Final rose ceremonies certainly don’t seem so “final” anymore — and this week’s “Here for the Right Reasons” podcast explores why traditional Bachelor endings might be a thing of the past.
As pointed out by Ashley Iaconetti during a recent chat with Us, Becca Kufrin’s season 14 of The Bachelorette was the last season to end with a classic proposal. While Kufrin and Garrett Yrigoyen’s status is unclear two years later, the leads that followed — Colton Underwood, Hannah Brown and Peter Weber — all had unconventional finales.
“I prefer the happily ever after,” Dean Unglert told Us earlier this month, referring to the more-recent seasons as “tumultuous” and “hot and cold.” The “Help! I Suck At Dating” podcast host added that it “cheapens” the end result when the lead changes their mind.
“It like makes me less excited for the ending of the season,” he explained. “I want to invest my time in something and then watch it all come to fruition at the end of the season. The last couple of seasons haven’t been that way.”
It’s safe to say that season 16 of The Bachelorette won’t follow the traditional Bachelor format either. Us confirmed earlier this month that original lead Clare Crawley opted to stop filming after falling in love with one of her suitors in 12 days. ABC subsequently brought in Tayshia Adams to take over for the remainder of the season.
Eric Bigger, for his part, recently told Us that he loves a “plot twist” on the show.
“I’m not gonna lie, it’s must-see TV. I think people are gonna watch it for sure,” he said, pointing out that there may be more to the story. “I think over this pandemic because [production] was shut down and they didn’t have the time to film, I believe maybe the producers, the people of the show, allow[ed] her to connect to some of the contestants and kind of, virtually date and see which one she connects to.”
After Clare and Tayshia’s season of The Bachelorette airs, Matt James is set to look for love on season 25 of The Bachelor.
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For theories on why the Bachelor may never go back to classic finales, insight into Tyler Cameron’s recent confession about Hannah Brown, details of Chris Randone’s divorce and more, listen to Us Weekly’s “Here for the Right Reasons” podcast.