The Bachelor in the Media

[DEL901]

Very sad news. 
https://www.usmagazine.com/celebrity-moms/news/sarah-herron-dylan-brown-mourn-newborn-son-after-death/

[nlkm9]

That is sooo sad :(

[JenE4]

Okay, so apparently there was a woman who licked Zach’s ear when she exited the limo night 1, and then stopped the rose ceremony to tell off Zach for not talking to her—and none of this was shown?!? And apparently she’s salty about it because she wanted to be portrayed on Tv this way?!?

https://apple.news/AVoyoUsecR8WoZzlw1VxyTg

[chocolatine]

1 minute ago, JenE4 said:

Okay, so apparently there was a woman who licked Zach’s ear when she exited the limo night 1, and then stopped the rose ceremony to tell off Zach for not talking to her—and none of this was shown?!? And apparently she’s salty about it because she wanted to be portrayed on Tv this way?!?

https://apple.news/AVoyoUsecR8WoZzlw1VxyTg

I remember her limo entrance. I thought the ear licking was disgusting (especially post-pandemic) and violating, because she sprung it on him without asking for permission. IMO she should have been removed right then and there.

[Crashcourse]

Zach looked disgusted when she licked his ear. 

I hope she doesn't get a spot on BIP.  

[Kiss my mutt]

Yeah, that was yuck-yuck! I mean, who does that? 

[seacliffsal]

She's right though, we did get to see her "authentic" self just like Zach did and I was so glad he eliminated her as that ear lick was just too much.  So, (I guess) you go girl and you do you, but don't blame Zach, the producers, or the viewers that we want you to do you somewhere else.

[Melonie77]

4 hours ago, seacliffsal said:

She's right though, we did get to see her "authentic" self just like Zach did and I was so glad he eliminated her as that ear lick was just too much.  So, (I guess) you go girl and you do you, but don't blame Zach, the producers, or the viewers that we want you to do you somewhere else.

Yeah, Zach sent the two women who had off-color intros home without hesitation. There was the ear licker and the one who said he was IN the wrong Holland.

Here is what Reality Steve wrote about the Lekha licking...

Lekha stopped the first rose ceremony in the middle of it to tell Zach she tried to talk to him the entire night, and that producers kept reassuring her she would and that the rose ceremony would not take place until Zach got to talk to every girl first. Well that didn’t happen because Lekha and others never got to talk to him night 1. This is common for night 1, so nothing new here. But will it get shown? Probably not because Lekha calls out production when she stopped down the rose ceremony, and I can’t imagine they show that. And oh yeah, out of the limo, Lekha licked Zach’s ear. Not sure why or how it went over, but, she didn’t get a rose night 1.

[DEL901]

https://ew.com/tv/the-bachelor-can-i-steal-you-zach-shallcross/
 

Zach confirms he isn’t supposed to intervene between the women. 

[Mswldflwr]

https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-11753949/ABC-considering-bringing-Chris-Harrison-save-Bachelor-two-years-racism-scandal.html#comments

[MissPriss]

Chris did nothing wrong. He is allowed to have his opinions aside from ABC’s and Disney. Don’t we hear the following disclaimer all the time: This “whatever statement” is not necessarily the opinion of Thr Bachelor/ABC/Disney. End of story. 

Chris was sacrificed unmercifully to appease people who apparently aren’t going to watch anyway. In the meantime they have lost loyal viewers who kept the show up in the ratings. 

Jesse has done nothing wrong besides NOT being Chris Harrison. So now they will sacrifice Jesse? He should be appreciated for pulling this show out the mess it was in!!! 

The entire situation was completely avoidable. They panicked and here we are. It will be interesting to see how this plays out. 

[call me ishmael]

The problem here is that the article ignores the fact that the show’s ratings were in decline with CH.  it has little to do with his firing.  It has to do with the fact that it has become so repetitive and predictable that it is boring.  It had declined according to the article from over 20m to over 5 with 
CH.  it’s not the host.

[Jax7917]

Though I do think a lot of viewers stopped tuning in when Chris left out of loyalty and the ridiculousness of how this whole thing played out, I think viewership declined more due to the repetitive lines and drama taking over the love stories. There has to be drama, but it shouldn't consume the entire show. 

In regard to Chris, I doubt he'd return even if he was asked. I was so appalled at how the whole thing was handled with him. All he said was to give the girl time to process and then speak out about the party she went to that was being blown way out of proportion. And he was absolutely right. It is MORE than likely that she just viewed the event as a party. She was a freakin college kid. AND she is still in a relationship with Matt to this day so the whole thing was moot. How Chris got let go for that is beyond me but very telling of the times we are in.

Edited February 15, 2023 by Jax7917

[phlebas]

I don't buy that they will bring Chris back. ABC decided he should go, and they are not going to reverse themselves for this.  (And it doesn't matter if we think Chris deserved to be fired or not. ABC has people who decide these things, and they have WAY more data than we do.)

I don't think bringing him back will fix anything either. The show is tired, and the format as it is cannot withstand the onslaught of people who are more concerned with social media followers. I don't know how to fix that, but they need someone with fresh ideas to do something different with the format.

[Melonie77]

Regarding the Chris Harrison story...I agree with others that the show was already in decline for the stated reasons but his firing did take a toll on the success of the show. I know of a lot of people who stopped watching. And many many people all over social media spoke about boycotting. This must have had an impact.

I totally boycotted the season following his firing. I was not interested in watching Katie Thurston as a lead and didn't like that they had two ex-bachettes as the hosts. I would have watched a Katie season if Chris was still hosting but I was too disgusted over ABC's reaction to Chris who was actually trying to stand by the show.

And I only watched part of Clayton's season. I might not have come back completely if it weren't for the draw of the double bachelorette idea. Little did I know they would botch that up too.

Not only do they keep running the same old ideas but they also ruin anything new that they try. And....they have picked too many bad leads, they manipulate the storyline too much, refuse to move the BiP location, and continue to mishandle the racism claims. 

The race issues may not be all ABC's fault though. I read a few years ago that they struggled to get BIPOC to apply for the show. Mike Fleiss also said this. I think they had to try to recruit black and people of color for both the bachelor and the bachelorette since not enough were coming forward. Once they had enough people who had done the show as contestants they started to cast some leads from there...Rachel, Michelle, Tyisha.
However, I'm not sure why they are having so much trouble with the BIPOC men. They cast Matt but he was an unknown friend of another bachelor and was supposed to be on Clare's season. I wonder why they haven't picked any other BIPOC men from all the ones that have been on the show.

Whatever is going on it's damaging the series. I see people especially very young ones (on reddit in particular) constantly posting angry comments about the show not casting a black male lead. And some of them sabotage the show by tweeting negatively about the white leads. It's become a divisive issue in the current climate of BLM. All over social media there are complaints about the lack of BIPOC leads and it's evolved into a cloud hanging over the franchise.

Maybe they need to work harder at picking their leads in general. Start looking outside the contestant list and make sure they do a good background check. Pick only articulate leads with good careers who represent someone worth competing over.

[Melonie77]

2 hours ago, Jax7917 said:

In regard to Chris, I doubt he'd return even if he was asked.

I  meant to add that I agree about this - I don't think Chris would return at this point. I felt really bad for him when I read in the article how he feared for his family over the whole incident. I suppose this meant he was harassed and threatened on SM.
IMO Rachel is a divisive person and has damaged the franchise with the way she has gone about trying to support more BIPOC involvement. She could have handled the entire lack of diversity issue more diplomatically.

ABC/Disney made things worse by reacting so dramatically. Chris could have disappeared for the remainder of the season returning for the next one. Instead, firing him made a mountain out of a molehill and exaggerated the racism claims against the franchise.

This is also not fair to Jesse who has been doing a great job. The only way I could see this host rumor possibly working is if they brought Chris back work in tandem with Jesse.

[chocolatine]

It *would* be hilarious if CH came back with a higher salary, so that, coupled with the $10M severance package he got two years ago, he'd end up making more money than if he hadn't been fired. 

[phlebas]

Personally, I don't care who the lead is. CH, Jesse, Tayshia, Paulie. Someone has to be in charge but they can stay offscreen. We don't really need someone to tell us there's one more rose -- we can all count to 1.  

Chris's mistake was thinking he was bigger than the show.

Let Jesse go and try a season without a host.

 

[Melonie77]

Another reason the show has gone downhill is the emphasis on drama over not only the romance but the travel porn. I don't know about everyone else but I would rather have seen more of what they did in the Bahamas than the extended time spent on the dumb Anastasia vs Kylee plot. What a waste of time.

And I often wonder about their choice of dates. The BiP ones are terrible -  I can't stand the human food creation dates - Bachelor Burritos etc.
Many of Gabby and Rachel's Bachelorette dates in Europe were unintelligent and valueless. Why go away to a beautiful location and have a date centered on S & M or weird kissing. What does that have to do with France and Belgium?

With this week's episode I was disappointed to see Brooklyn's ATV date - a theme we've seen over and over. Why couldn't they do something that was associated with the Bahamas?

[phlebas]

3 hours ago, Melonie77 said:

With this week's episode I was disappointed to see Brooklyn's ATV date - a theme we've seen over and over. Why couldn't they do something that was associated with the Bahamas?

I think Clayton took Gabby on that same date in Iceland.  Awful. ATVs may be fun, but you can't really talk while you're doing it.  And how often are they going to Iceland? I'm pretty sure Gabby can ride ATVs in Colorado.

For these things, it's like they set up a real date and a throwaway date. Zach is interested in Kat, so she got to go on the boat ride and go snorkeling.  He's not as interested in Brooklyn, so she gets the simple date.

[b2H]

It could be that enough venues have heard about these ‘dates’ that the truly interesting ones want nothing to do with them.  Closing a venue for an entire day so that there are no other guests?  That’s an expensive venture, especially post-COVID, when so many places lost so much revenue for over a year.

Re: Chris coming back.  Dear hubby is one of those who abandoned the show with Chris’ departure.  Chris is far happier not having to deal with any of the nonsense.  I suspect he laughed at them and hung up the phone, if they actually contacted him, which I bet they haven’t and won’t.

[dizzyd]

Senior Bachelor

Don’t know if this is just another dangling carrot. Let’s hope the contestants are able to stay alive through the whole process seeing as it’s taking production forever to make it happen. 

[ljenkins782]

On 2/15/2023 at 1:19 PM, call me ishmael said:

The problem here is that the article ignores the fact that the show’s ratings were in decline with CH.  it has little to do with his firing.  It has to do with the fact that it has become so repetitive and predictable that it is boring.  It had declined according to the article from over 20m to over 5 with 
CH.  it’s not the host.

Right. The show wasn't breaking any kind of ratings records after all those years and people weren't tuning in just to hear "this is the final rose this evening" from Chris Harrison.

The people who claim to have boycotted sure seem to have lots to say about the show and follow it quite closely even years after CH's departure.

[tinkerbell]

Wrong thread

Edited February 21, 2023 by tinkerbell
Wrong thread

[Jax7917]

On 2/15/2023 at 5:40 PM, phlebas said:

Personally, I don't care who the lead is. CH, Jesse, Tayshia, Paulie. Someone has to be in charge but they can stay offscreen. We don't really need someone to tell us there's one more rose -- we can all count to 1.  

Chris's mistake was thinking he was bigger than the show.

Let Jesse go and try a season without a host.

 

Yeah I don’t know why they don’t utilize the host more than saying 1 robotic line per episode . They are getting paid the big bucks . Make them do / say more . 

[Kiss my mutt]

I don’t know how Jesse is hosting other shows, but he comes across disinterested and just seems to “phone It in” here. He is a dullard. 

[chocolatine]

54 minutes ago, Kiss my mutt said:

I don’t know how Jesse is hosting other shows, but he comes across disinterested and just seems to “phone It in” here. He is a dullard. 

I agree. The only time he really perked up was when he got to speak French, and they're not going to be in a French-speaking country every season.

Edited February 22, 2023 by chocolatine

[DEL901]

9 hours ago, Kiss my mutt said:

I don’t know how Jesse is hosting other shows, but he comes across disinterested and just seems to “phone It in” here. He is a dullard. 

He is great on the Baking Challenge shows…the Spring edition starts soon.  He is fun and funny and does a great job. 

[phlebas]

He's been good on his normal job with the football.

[LakeGal]

Nick Viall was on The Masked Singer this week.  He brought out a clue for one of the masked singers.  

[Jax7917]

There are some shows where the host matters because they are on a lot and it requires a certain personality . This show , to me , isn’t one of them . Chris was fine , Jesse’s fine . They don’t need to be anything other than fine because they have all of 2 lines an episode and the lines are given to them . “ This is the final rose of the evening ” and maybe 1 other thing they say . 
 

Tayshia and Kaitlyn were given more to do . Seems women have to earn their spot on the show while the men really don’t . There were two cases of having 2 bachelorettes . One of the seasons Kaitlyn and Britt were pinned against each other and literally competed for the spot and the other season actually had 2 bachelorettes . Why hasn’t this happened to a guy yet ? And Kaitlyn and Tayshia were given a hell of a lot more to do than Chris or Jesse ever had to do . And they had to have 2 women hosts but only need 1 male host . Just seems weird . 

[MissPriss]

Regarding the girls hosting, they both thought they were the stars. They made their job way more important than need be. They were also competing with the Bachelorettes for screen time. So annoying. 
I’ll take Chris or Jesse any day… even if they’re dull. 

Or maybe I just didn’t care for Tayshia and Kaitlyn and their silly high school antics. 

Edited February 24, 2023 by MissPriss

[Kiss my mutt]

I’d like the British bartender lady. She was a hoot!

[DEL901]

8 hours ago, MissPriss said:

Regarding the girls hosting, they both thought they were the stars. They made their job way more important than need be. They were also competing with the Bachelorettes for screen time. So annoying. 
I’ll take Chris or Jesse any day… even if they’re dull. 

Or maybe I just didn’t care for Tayshia and Kaitlyn and their silly high school antics. 

I think dull is part of the job.  When Jesse hosts one of the baking challenge shows, he is funny and charming and still lets the contestants shine. 

[phlebas]

On 2/23/2023 at 10:10 PM, MissPriss said:

Regarding the girls hosting, they both thought they were the stars. They made their job way more important than need be. They were also competing with the Bachelorettes for screen time. So annoying. 
I’ll take Chris or Jesse any day… even if they’re dull. 

Or maybe I just didn’t care for Tayshia and Kaitlyn and their silly high school antics. 

I dunno... Everything is filmed all the time. Competing for screen time seems nonsensical unless you're bribing the editor. (I agree Tayshia and Kaitlyn commanded attention when they were on screen with Katie. I'm not sure that's their fault.)

I saw the value of having a woman as host when Katie was crying in the bathroom after Greg went off on her. Kaitlyn went in and talked to her, and I watched wondering how different that would have been if it had been Chris Harrison.

I don't think they needed two women for that job.  But I think having one man and one woman could work -- just like I couldn't imagine Katie crying with CH, I couldn't picture Clayton getting talked down by Tayshia during the end of his season. But Jesse and Kaitlyn together I think could bring something. (I like Tayshia but I think she's beyond over this show.)

[Mabinogia]

42 minutes ago, phlebas said:

I don't think they needed two women for that job.  But I think having one man and one woman could work

That would work nicely as one host would "be there" for the lead while the other host could "be there" for the contestants, giving each side someone to talk to, be comforted by, etc. I feel like the ladies would have an easier time opening up to and being comforted by another women (especially one who has gone through "the process") and the same is true on the guys side, easier to open up to/confide in another guy who knows what it's like. 

Alas, the show has long ago stopped caring about the contestants as people so they'll just go with who they think has the biggest fanbase. 

[Fable]

I think there was a season with two bachelors.  I don't remember all the details, but in the end, Byron was the Bachelor, and Mary was the final rose.  

[ljenkins782]

On 2/25/2023 at 10:17 AM, phlebas said:

I dunno... Everything is filmed all the time. Competing for screen time seems nonsensical unless you're bribing the editor. (I agree Tayshia and Kaitlyn commanded attention when they were on screen with Katie. I'm not sure that's their fault.)

I saw the value of having a woman as host when Katie was crying in the bathroom after Greg went off on her. Kaitlyn went in and talked to her, and I watched wondering how different that would have been if it had been Chris Harrison.

I don't think they needed two women for that job.  But I think having one man and one woman could work -- just like I couldn't imagine Katie crying with CH, I couldn't picture Clayton getting talked down by Tayshia during the end of his season. But Jesse and Kaitlyn together I think could bring something. (I like Tayshia but I think she's beyond over this show.)

Agreed. I don't think any of Tayshia and Kaitlyn's "antics" were actually their idea, no more than any of those prop dates are actually cooked up by the contestant. They were told what to do, they did it, and it did indeed interfere at times, but I can't blame them for that. 

I'm not sure why the show felt they needed more to do than what was asked of CH or Jesse, which is mostly the "final rose" line and occasionally a pretend heart-to-heart with someone. 

[SallyAlbright]

Ariel was on the "Bachelor Happy Hour" podcast this week and one thing she mentioned is that when Zach had Covid she got to talk to him over Zoom during the "virtual cocktail party" for thirty minutes.

It made me wonder how long his conversation with Greer actually was, and why it was edited so weirdly. It also made me think that surely there was better material from all of those Zooms than the boring nonsense they showed 😂

[call me ishmael]

1 hour ago, SallyAlbright said:

Ariel was on the "Bachelor Happy Hour" podcast this week and one thing she mentioned is that when Zach had Covid she got to talk to him over Zoom during the "virtual cocktail party" for thirty minutes.

It made me wonder how long his conversation with Greer actually was, and why it was edited so weirdly. It also made me think that surely there was better material from all of those Zooms than the boring nonsense they showed 😂

That’s probably more talking than the do on one on one dates!  Maybe Jess shouldn’t have been so upset 🤔

[phlebas]

Uncle Kronk thinks this season is a mess.  He must be a Jess fan too.

https://www.the-sun.com/entertainment/7448631/bachelor-zach-shallcross-uncle-patrick-warburton-torture-nightmare/

[DEL901]

8 minutes ago, phlebas said:

Uncle Kronk thinks this season is a mess.  He must be a Jess fan too.

https://www.the-sun.com/entertainment/7448631/bachelor-zach-shallcross-uncle-patrick-warburton-torture-nightmare/

He also said he was part of the episode 2 group date but that segment got cut.  

[phlebas]

4 minutes ago, DEL901 said:

He also said he was part of the episode 2 group date but that segment got cut.  

I hope he got paid in advance

[SallyAlbright]

The other women from Zach's season weigh in on who they think he should pick:

https://www.usmagazine.com/entertainment/pictures/bachelor-season-27-stars-on-if-gabi-kaity-is-better-fit-for-zach/

[Sweet-tea]

On 2/21/2023 at 8:55 PM, Kiss my mutt said:

I don’t know how Jesse is hosting other shows, but he comes across disinterested and just seems to “phone It in” here. He is a dullard. 

I disagree. I think Jesse is really good on the show. I don’t even miss Chris Harrison. I do think Chris was treated badly though and shouldn’t have been fired. 

[DEL901]

Jesse is great on the Spring Baking Challenge now airing opposite the Bachelor on the food network if you want to check it out.  He is a lot of fun and really interacts well with the contestants.   ..something that isn’t required here.  

Edited March 22, 2023 by DEL901

[Jax7917]

3 hours ago, Sweet-tea said:

I disagree. I think Jesse is really good on the show. I don’t even miss Chris Harrison. I do think Chris was treated badly though and shouldn’t have been fired. 

I think on this show, the host doesn't really matter. I hate the reason Chris got fired and think it's ridiculous, but I don't exactly miss him saying "Ladies, this is the final rose of the evening." 

[alexa]

On 3/22/2023 at 9:16 AM, Sweet-tea said:

I disagree. I think Jesse is really good on the show. I don’t even miss Chris Harrison. I do think Chris was treated badly though and shouldn’t have been fired. 

I agree!  He really tries to engage with everyone and have nice conversations with them.

[DEL901]

Great summary of ALL the Bachelor Nation couples still together.  BiP leads the shows in succulent couples by far. 
 

https://ew.com/tv/which-bachelor-couples-are-still-together/

*successful….lol, darned auto correct.  

Edited March 26, 2023 by DEL901

[chocolatine]

6 hours ago, DEL901 said:

BiP leads the shows in succulent couples by far. 

It's because of all those agave plants in Mexico. 😉

Edited March 26, 2023 by chocolatine