroft, during the season finale. However, in a move that has become quite the pattern in the franchise, Jason changed his mind after filming concluded. At the “After the Final Rose” reunion, Jason ended his engagement with Melissa and begged for Molly’s forgiveness. Despite the drama, Jason and Molly tied the knot in 2010 and have a daughter together.

After Jillian Harris sent Jake home from her season of The Bachelorette, he became the first of many irritating pilots to grace the screens of Bachelor Nation. Jake proposed to Vienna Girardi in 2010, during the run of the show, but they broke up a few months later. The coolest thing about Jake is that he briefly dated Kristin Chenoweth after his time as The Bachelor.

Brad is back! While his second stint as The Bachelor went marginally better than the first time around, he did not manage to find his soul mate in Season 15, either. Brad did propose to Emily, but the couple broke up while their season was airing. They rekindled their romance after the show’s finale. However, the relationship ended for good in May 2011.

After finishing as the runner-up on Ashley’s season of The Bachelorette, Ben Flajnik embarked on his own journey to find love. The wine connoisseur proposed to Courtney Robertson, the season’s villain, in an upsetting turn for viewers. Like Brad and Emily, the pair originally called things off while their season was airing. Similarly, they got together again briefly and officially broke up in October 2012.

Sean Lowe is the only Bachelor still married to the winner of his season, rather than a runner-up. The “born-again virgin” made headlines after picking Catherine due to rumors circulating that he had proposed to Lindsay Yenter instead. Bachelor Nation was wrong, but Sean’s intuition seems to have been right. Sean and Catherine have been married since 2014 and live in Dallas, Texas with three children: two sons and a daughter.

Chris proposed to Whitney in the Season 19 finale, which aired in 2015. He later appeared on Dancing With the Stars, after which point, Chris announced that he and Whitney had broken up. In April 2017, he was arrested in connection with a deadly car crash for allegedly fleeing the scene. Chris briefly dated Victoria Fuller from Peter’s season of The Bachelor. However, they have since called it quits as well.

Ah, yes. The season that gave us Clare Crawley. In 2014, Juan Pablo rejected runner-up Clare, not to propose to Nikki, but to continue their relationship. They later appeared on Couples Therapy and in October 2014, announced that they were no longer together. As for Clare, she went on to lead (and quit) her own season of The Bachelorette last fall before being publicly dumped by her beau in early 2021.

After becoming engaged in the Season 20 finale of The Bachelor, Ben and Lauren launched their very own reality show entitled Ben and Lauren: Happily Ever After?. The question mark ultimately prevailed and the two split in May 2017 after dating for over a year.

Season 21 of The Bachelor was filmed in Finland in 2017. Bachelor Nick proposed to special-education teacher Vanessa in the season finale. However, it wasn’t meant to be. The pair announced their break-up later that year.

Season 22 Bachelor Arie emulated his predecessor, Jason, when he changed his mind post-proposal. Widely touted as the most hated Bachelor in franchise history, Arie proposed to Lauren after publicly ending things with the actual winner of his season, Becca Kufrin. His former fiancée found out, like the rest of Bachelor Nation, that her engagement was over when the season finale aired. Arie and Lauren were married in Maui in 2019 and now have a daughter together.

In another whirlwind season, Cassie broke up with Colton before the final two were chosen. Colton then dropped the other two women and begged her to give him a second chance. They broke up under a year later. However in 2020, things took a turn for the worse when Cassie filed a restraining order against Colton, alleging he was stalking her and her family. Looks like Cassie and Colton won’t be reuniting anytime soon.

Another pilot who irritated fans during his stint as The Bachelor is Peter Weber. He originally proposed to southern belle Hannah Ann after significant prodding from his notorious mother, Barb. In the season finale, it was revealed that the pair had broken off their engagement due to Peter’s lingering interest in runner-up, Madison. Peter and Madison decided not to rekindle their relationship, but shortly after, Peter was spotted with another contestant from his season, Kelley Flanagan. They dated for a few months and announced their break up on New Year’s Eve, 2020.

25 seasons and 19 years later, we’ve reached the present day. Just last week (March 15), Bachelor Matt James, who was the franchise’s first Black male lead, revealed he and Rachael, the winner of his season, had broken up. This revelation came in wake of a racism scandal that rocked not only their relationship, but the entire Bachelor franchise. The two were not engaged, but the break up was a result of Rachael’s history of racial insensitivity, Matt James confirmed in the season finale.

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