8 Terrible Bachelor Dates That Hopefully Don't Appear On Grant Ellis' Season (The Show Needs A Revamp)

The Bachelor season 29 starring Grant Ellis premieres on January 27, and there are several terrible dates that should have been left in the past because the show needs a revamp. Grant, a now-31-year-old day trader from Newark, New Jersey, got his Bachelor Nation start on Jenn Tran's Bachelorette season. He was falling for her, but she said goodbye to him right before her hometown dates. Grant was heartbroken, but he was ecstatic to become the Bachelor.

Grant was the perfect choice to be the lead of The Bachelor season 29. His biggest goal in life is to become a husband and a father, and he's ready to find the love of his life. Grant was announced as the Bachelor early, immediately after his elimination from Jenn's season, so that women had the opportunity to apply for the show to date him specifically. Host Jesse Palmer announced that, after Grant was revealed to be the Bachelor, an additional 10,000 women applied for the show. As Grant begins his Bachelor journey, here are eight dates that have hopefully been removed from the show.

1The Bachelor's 2-On-1 Dates Create Producer-Manipulated Drama

Everyone Is So Uncomfortable

The Bachelor two-on-one date is one of the most infamous dates that appears on the show. It most often involves the lead going on a date with two women who are at odds with each other, and the lead having to make a decision between the two of them. Sometimes he even ends up having to play referee as the women are at each other's throats. It's a very uncomfortable situation for everyone involved and pits women against each other, which is something that the show has been guilty of for years. One of the most memorable examples of this was when enemies Genevieve Parisi and Shanae Ankney went on a two-on-one date with Clayton Echard during his season.

In addition, during Joey Graziadei's Bachelor season, Maria Georgas and Sydney Gordon were involved in an extreme conflict. Sydney inexplicably decided that Maria was a villain, with such over-the-top reactions to Maria that some people thought that she was a producer plant. Of course, Joey wanted to get to the bottom of their drama, so they ended up on a two-on-one date together. He ended up looking more like an exasperated teacher mediating an argument between two students than a man searching for his wife.

In the end, Joey believed Maria's side of the story, and he sent Sydney home. The whole date was uncomfortable and unnecessary, and it seemed to be completely manipulated by the producers. These two-on-one dates do nothing but continue drama, especially because they almost always involve two people who are in conflict with each other. Because one of them is usually a villain, it's usually very obvious who'll be sent home. The two-on-one date does nothing to help the lead find his wife. Hopefully, Grant won't be subjected to this ridiculous date because it's a tired concept that should be left in the past.

2The Bachelor's Adrenaline-Filled One-On-One Dates Create Heightened Feelings

People Think They're Falling In Love

The Bachelor franchise loves its adrenaline-filled one-on-one dates, and skydiving or bungee jumping together can certainly make two people feel bonded. When facing fears together, people often feel very connected, and the heightened feelings right after the event can give people the false feeling that they're falling in love.

During Jenn's Bachelorette season, Jenn went skydiving in Melbourne, Australia, with her runner-up, Marcus Shoberg, even though she's afraid of heights. Conquering that fear with him made her feel very emotionally bonded with him. Although Marcus had expressed doubts about the Bachelorette process throughout the whole season, Jenn felt a strong connection with him that stemmed from that first adrenaline-filled date. She kept him all the way until the final two, when there were other men who were clearly more suitable for her.

The same phenomenon happened when Jenn jumped off of the Sky Tower in Auckland, New Zealand with Sam McKinney. After the jump, Jenn seemed to forget that she was upset because she'd told Sam that she didn't want to jump, but he'd forced her into it. Once the adrenaline gets pumping, it sends people on a high that clouds their judgment. Feelings of exhilaration are mistaken for love.

Another downside to these extreme dates is that, sometimes, they can even be dangerous. During Joey's season, he and his third place finisher Rachel Nance went high diving in Tulum, Mexico for the daytime portion of their Fantasy Suite date. However, during the dive, Rachel injured her jaw, and they spent the first half of the date in the hospital. These dates are unnecessary, and they do nothing to further the lead's relationships with their contestants.

In fact, the more lowkey dates that Joey spent with his eventual fiancée, Kelsey Anderson, exploring Spain and hanging out at a bar in Jasper, Canada, really brought them closer. They were real moments, versus the adrenaline-filled illusion that others have experienced. Hopefully, Grant had the chance to have one-on-one dates like when he went horseback riding and spent time on a beach with Jenn in New Zealand, rather than jumping off of buildings or diving out of airplanes. The calmer dates are more like real life, and are therefore more real.

3The Bachelor's Wedding-Themed Group Dates Are Bizarre

The Women Shouldn't Be Forced Into Wearing Wedding Dresses

In recent years, the Bachelor franchise has been doing wedding-themed group dates, which have made many of the women very uncomfortable. During The Bachelor season 25, Matt James and his contestants participated in a wedding-themed photo shoot, during which the women had to wear wedding gowns.

A similar thing happened during The Golden Bachelor with Gerry Turner, when they did romance novel cover shoots. During the latter show, Nancy Hulkower, who lost her husband, Mark, to colon cancer in 2011, cried to fellow contestant April Kirkwood because she had to wear a wedding dress, and she hadn't worn one since she married Mark. She said that the best day of her life was getting married to him.

Nancy later opened up to Gerry about how she didn't expect putting on a wedding dress and remembering her wedding day to hit her so hard. Gerry could relate, and told her that the smell of cinnamon balls once reminded him of his late wife, Toni. Gerry was so moved by her honesty that he gave her the group date rose. However, the show should never have asked Nancy to participate in this date in the first place. It was as though the producers were trying to force emotions out of her.

Even though many of the younger contestants haven't been married before, they also experienced unexpected emotions during Joey's wedding-themed group date. Not only was it completely bizarre that Joey was pretending that he'd just married nine women and was attending their wedding reception, but wearing a wedding dress was triggering for contestant Lauren Hollinger. She was very upset throughout the date because her father passed away seven months before she joined the show.

While she was on the wedding-themed group date wearing a wedding gown, Lauren realized that she was still in the grieving process when it hit her that her father wouldn't be at her wedding and wouldn't be able to see her in her actual wedding dress some day. She didn't even speak with Joey during the wedding reception because she felt that her energy was so off. She eventually cried as she told Joey how she was feeling, and he was very understanding. However, Lauren ended up self-eliminating from the competition during the pre-rose ceremony cocktail party after all of the stress.

Bachelor wedding-themed dates are inappropriate and very bizarre for many reasons, including that they make the lead and the contestants look desperate to be married. Hopefully, Grant's season won't have a date like this because it's a reminder about how ridiculous the concept of The Bachelor really is. It makes the women seem as though they'd marry any guy who showed up in a tuxedo, which ruins the romance of the show. Grant and his contestants deserve better.

4The Bachelor's Group Therapy Dates Are Cruel

No One Should Be Forced To Share Their Private Feelings In A Group Setting

During Clayton Echard's Bachelor season, the women were forced to participate in two separate group dates that were like group therapy. Although the one-on-one dates have become a place in which the contestants share their stories with the lead, that's a private setting, and they can do it on their own terms. However, manipulating people into share intimate details about their lives in a group setting is just wrong.

During Clayton's final group date of the season, he and the women participated in couple's therapy with an Austrian psychotherapist. During the date, Genevieve was very uncomfortable because she has trouble opening up. Clayton eliminated her because he felt that her walls were up with him. However, perhaps Genevieve would've been more vulnerable if she hadn't been in a group setting.

During Jenn's Bachelorette season, Grant was very open with her during their quiet moments together. Those instances felt authentic, and not forced. Hopefully, no one will be coerced into sharing intimate details about their lives during Grant's season, and all of his interactions with the women will be genuine because he's very capable of being vulnerable in the right setting.

5The Bachelor's Aggressive Physical Group Dates Lead To Injury

The Women Shouldn't Be Degraded

If the goal of The Bachelor is for the lead to find love and get engaged, then there's no reason for the aggressive physical group dates that the women are forced to participate in during the show. It's degrading to watch them battle each other in various sporting events, tackling each other to the ground, and getting injured in the process.

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One of the most recent examples of this was during Zach Shallcross' Bachelor season, when the women played tackle football in the Bachelor Bowl in order to win extra time with him. During the game, Genevie Mayo played very aggressively, scoring a touchdown, and getting tackled by Kylee Russell. Genevie injured her shoulder during the game, and even had her arm in a sling during the rose ceremony. The worst part was that her team didn't even win the game, so they didn't get the extra time with Zach.

It's insane that the women would go to such lengths to get attention from the Bachelor lead, to the point that they get physically injured. Nothing about these aggressive dates is conducive to the lead finding love, and it's degrading to the women to have to participate in them. It was humiliating for Genevie that she risked her physical well-being for Zach, but didn't even win the extra time with him. Because Grant was a professional basketball player, there's almost guaranteed to be a sports-themed date on his season, but, hopefully, it won't lead to anyone getting hurt, either physically or emotionally.

6The Bachelor Talent Shows Make Everyone Uncomfortable

Performing In A Talent Show Doesn't Prove The Contestants Are Ready For An Engagement

The Bachelor franchise talent shows are another example of a group date that isn't really conducive to the lead finding love. Although the talent shows are fun to watch, and they do reveal the contestants' personalities, forcing people out of their comfort zones isn't the best way for the lead to get to know them. The Golden Bachelor and The Golden Bachelorette both featured talent show group dates, along with Joey's Bachelor season.

During Joey's talent show, Lexi Young turned the tables on the Bachelor producers when, instead of performing a routine on the stage, she declared that her talent was that she was the world's best kisser. She asked Joey to come on stage to determine if she was right, and kissed him on stage in front of everyone. Lexi won the talent show, which upset some of the women. However, it was actually a powerful moment because Lexi was implicitly stating that the talent show was a waste of time. By kissing Joey instead, she was furthering her connection with him in the only way she could in such a ridiculous environment.

Although it's fun to see the contestants sharing their talents in a show, hopefully Grant's season will skip this group date. It's been done before, and it creates a distance between the lead and the contestants. Grant won't be able to interact with anyone during the show, so it's a waste of precious time. It doesn't prove that anyone is ready to get engaged either. It's been done, and it doesn't need to be done again.

7The Bachelor's Premature Hometown Dates Are Unfair

No One Should Be Going Home With The Lead Before The Official Hometown Dates

Through the years, the Bachelor franchise has had some premature hometown dates that occurred before the official hometown dates. During The Bachelorette season 8, Emily Maynard took contestant Ryan Bowers to her home one a one-on-one date so that he could experience what life was like for her as a single mom.

During The Bachelorette season 18, Michelle Young brought her runner-up Brandon Jones to her parents' home in Minneapolis for a one-on-one date, where they went in the hot tub. Brandon was hilariously caught by Michelle's parents wearing her dad's swim trunks. During this date, Brandon had the advantage of asking for her parents for their blessing to propose to her before meeting them again later in the season.

While both of these dates were sweet, they were examples of how no contestant should have a hometown date before the official hometowns. It's unfair to the other contestants for one person to get such an intimate glimpse into the lead's life and to meet their families so early. Grant should wait to introduce his contestants to his family and/or friends until he fully knows them.

8The Bachelor's Movie Tie-In Dates Are Just Giant Ads

They Feel Exploitative & Inauthentic

One of the worst things about The Bachelor is when it has a date with a movie tie-in. The whole thing just feels like one giant ad, which is exploitative and inauthentic. During Michelle's season, there was a Top Gun: Maverick group date, in which the contestants participated in a G-force simulator challenge, among other things. This led to Will Urena winning an aviator jacket, which Peter Izzo later threw in the pool, much to Will's dismay.

During Jenn's Bachelorette season, she and Marcus had a Wicked-themed one-on-one date, which featured Bachelor Nation alums, Kelsey, Daisy Kent, Charity Lawson, and Trista Rehn. The whole date felt like one big commercial for the movie, which made it feel fake. Although it wasn't tied to any specific movie, Joan Vassos and Chock Chapple's Golden Bachelorette Disneyland date also felt like an ad for the theme park. Hopefully, Grant's season won't have any movie or theme park tie-ins, so that it feels more genuine.

Throughout the years, The Bachelor has made several missteps with its dates, but it can correct these mistakes by avoiding these eight types of dates during Grant's season. He truly wants to find his wife, and he deserves to do that without any kind of negative interference from the producers. There are high hopes for Grant's Bachelor season, so hopefully it will have a happy ending.