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The Bachelor
Genre	Dating game show
Created by	Mike Fleiss
Presented by	Chris Harrison
Country of origin	United States
Original language(s)	English
No. of seasons	22
No. of episodes	230
Production
Executive producer(s)	Mike Fleiss
Running time	60 minutes (2002–06) 90 minutes (2006–08) 120 minutes (2009–)
Production company(s)	AND Syndicated Productions (2002-2009) (seasons 1-13) NZK Productions Inc. (2010-present) (season 14-present) Next Entertainment Warner Horizon Television (2006–present) (season 9-present) Telepictures Productions (2002-2006) (seasons 1-8)
Distributor	Warner Bros. Television Distribution
Release
Original network	ABC
Picture format	480i (SDTV) (2002–07) 720p (HDTV) (2007–present)
Original release	March 25, 2002 (2002-03-25) – present
Chronology
Related shows	The Bachelorette Bachelor Pad Bachelor in Paradise Bachelor in Paradise: After Paradise Bachelor Live The Bachelor Winter Games
External links
Website

The Bachelor is an American dating and relationship reality television series that debuted on March 25, 2002 on ABC. The show is hosted by Chris Harrison. The show's success has resulted in several spin-offs including The Bachelorette, Bachelor Pad, Bachelor in Paradise, Bachelor in Paradise: After Paradise, and The Bachelor Winter Games.

Production

The series was created and produced by Mike Fleiss and directed by Ken Fuchs. The After The Final Rose and other reunion specials are produced at Victory Studios in Glendale, California.^[1]

Plot

The series revolves around a single bachelor who starts with a pool of romantic interests from whom he is expected to select a wife. During the course of the season, the bachelor eliminates candidates (see The elimination process), culminating in a marriage proposal to his final selection. The participants travel to romantic and exotic locations for their adventures, and the conflicts in the series, both internal and external, stem from the elimination-style format of the show.

The above description is a general guideline. In practice, the show does not always follow its designed structure, and those variations are often a source of drama and conflict.

• A candidate who was eliminated returns to the show to plead her case to the bachelor.


• A bachelor distributes more roses or fewer roses than planned.


• A bachelor eliminates a woman outside of the normal elimination process. For example, the bachelor may eliminate both women in a two-on-one date.


• The bachelor chooses to pursue a relationship with his final selection rather than propose marriage.

Season six was the first and only season to feature a twist in casting. Since producers could not decide between Byron Velvick and Jay Overbye as the next Bachelor, the 25 women at the time participating had to decide which bachelor would make the best husband. In the end of first episode, Velvick was chosen.

Notable cases where the bachelor violated the premise of the show are Brad Womack, who selected neither of his final two women on his first season, and Jason Mesnick, who in the After the Final Rose episode broke off his engagement and several months later proposed (off-screen) to the first runner-up (the two are now married). Like Mesnick, Arie Luyendyk Jr. also broke off his engagement and during the After the Final Rose episode proposed to the first runner-up.

Setting

For the first two weeks of filming, the contestants stay in "Villa De La Vina," a 7,590-square-foot (705 m²), six-bedroom, nine-bath home in Agoura Hills, California.^[2] The custom home, built in 2005, is located on 10 acres at 2351 Kanan Road. As of October 10, 2008, the home was listed for sale at a price of US$8.75 million.^[3] The final third of the episodes within a season are filmed traveling the world. Episodes have been filmed throughout the United States, Canada, England, New Zealand, Vietnam, Thailand, and Korea to name just a few. The Agoura Hills, California mansion became the primary residence for the contestants since the eleventh season though it was not used in seasons eight and nine, where they mainly shot in Paris and Rome, respectively.^[4]

The elimination process

On each Bachelor episode, the bachelor interacts with the women and presents a rose to each woman he wishes to remain on the show. Those who do not receive a rose are eliminated. Eliminations are based upon the bachelor's personal feelings about each contestant, guided primarily by the impression made by each woman during dates or other events of the week. Most roses are presented at a rose ceremony at the end of each episode, but roses can also be bestowed on dates. Typical activities include:

• A group date, in which the bachelor and a group of women participate in an activity. Sometimes the activity takes the form of a competition, the winner or winners spending more time with the bachelor. The bachelor typically presents a rose to the woman who makes the best impression during the group date.


• A one-on-one date, in which the bachelor and one woman go on a date. Except in the late stages of the season, there is a rose at stake: At the end of the date, the bachelor must decide whether to present the woman a rose. If the woman does not receive a rose, she is eliminated immediately.


• A two-on-one date, in which the bachelor and two women go on a date. At the end of the date, the bachelor must decide which woman receives a rose. The woman who does not receive a rose is eliminated immediately.

If a rose is at stake on a date, the participating women pack their suitcases in case they fail to receive a rose. The other women learn that a woman has been eliminated when that woman's suitcase is taken away by a crew member.

• Except in the late stages of the season, the episode concludes with a cocktail party, to which the bachelor and all women not yet eliminated are invited. At the first cocktail party of the season, the bachelor presents a "first impression rose"; roses are typically not presented at any other cocktail parties.


• Every episode concludes with a rose ceremony which has its own conventions.
  
  
  
  • The women who have not been eliminated stand in rows at one end of the room, and the bachelor faces them. The bachelor has a tray with roses.
  
  
  • The bachelor takes a rose and calls a woman by name. The woman steps forward, and the bachelor asks, "Will you accept this rose?" The woman accepts, takes the rose, and returns to her original position.
  
  
  • When there is one rose remaining, host Chris Harrison says, "Ladies, this is the final rose tonight," then tells the bachelor, "When you're ready."
  
  
  • After all roses are distributed, host Chris Harrison tells the women who did not receive a rose, "Ladies, take a moment and say your good-byes."
  
  
  
  

The final episodes of each season traditionally follow this pattern:

• The bachelor visits the home towns and families of each of the four remaining women. At the rose ceremony, one woman is eliminated, leaving three.


• The bachelor and the three remaining women travel to an exotic location for a series of one-on-one dates. At the conclusion of each date, the bachelor offers the woman the keys to the fantasy suite which allows the two to spend the night together without cameras present. At the rose ceremony, one woman is eliminated, leaving two.


• In a "The Women Tell All" episode, the women who had been eliminated from the show participate in a talk show where they discuss their thoughts and experiences.


• The two remaining women separately meet with the bachelor's family. At the end of the episode, the bachelor proposes to one of the women by presenting the "final rose".


• In an "After the Final Rose" episode which immediately follows, the bachelor, the finalist, and the runner-up participate in a talk show. The identity of the next season's bachelor or bachelorette is often announced at the end of the episode.

A woman may withdraw from the competition at any time if she finds herself no longer interested in the bachelor. On rare occasions, a woman is removed from the show for breaking one of the rules.

The bachelor has wide discretion in choosing how many and when to present the roses. For example, Sean Lowe presented several roses at his initial cocktail party.

It is common to accuse a contestant of not being on the show "for the right reasons", meaning that her aim is not to establish a relationship with the bachelor, but rather to garner publicity for her own career, induce jealousy in an ex-boyfriend, become selected as the next Bachelorette, or simply to get free trips to exotic locations.

Seasons

#	Original Run	Bachelor	Number of contestants	Winner	Runner(s)-up	Proposal	Still together	Relationship notes
1	March 25–April 25, 2002	Alex Michel	25	Amanda Marsh	Trista Rehn	No	No	Michel did not propose to Marsh, but instead they entered into a relationship. Marsh and Michel broke up after several months. Marsh is now married to her childhood friend, Jay Caldwell, and they have a daughter named Chloe.[5][6]
2	September 25–November 20, 2002	Aaron Buerge	Helene Eksterowicz	Brooke Smith	Yes	No	Buerge and Eksterowicz broke up after several weeks.[7] Buerge became engaged to Angye McIntosh and married in 2009.[8] They have a daughter named Aven.[9] In 2013, Eksterowicz married senior technology consultant Andrew Goodman and they have one child together.[10][11][12]
3	March 24–May 21, 2003	Andrew Firestone	Jen Schefft	Kirsten Buschbacher	Yes	No	Schefft and Firestone broke up after several months but remained friends.[13] He is now married to actress Ivana Bozilović and they have three children together: sons Adam and Shane and daughter Anja.[14][15][16][17]
4	September 24–November 20, 2003	Bob Guiney	Estella Gardinier	Kelly Jo Kuharski	No	No	Guiney did not propose to Gardinier but she accepted a promise ring indicating that they would still date. They broke up shortly after the show aired.[18] Guiney later married soap opera star Rebecca Budig, but they split after five years of marriage.[19] Guiney has been married to Jessica Canyon since November 2016.[20]
5	April 7–May 26, 2004	Jesse Palmer	Jessica Bowlin	Tara Huckeby[21]	No	No	Palmer did not propose to Bowlin. They continued to date but broke up several weeks later.[22] Bowlin is now married to Omar Rawi and they have two children together.[12] In 2018, Palmer hosted a tv show that aired on ABC called The Proposal.
6	September 22–November 24, 2004	Byron Velvick	27	Mary Delgado	Tanya Michel	Yes	No	Velvick and Jay Overbye started as two candidate bachelors. The women competing had to vote on which man they would like to be the bachelor. Velvick ended up winning the vote. Velvick and Delgado split after five years.[23] Velvick is now married to Belinda Juarez, while Delgado is now married to James Kordomenos.[12]
7	March 28–May 16, 2005	Charlie O'Connell	25	Sarah Brice	Krisily Kennedy	No	No	O'Connell chose Brice to be the winner but did not propose to her and instead began a relationship. They broke up in September 2007,[24] but got back together in 2008.[25] However, they called it quits again in 2010.[26] Brice is now married to Brandt Calver and they have three children together.[12][27] O'Connell married Playboy Playmate Anna Sophia Berglund in May 2018.[28]
8	January 9–February 27, 2006	Travis Lane Stork		Sarah Stone	Moana Dixon	No	No	Stork did not propose to Stone. Instead, they began a relationship. They broke up shortly after the show aired.[29] Stork is now featured on The Doctors and was married to pediatrician Charlotte Brown, but they divorced after three years of marriage.[30][31] Stone is now married to Brock Smith and they have three daughters together.[12][32]
9	October 2–November 27, 2006	Lorenzo Borghese	27	Jennifer Wilson	Sadie Murray	No	No	Borghese did not propose to Wilson. They entered into a relationship, and broke up in January 2007. He immediately dated Murray, the runner-up, and broke up in March of that same year.[33][34] Wilson is now married to Lee Gerschultz.[12]
10	April 2–May 22, 2007	Andrew Baldwin	25	Tessa Horst	Bevin Nicole Powers	Yes	No	Horst and Baldwin called off their engagement one month after the finale,[35] but continued their relationship. They broke off the relationship in September 2007. Horst is now married to Tom Pickard and they have a son together.[12]
11	September 24–November 20, 2007	Brad Womack		None	DeAnna Pappas & Jenni Croft	No	No	Womack chose Croft and Pappas as the two finalists, but they were both rejected in the season's finale.[36]
12	March 17–May 12, 2008	Matt Grant		Shayne Lamas	Chelsea Wanstrath	Yes	No	Grant and Lamas broke up in July 2008 as they felt their lives were going in different directions, but stated they would remain close friends.[37] Lamas is now married to Internet personality Nik Richie and they have two children together, a boy and a girl. Grant is now married to Rebecca Moring.[12][38]
13	January 5–March 3, 2009	Jason Mesnick		Melissa Rycroft	Molly Malaney	Yes	No[a]	On the season's finale, Mesnick had called off the engagement with Rycroft, and resumed a relationship with runner-up Malaney. Rycroft is now married to Tye Strickland, and they have three children together, daughter Ava and sons Beckett and Cayson.[39][40][41] Mesnick would later propose to Malaney in New Zealand, which she accepted and were married on February 27, 2010, in California.[42] Mesnick and Malaney's wedding aired on national television on March 8, 2010.[43] The couple welcomed their first child, Riley, in March 2013.[44]
14	January 4–March 1, 2010	Jake Pavelka		Vienna Girardi	Tenley Molzahn	Yes	No	Pavelka and Girardi ended their relationship in June 2010.[45] They later appeared in the second season of Bachelor Pad.[46]
15	January 3–March 14, 2011	Brad Womack[47]	30	Emily Maynard	Chantal O'Brien	Yes	No	Womack and Maynard broke up while their season was airing, but got back together after the show's finale. However, they called it quits for good in May 2011 but remained friends.[48]
16	January 2–March 12, 2012	Ben Flajnik[49]	25	Courtney Robertson	Lindzi Cox	Yes	No	Flajnik and Robertson originally broke up in February 2012 while their season was airing. However, they were later reconciled and got engaged for the second time, but broke up again in October 2012 for good.[50]
17	January 7–March 11, 2013[51]	Sean Lowe[52]	26	Catherine Giudici	Lindsay Yenter	Yes	Yes	Lowe and Giudici married on January 26, 2014.[53] They have two children together, Samuel (born 2016)[54] and Isaiah (born 2018).[55]
18	January 6–March 10, 2014	Juan Pablo Galavis[56]	27	Nikki Ferrell	Clare Crawley	No	No	Galavis did not propose to Ferrell, but instead they decided to continue their relationship. They later appeared on Couples Therapy. In October 2014, they decided to end their relationship after months of fighting.[57] Ferrell married longtime friend Tyler Vanloo on October 8, 2016.[58] Galavis married former Miss Earth Venezuela Osmariel Villalobos in August 2017.[59]
19	January 5–March 9, 2015	Chris Soules[60]	30	Whitney Bischoff	Becca Tilley	Yes	No	Though the season ended with Soules proposing to Bischoff, the couple announced that they had called off the engagement on May 28, 2015.[61] Bischoff is now married to fellow Chicagoan resident Ricky Angel.[62]
20	January 4–March 14, 2016[63]	Ben Higgins	28	Lauren Bushnell	Joelle "JoJo" Fletcher	Yes	No	Higgins and Bushnell had their own reality show Ben and Lauren: Happily Ever After?. They also hosted a Disney wedding show special, Disney's Fairy Tale Weddings. The two announced their breakup on May 15, 2017.[64]
21	January 2–March 13, 2017[65]	Nick Viall[66]	30	Vanessa Grimaldi	Raven Gates	Yes	No	Viall and Grimaldi announced their breakup on August 25, 2017.[67]
22	January 1–March 6, 2018	Arie Luyendyk Jr.[68]	29	Becca Kufrin	Lauren Burnham	Yes	No[b]	On the live season finale, it was revealed that a few weeks after filming wrapped, Luyendyk had quickly called off his engagement to Kufrin and started dating runner-up Burnham. The two got engaged during the After the Final Rose special, their wedding is to be scheduled on January 12, 2019.[69][70][71]
23	January 7, 2019	Colton Underwood[72]	TBA

Ratings

Notes

Spin-offs

The show's success has led producer Mike Fleiss to create multiple spin-offs, including The Bachelorette, in which the format is gender-reversed. The bachelorettes are eliminated contestants from The Bachelor. Season 11 of The Bachelorette had two bachelorettes (but only for the first episode).

On August 9, 2010, Bachelor Pad premiered, giving previous contestants of both The Bachelor and The Bachelorette an opportunity to compete in dating-themed eliminations for $250,000.

On August 4, 2014, Bachelor in Paradise premiered, giving previous contestants of both The Bachelor and The Bachelorette the opportunity to compete for another chance in love in dating-themed eliminations. The series went on to have a spin-off of its own, Bachelor in Paradise: After Paradise, which also serves as a spin-off to The Bachelor and it premiered on August 3, 2015.^[109]

The fourth season of Bachelor in Paradise called into question about the future of its production following an issue of possible misconduct on the set. The fourth season premiered on August 8, 2017. Two contestants, Corinne Olympios and DeMario Jackson were involved in an explicit sexual encounter in the pool during the filming of the show and were caught on tape. A producer onset administered a complaint which stated either one or both contestants may have been too drunk to give proper consent for the sexual encounter. This prompted Warner Bros. to start an internal investigation and both contestants to seek legal counsel. Production of the show was halted on June 11, 2017 and all contestants were asked to go home until further notice. Allegations were made against both contestants about their intoxication and actions thereafter, but ended with broadcast statements from both contestants during a talk show that it was all a misunderstanding and the two have remained friends since the incident. The show was given the green light to resume filming on June 21, 2017, neither Olympios nor Jackson returned to production.^[110]

The weddings of Trista Rehn (the 1st Bachelorette), Jason Mesnick (13th Bachelor), Ashley Hebert (the 7th Bachelorette), and Sean Lowe (the 17th Bachelor) were broadcast as television specials. Rehn's vow-renewal ceremony upon her 10-year anniversary was also broadcast. Bachelor in Paradise season 2 couple, Jade Roper and Tanner Tolbert's wedding was also broadcast as television special in February 2016.

On January 4, 2016, Bachelor Live, a one-hour after show talk show premiered, hosted by Chris Harrison.^[111]

First airing in October 2016, Ben and Lauren: Happily Ever After? showcased the relationship of Ben Higgins and Lauren Bushnell following season 20 of The Bachelor on their plans for marriage and Bushnell's new life in Denver. But then, the couple eventually parted ways in May 15, 2017.^[112]

On March 20, 2017, The Twins: Happily Ever After premiered. The series stars Haley and Emily Ferguson from season 20 of The Bachelor and showcases them "saying goodbye to the comfort and luxuries of living under their mom's roof and beginning the hilarious journey of figuring out life on their own while searching for independence and a new career."^[113]

The Bachelor Winter Games premiered on February 13, 2018. The show follows a similar premise to that of Bachelor in Paradise with a few twists. One stand out twist is that the cast is made up of international contestants from The Bachelor Franchise. All contestants participate in various winter sports in order to win a date card.^[114] Ashley Iaconetti (American) and Kevin Wendt (Canadian) were the winning couple of the first season, after competing in an ice skating dance routine against three other couples.^[115]

Questions of authenticity

On February 26, 2009, in an exclusive interview between The Bachelor season 13 contestant Megan Parris, and Steve Carbone, Megan commented that the producers edit the footage to create a fictional storyline. "I don't think [the producers] showed any real conversation I had with anyone... The viewers fail to realize that editing is what makes the show... You'll hear someone make one comment and then they'll show a clip of somebody's face to make it look like that is their facial reaction to that statement, but really, somebody made that face the day before to something else. It's just piecing things together to make a story."^[116]

On March 26, 2009, Megan Parris argued that not only was the show scripted, but that producers bullied contestants into saying things to the camera that contestants did not want to say.^[117] "There's nothing real about it," she said of the show's trademark "confessionals," in which contestants talk to the camera about the latest goings-on. "It is scripted," she said. "They basically will call you names, berate you, curse at you until they get you to say what they want you to say." Both ABC and Warner Bros., the studio that produces The Bachelor, had no comment.^[118]

On March 15, 2010, Mike Fleiss appeared on 20/20 and said that he develops contestants into characters that will cater to his audience's tastes and that they "need [their] fair share of villains every season."^[119] Fleiss has come under fire for admitting that The Bachelor has less to do with reality than it does making good television.^[120]

On February 24, 2012, during the taping of The Women Tell All episode of The Bachelor, a private conversation between contestant Courtney Robertson and a show producer went public when microphones were accidentally left on in between camera takes. The conversation revealed the producer had a role as a coach, encouraging Robertson to fake certain emotions for the camera.^[121]

The audience reactions for The Women Tell All episode are pre-recorded and inserted into the show later.^[122]

Lawsuits

In December 2011, a producer of The Bachelor, sued Steve Carbone, a Bronx-born, California-raised Internet enthusiast from Frisco, Texas and proprietor of the website RealitySteve.com, for leaking unreleased information about the show, claiming Carbone encouraged contestants of both The Bachelor and The Bachelorette to break their confidentiality agreements. Carbone has denied that the source of the leaks are current contestants.^[123][124] Despite being settled, there were two further lawsuits against Carbone in 2012 and in 2017, respectively.^{[citation needed]}

International versions

     An upcoming season

     No longer airing

Country	Name	Host	Network	Date premiered
Australia	The Bachelor Australia	Osher Günsberg[125]	Network Ten	September 8, 2013
Brazil	The Bachelor	Fábio Arruda	RedeTV!	November 21, 2014
Canada[126]	The Bachelor Canada	Tyler Harcott	City	October 3, 2012
China[127]	The Bachelor (黄金单身汉）	Qiu Qiming	Mango TV (Internet channel)	October 1, 2016
France	Bachelor, le gentleman célibataire	Stéphane Rotenberg (2003–2005) Grégory Ascher (2013–2014) Boris Ehrgott (2016)	M6 (2003–05) NT1 (2013–16)	May 7, 2003
Finland	Suomen unelmien poikamies	Sami Kuronen	Nelonen	February 2008
Germany[128]	Der Bachelor	Arne Jessen (2003) none (2011–)	RTL	November 19, 2003 January 4, 2011
India, State of Tamil Nadu	எங்க வீட்டு மாப்பிள்ளை Enga Veetu Mapillai	Sangeetha Krish	Colors Tamil	February 20, 2018
India, State of Kerala	Aryakku Parinayam	Sangeetha Krish	Flowers TV	February 26, 2018
Indonesia[129]	The Bachelor Indonesia		NET.	2019
Israel	הרווק Haravak	Guy Geyor	Channel 10	2009
Italy	The Bachelor - L'uomo dei sogni	Cristina Parodi	Canale 5	June 26, 2003
Japan	バチェラー・ジャパン The Bachelor Japan	Kouji Imada 今田耕司	Amazon Prime TV Video	2017
New Zealand	The Bachelor New Zealand	Mike Puru	TV3	March 17, 2015
Norway	Ungkaren	Christopher Dons	TVNorge	2003
Poland	Kawaler do wzięcia	Krzysztof Banaszyk	TVN	October 8, 2003
Romania[130]	Burlacul	Lucian Marinescu (1) Cătălin Botezatu (2-4) Andreea Mantea (5-)	Antena 1	June 8, 2010
Russia[131]	Холостяк Holostyak	Petr Fadeev	TNT	March 10, 2013
Switzerland[132]	Der Bachelor		3+	October 30, 2013
Slovenia[133]	Sanjski moški		POP TV	September 2004
United Kingdom[134][135]	The Bachelor	Jeremy Milnes Hugo Speer	BBC Three (2003–05) Channel 5 (2011–12, 2019)	March 30, 2003 August 19, 2011 2019
Thailand[136]	The Bachelor Thailand ศึกรัก...สละโสด The Bachelor Thailand (Bachelor...Battle of Love)	Natpawin Kulkanlayadee	ONE (th)	August 27, 2016
Ukraine	Холостяк Holostyak	Hryhoriy Reshetnyk	STB	March 17, 2011
Vietnam	The Bachelor Vietnam - Anh chàng độc thân	Khôi Trần	HTV7	August 14, 2018

Note:

• Reruns of the original American version is also broadcast in Australia at Nine Network.


• In Indonesia, the Indonesia show The Bachelor Indonesia airing on NET. is based on The Bachelor, Warner Bros. Television deals format the show collaboration with distribution production in Indonesia is PT Dunia Visitama Produksi as name Fremantle for Indonesia version.

Parodies

The novelty of the show^[137] makes it a ripe target for parody.

Ben Stiller produced a web spoof of the series entitled Burning Love.^[138]

Late night talk show host Jimmy Kimmel also created a parody called "The Baby Bachelor" in Jimmy Kimmel Live!, which the titular role is given to his 3-year-old nephew Wesley.

The Fox network produced a show, Joe Millionaire, based on the premise that the bachelor was a millionaire heir, when in reality, he was not.

On June 1, 2015, Lifetime began airing Unreal, a scripted drama about a producer who works on Everlasting. It is based on Sarah Gertrude Shapiro's short film Sequin Raze and her experience as a field producer on The Bachelor.

In a third season episode of Rupaul's Drag Race All Stars, the main challenge consisted of a parody called "The B*tchelor" where guest judge Jeffrey Bowyer-Chapman played the Bachelor while the drag contestants portrayed the romantic interests.

See also

• The Bachelorette


• Bachelor in Paradise


• 
  Who Wants to Marry a Multi-Millionaire? (2000)


• 
  The Littlest Groom (2004)


• 
  Momma's Boys (2008)


• 
  More to Love (2009)


• 
  Burning Love (2012)

References

External links

• Official website


• 
  The Bachelor on IMDb


• 
  The Bachelor at TV.com
  


• 
  The Bachelor at Yahoo! TV


• 
  The Bachelor at VH1