The Bachelor franchise has a well-known issue in its casting process, as many contestants aren’t looking for a chance to be the lead of the series, which has led to snags in creating new seasons. While The Bachelor and The Bachelorette typically cast their leads from the previous season of the opposite series, this practice isn’t what the show has always done. For the formative seasons of The Bachelor, the leads were found with a more standard reality TV casting process, allowing the leads and the contestants to be properly vetted and come from casting agents, rather than the show.
Though there have been some incredible leads that have come from the now-normal Bachelor Nation casting process, it has inhibited the series in many ways. Bachelor and Bachelorette hopefuls have to go onto the show itself in order to get to a point where they could potentially become the lead, and even if they’re selected, it isn’t guaranteed. While most Bachelor Nation alumni are more interested in being on the show than they are in finding love, some of the contestants are actually looking for a deep connection that they could find if they were allowed to become the lead.
Have A Shortlist Of Top Five Potential Leads
Don’t Focus On Just One Contestant All Season
Throughout the history of The Bachelor and The Bachelorette, it has been common for the editors to focus their efforts on a few different contestants competing for the lead’s affection. While the lead gets a heavy part of the edit since they’re making the final decision, several of the contestants are focused on in a particular way to make it clear that they’ll either be the final contestant standing, or they’ll be important members of Bachelor Nation to come. There’s typically one contestant who gets closely followed, and many believe the edit is them being sold as the next lead.
Sometimes, the producer’s choice for the lead works out, but most of the time, Bachelor Nation is more interested in someone else that the production team hasn’t invested time in just yet. Rather than focusing on one person as the potential lead for the next season of the opposite series, Bachelor producers should pull their focus back and give everyone a bit more backstory. By creating a shortlist of five potential leads early in the season, the producers can provide backstory and follow each potential lead throughout the season, but not keep their focus on one person they’ve already chosen.
Find Contestants Open To One Or More Lead
Contestants Shouldn’t Be Isolated To One Option
When casting the contestants for a season, Bachelor Nation producers are typically casting for one lead. While the leads sometimes have a specific type, Bachelor producers work to diversify their cast as much as possible. Though the production team values what the lead is looking for, they often throw people into the mix based on what they need to see on a reality TV series to make it palatable. Contestants are typically drawn to one person on the previous season of The Bachelor or The Bachelorette, which can make things tricky when the leads change up in the final hour.
If production changed up the casting process a bit, they would likely be able to cast people who would fit with more than one potential lead. They should cast contestants who are simply interested in finding a lasting relationship with some specific qualities. Building out casts that suit several different leads may be more difficult, but the contestants should be able to work with a few different lead options, as things shift quite often. For example, The Bachelorette season 21 was nearly led by Maria Georgas before she dropped out at the last minute, leaving Jenn Tran as the lead.
Production Should Treat Contestants Better
Contestants Need To Be Open To The Opportunity
There have been reports of the contestants on The Bachelor and its subsequent spin-off shows being treated poorly throughout their time on the series, leading many contestants uninterested in fulfilling the role of lead. While there’s nothing that cites more abhorrent or violent acts towards contestants available to the public, producers of the series have been known to be manipulative in getting the storylines they want on the show. Typically, Bachelor producers are working with a story rather than taking material from what’s laid out in front of them. While some contestants can handle the pressure, they shouldn’t have to.
While kindness shouldn’t need to be something that the producers are doing to incentivize contestants to stay within the franchise, the team behind The Bachelor franchise should be more mindful of how they treat their contestants. In order to find people who are willing to stick with the franchise for more than an inaugural season as a contestant, the producers should allow their contestants to navigate their own emotions and work through their own journey. Rather than letting outside noise influence the final decision, the producers should allow the story to unfold before them, then edit The Bachelor from there.
Give Lead & Contestants More Time To Fall In Love
The Filming Period Should Be Longer
Although the pacing of The Bachelor is short for a reason, it shouldn’t be quite so short that the relationships are ultimately built to fail. While reality TV dating shows are known to create an environment that hyperintensities relationships, there are limitations to just how much the contestants and the lead get to know each other on The Bachelor franchise. With just eight weeks in total to build a relationship that’s meant to result in an engagement, the lead and the contestants don’t spend significant time one-on-one together until very late in the process, creating serious relationship issues.
While the producers behind The Bachelor franchise are looking to sell a specific style of reality TV dating, the fact that they allow their relationships built on the show are meant to be with just a little push from TV magic makes them impossible to maintain. Bachelor contestants need more time with the lead to allow their own feelings to grow, and the leads need to be able to get to know their contestants in order to know who they’re interested in bringing forward. Making the filming time a bit longer for the season would improve The Bachelor’s relationship record.
