‘The Bachelorette’: 4 Reasons the Show Is Out of Ideas (and One Reason It Isn’t)

The sole purpose of this show is to find love that you can’t come across in the general dating pool. Sadly, out of 18 Bachelorettes, only four are still together with their partners.​​​ The last successful couple, Lindsay and Bryan Abasolo, emerged in 2017, making five consecutive years of failure on the part of the franchise. Something clearly isn’t right, and maybe that’s why the franchise thought, “Why don’t we pull a double whammy and potentially double our success rate?” Can this season be the one to break the curse? Let’s hope so.

The franchise has always made the Bachelorette a former contestant from The Bachelor. Those who didn’t find their Prince Charming obviously deserve another shot at love, but the problem is, it gets repetitive and predictable. Fans know it’s usually the runner up who is competing next — and guess what, Windey and Recchia were the runner ups on Clayton Echard’s season. No surprise there. It’s time to spice things up; and to find a good example of how, look no further than a recent season of The Bachelor. In 2021, the Bachelor was Matt James, who had no connection whatsoever to the franchise except he was the best friend of Bachelorette contestant Tyler Cameron. And he was the first Black bachelor. Now, that right there kept Bachelor Nation glued to their screens. The Bachelorette needs to take a page out of that book, and switch things up to an unknown (or, relative unknown).

For a show that preaches about love and positivity, it seems antithetical to pit two women against each other. Two besties dating the same men sounds like a recipe for disaster. Considering the dynamic, you can’t introduce this idea and not expect either one of them — or both — to be envious. The setup makes it feel like a competition between two women, instead of a quest for love. If this is an attempt to live up to their famous tagline, “This will be the most dramatic season in Bachelorette history,” then it’s the wrong way to go about it.

When Bachelor Nation asked for more diversity, I don’t think they meant “two Caucasian leads.” In 2021, host Chris Harrison defended former Bachelor contestant Rachael Kirkconell after several 2018 photos resurfaced of her at an antebellum slave plantation themed affair. And looking back through The Bachelorette’s 18 seasons, there have only been three Black leads: Rachel Lindsay, Tayshia Adams and Michelle Young. A year after Harrison was forced out of the show, it seems like the franchise is moving backwards, not forwards when it comes to this issue, and it’s not a good look.

On the other hand…

The Bachelorette producers truly are on top of their game, keeping things exciting, surprising and most importantly, spicy. The audience is aware they’re not seeing the full picture, but that’s what keeps us intrigued. And sure, it’s probably unpleasant for the Bachelorette and her Suitors to endure all the drama, let alone knowing that a simple choice in editing may totally screw them over. But that’s reality television for you; and despite all the flaws, it’s still impossible to look away.

So will this season of The Bachelorette get the rose? Or end up walking home, alone? We’ll have to find out when the new season premieres July 11 at 8/7c on ABC.