Fans feel The Bachelor franchise has had a problem with casting contestants in the past several seasons. With The Bachelorette season 19 over, fans have been analyzing this season with a more critical eye and have issues, specifically with the casting. Since 2002 and 2003, respectively, both The Bachelor and The Bachelorette, along with their various spin-offs, have been entertaining fans with their quest to find love. Each lead spends several weeks on an emotional journey, with up to 25 contestants vying for their affections. While they are 20 years into the franchise and a lot has changed about the contestants and the fanbase, production has kept the same format until this past season of The Bachelorette.
The Bachelorette season 19 focused on both Gabby Windey and Rachel Recchia, who appeared on Clayton Echard’s season of The Bachelor. A season with co-leads carrying through until the final rose is a first for the series. Even though Kaitlyn Bristowe and Britt Nilsson were co-leads on the first night of The Bachelorette season 11, production ultimately had the male contestants vote on which Bachelorette would continue as the sole lead, which was Kaitlyn. The current season brought in a pool of 32 men to compete for either Gabby’s or Rachel’s heart, ranging from 23 to 36 years old. Fans were concerned from the beginning that utilizing a two-lead format would ruin the patented Bachelorette romance, but it is not the format that is causing fans to see through the fairy-tale; it is a far larger problem at the core of Bachelor nation.
For several seasons now, leads on The Bachelor and The Bachelorette have been pulled from Bachelor nation rather than the public. More often than not, some cast members are either prior contestants or mutual friends of the contestants. It is rare to see a lead that has not been featured on a previous season; fans have never seen a Bachelorette lead who was not a former contestant and have not seen it on The Bachelor since Matt Grant. This choice is limiting and highlights another problem with the casting process: Bachelor leads and contestants tend to skew quite young. Fans were disappointed with Gabby and Rachel’s cast of men, quickly citing various reasons early in the season. However, as The Bachelor franchise has continued, it has become clear many of the contestants are not emotionally ready for the commitment of marriage. This could be due to their age and limited life experience.
Being a show that markets itself on developing lasting romance, seeing Bachelor and Bachelorette contestants in their early 20s who are desperate for a committed partner can be a bit disheartening, especially when they develop relationships that are built to fail. Romantic relationships are tricky without the added pressure of a national audience, so airing some of the most difficult parts of a new romance for the world to see can put a strain on an already fragile couple. While The Bachelorette‘s Gabby is now engaged to Erich Schwer, some leads are not as fortunate and find themselves single before their finale episode has aired. Overall, Bachelor nation would be smart to look at its process and potentially revamp its structure by bringing in older cast members who are serious about getting into relationships and sourcing their leads from a larger pool of people.
As The Bachelor franchise continues into another decade, now would be the best time for it to make some fundamental changes. In the past few years alone, Bachelor nation parted ways with longtime host Chris Harrison and has developed several spin-off series, including Bachelor in Paradise viewers are getting used to things being shaken up within the franchise. With The Bachelorette season 19 finished, fans have learned the identity of the newest star of The Bachelor, Zach Shallcross. While some fans are happy about Zach as the lead, it would have been beneficial to shake up the format and see if something new could work.
