TV

A Bachelor Nation History Lesson: The Franchise's Wildest Moments

Here are the most notable yet lesser known moments in the franchise's wild and problematic history.

ABC

Before Luke P. came around for the Bachelorette Hannah Brown finally gave him a piece of her mind, the franchise had plenty of wild moments.

Nowadays Bachelor Nation is compromised of many new fans who are unaware of the series' past. A proper history lesson can allow a fan to be better equipped to converse, compare, and critique shows like The Bachelor and The Bachelorette. Here are the most notable but less-known crazy moments for those Bachelor Nation newbies.

Jesse Palmer Says the Wrong Name

Before getting to harsher realities of the program, we'll start with something light.

Learning 24 names during one evening would be difficult for anybody. The Bachelor season 5 lead, Jesse Palmer, happened to say the wrong woman's name. Instead of giving a rose to Karen, he accidentally gave it to Katie, someone he meant to send home on night one. Embarrassed, he extended the invitation for Katie to stay, which she unfortunately accepted. Katie deserved better!

Jesse Gives Rose to the Wrong Girl - The Bachelorwww.youtube.com

Lindsay Yenter Reacts in the Best Way

During Bachelor Sean Lowe's season finale, he sent home frontrunner Lindsey Yenter. When he went to walk her out, she took off her heels in a smooth IDGAF move: big mood.

Sad Music - Sean Lowe says "Goodbye" to Lindsey Yenter - Bachelor 2013www.youtube.com

2-on-1 in The Badlands

Before the emotional intelligence showdown between Corinne and Taylor, Bachelor Nation staple Ashley laconetti got into it with Chris Soules's contestant, Kelsey Poe. Their 2-on-1 was one of the most uncomfortable, dramatic dates the franchise has ever seen. Iaconetti called out Poe for being condescending; Poe then used her talking head segment to put Ashley down for generally being dumb, fake, young, and wearing too much make-up. The season was shot in 2014, which demonstrates how recent tearing down women was seen as okay.

The Bachelor - 2-on-1 Date Awkward Silencewww.youtube.com

Skinny Dipping Seen Around the Nation

We remember when the season's villain, Courtney Robertson, won Ben Flajnik's heart on the 16th season of The Bachelor. Their engagement was a surprise to many. Similarly, viewers across the nation were shocked when the show aired the two skinny-dipping in Puerto Rico. In retrospect, the 2012 controversial moment now looks like a lot of good fun.

Ben And Courtney Go Midnight Skinny Dipping! | The Bachelor USwww.youtube.com

Brooks Forester Breaks Up with The Bachelorette

The season 17 Bachelorette, Desiree Hartsock, was shocked and heartbroken when Brooks Forester broke up with her right before the finale. In tears, she seemed ready to choose and build a life with the contestant. Luckily, all ended happily for the lead; in 2015 she married the winner of her season, Chris Siegfrield.

Brooks Breaks Up With Desiree - The Bachelorettewww.youtube.com

Everything Juan Pablo

Juan Pablo was the worst, most misogynistic Bachelor the show has ever seen. Andi called out the Bachelor for belittling her decision to be there, runner-up Clare told him off for breaking up with her after claiming he loved her, and yet he only told the winner, Nikki Ferrel, that he likes her "a lot," with a wink.

The Bachelor - Juan Pablo Tells Andi It's Okaywww.youtube.com


Who Can Forget This Epic Moment from Monday's Finale of The Bachelor?www.youtube.com


Bachelor 2014 - Nikki Ferrell Gets The Final Rosewww.youtube.com

Nick Viall Slut-Shames Andi Dorfman

Andi was never afraid to put a man in his place for his unwise words. On her Bachelorette season's "After the Final Rose" episode, Nick asked Andi why she had sex with him if she did not love him. The lead immediately rejected the inappropriate, sexist question, retorting that it was "below the belt" and should "be kept private."

Bachelorette Finale - Nick Confronts Andi About Sex Suitewww.youtube.com

Kaitlyn Bristowe's Caught on Camera with Nick Viall

On Bachelorette Kaitlyn Bristowe's season, she decided to break from the format and be intimate with a contestant before the show's Fantasy Suites. Bristowe later received a lot of backlash for the decision. In fact, back to back Bachelorettes bore the brunt of the show's sexist double standard about sex.

Kaitlyn and Nick Get it On - The Bachelorwww.youtube.com

Rozlyn Is Accused of Hooking Up with a Producer

The show has never and will never fully protect the women on any of the franchise's shows. On Jake Pavelka's season of The Bachelor, the production team decided to humiliate contestant Rozlyn Papa for having an "inappropriate" relationship with a producer to stir up drama. The unnecessary moment will go down in the show's absurd and emotionally abusive history. PSA: No matter what anyone says, Chris Harrison is complicit and the show doesn't need him.

Rozlyn Accused Of "Inappropriate" Relationship With TV Producer | The Bachelor USwww.youtube.com

Jake Pavelka's On-Air Breakup With Vienna Girardi

The winner of Jake Pavelka's season, Vienna Girardi, broke down during an interview with Pavelka and host, Chris Harrison. As Girardi begins to explain herself, Pavelka butts in; when she tries to get in another word, he verbally reprimands his fiancé. The Bachelor continued to mistreat Giardi, truly looking like a psychopath comparable to Luke P.

Jake and Vienna's Breakup - The Bachelorwww.youtube.com

A Blatant Racist on Rachel Lindsay's Season

Instead of giving the racist contestant from Rachel Lindsay's season a cameo on this listicle, the harassed contestant Kenny King will get the floor. The Bachelorette production gained a lot of criticism for completely mishandling their first black Bachelorette's season by casting Lee Garrett on the show—a man who once equated Black Lives Matter to "terrorism." Critics are still questioning whether or not the show even deserves to have another person of color lead the show after this complete mess.

Kenny Voices His Frustrations About Lee - The Bachelorette 13x4www.youtube.com

Emily Maynard's Daughter Is Not Baggage

Single mother Emily Maynard shot down contestant Kalon after word spread that he called her daughter "baggage." Maynard refused to tolerate that and immediately sent him home like the badass she was.

The Bachelorett- Emily Vs. Kalonwww.youtube.com

Brad Womack Chooses No One

Brad Womack stunned viewers across the nation when he ended up with none of the 25 contestants from his season. While the Bachelor came back to lead a second season, he has still yet to find love, even after becoming engaged to the future Bachelorette star, Emily Maynard.

Brad Picks No One - The Bachelorwww.youtube.com

The Jason Mesnick Move

Before Arie Luyendyk Jr. broke up with Becca Kufrin to chase after the runner-up and his now wife, Lauren Burnham, in a historic, unedited scene, season 4 Bachelor Jason Mesnick broke up with the winner, Melissa, for Molly on-air. As the wildest moment on the franchise, this laid the foundation for Luyendyk Jr. to also get ripped apart by America's Bachelor Nation. Fortunately, all worked out for everyone involved; Jason and Molly are still married 9 years later and have a daughter named Anne, along with Jason's son, Ty. Arie and Lauren also are living happily ever after and have a daughter, Alessi Ren.

Jason Rejects Melissa for Molly - The Bachelorwww.youtube.com

Hannah Brown kicked off her journey looking for love last night on The Bachelorette's season 15 premiere.

At a time when most of the television that we've grown up with is coming to an end, the formulaic corniness of The Bachelorette is a comfortable place for indulging in all of the best romantic reality TV tropes. Following the broadcast of Colton Underwood's quest to lose his virginity, though, this season feels a little more milquetoast than past ones. It seems like The Bachelorette franchise has abandoned all hope to pedal out any sort of commercialized diversity in favor of returning to their roots––having a pretty white woman search for love in a sea of mediocre men.

The Insecure Pageant Queen

The episode starts off with Hannah showing host and skit king Chris Harrison around her hometown. Like a true Tuscaloosa, Hannah peppers in a "Roll Tide" whenever she can and then stands awkwardly in a field of hay. Hannah gives a little context on how she's always loved performance and pageantry but felt like she was never enough.

Hannah Brown may seem like an unlikely choice to be the Bachelorette. For one, she's not exactly a great public speaker. The former Miss Alabama may unleash her inner Hannah Beast when the time is right, but on the whole, she can sometimes get a little tongue-tied and awkward on screen. Who could forget her painfully stilted attempt to formulate a toast with Colton that made him look like a skilled orator by comparison? Or her Bachelorette debut on After the Final Rose when she could only manage to nervously giggle and say, "I Like That!" when meeting five of the guys for the first time. But it seems like they are using Hannah B's awkwardness as a ploy to market her as an adorkable beauty queen looking for someone who will love her despite any flaws she may have.

That seems to be what this season is hammering over our heads. Hannah had alluded to her struggles with striving for perfection on Colton's season, but she's really driving home the point of her vulnerabilities this season, as she's looking for someone to love her just the way she is––a beautiful, blonde, beauty pageant queen. How will she ever find someone who will accept those conventional standards of beauty?

Audition Tapes From Hell

The best part of any Bachelor or Bachelorette premiere are the introductions and first impressions where guys dress up in animal costumes, spew corny rap songs, and use bad puns in an attempt to stand out amongst 29 other men who all look exactly the same. This season, the producers really pushed for the men to vlog their audition tapes, and the result was expectedly cringey.

Tyler's intro kicks things off with him sanding down some wood while shirtless before breaking into dance. The contractor from Florida proudly states that he was two classes away from being a dance minor at Wake Forest and then compares himself to Kevin Bacon.

Pilot Peter is certainly a frontrunner. Coming from an aviation family (which he mentions multiple times), Peter shows up in full uniform and appears to sweep Hannah off her feet.

Mike Johnson is the handsome Texan who hasn't made time for love because of his busy work life, except for one woman: his adorable great grandma. If nothing else, keep MJ around for hometowns, so his grandmother can get more airtime.

Joe the Box King has big Tim & Eric energy. The Chicagoan comes from a proud Italian family and is a lover of all things box related. He has a thick Becca K midwestern accent and pops out of a huge cardboard box, filling the screen with a wholesome vibe and plenty of packing peanuts.

We don't deserve Old Matt Donald, the farmer who hails from California and grew up in a deaf family. He arrives on a tractor and sings about a "bro bro there and a bro bro here."

Connor's claim of being interesting is that he's half-Asian and half-White. He also speaks French.

Luke P. is the season's most visible frontrunner. He's a beefy Channing Tatum type who, after having lots of sex in college, had a spiritual awakening in the shower and realized he wants to settle down.

First And Worst Impressions

Soon, it's time to meet the rest of the guys IRL. When Chris Harrison asks Hannah what her type is, she replies that Southern guys are most comfortable for her but maybe not her best choice. Chris urges her to try "new flavors," and soon the guys roll in.

Connor S. kicks things off with a fence jump. Devin joked about being a virgin. John Paul Jones' name is John Paul Jones and his friends call him John Paul Jones so Hannah can call him John Paul Jones, too. Brian is a sweet math teacher susceptible to voice cracks when he gets nervous.

Connor J. introduces himself in French, which I'm sure he thought was very suave. Hannah said "bon jore," in the thickest possible Southern accent. Ryan rolls in on roller skates. Luke P. wants to let everyone know he has a lot of testosterone by climbing on top of the limo and roaring at Hannah, in reference to her signature Hannah Beast roar from last season.

Grant is basically a 30-year-old Jeff Spicoli, and he ambles in eating a hot dog and holding a bottle of mustard. I love when The Bachelorette producers shade the contestants with their lower third. There was Heather from last season whose bio read "never been kissed" and Grant's simply reads "unemployed."

Cam won the first impression rose on After the Final Rose for his cringey rapping (giving Hannah G a run for her money) and he whipped out his cheesy bars again for his second impression. Both times, it was hard to watch.

Chasen is a pilot who rolls up in a tux and says that women love men in uniform. Then Peter arrives in full aviation garb and makes good on that claim.

Next, Hannah redeems her toast skills by making a semi-coherent one, and soon enough Luke P. makes his presence known to the other men by stealing Hannah for a minute.

The (Planted) Drama

As Joe the Box King speaks lovingly about boxes, Hannah goes through the motions of an otherwise pretty tame first cocktail party. That is until Demi and Katie from last season swoop in to shake things up. Demi's gotten word through DM that one of the men here has a girlfriend and in what is possibly the most obviously planted and scripted ploy I've ever seen in Bachelorette history, Demi and Katie set out to find the culprit. They let Hannah know that Scott is dating someone and he might not be here for the right intentions (that phrase has scarred me after Colton's season).

Hannah rips Scott a new one and then effectively drags him out the door like a dog, as she sternly says, "Come On!" in her Southern drawl and sends his ass home. Although it made for good TV, it seemed like a pretty transparent ploy by the producers to present Hannah as someone who won't take smack from any man, despite her traditional-seeming sensibility. If anything, it brought Demi back, and that's good enough for me.

Hannah cries and paces around for a while before the rest of the men get the memo that they should maybe check up on her. Luke P. comes out to comfort her but doesn't take his cue when she says she's freezing (twice!) as he stays toasty in his cobalt blue suit jacket. Not exactly one for taking the hint, I guess, but Hannah awards him the first impression rose.

The rose ceremony comes and a lot of the guys are salty because they think the Scott situation ate up precious time when they could have been making an impression. Oh well. Mike, Connor S., Matthew, Connor J., Jed, Dustin, Joey, Devon, Peter, Dylan, Matteo, Jonathon, Tyler C., Tyler G., Darren, Luke S., Garrett, Grant, Kevin, and John Paul Jones make it onto the next round. We say goodbye to The Box King, Old Matt Donald, Voice Crack Brian, Second-In-Command-Pilot Chasen, Roller Boy Ryan and Thomas (who I don't remember speaking at all in the first episode).

They wrapped things up with a sneak peak of a tear-filled season with Hannah asserting that she's had sex. Buckle in for a very mild ride.


Sara is a music and culture writer.


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