I have watched literally every season of The Bachelor and The Bachlorette. And Bachelor in Paradise, which is my favorite of them all!!

These shows are my Monday night pleasure, and I am not going to call it a “guilty pleasure” because I no longer – somewhat thanks to this new book, Bachelor Nation: Inside the World of America’s Favorite Guilty Pleasure, feel guilty about it!

Why do I – someone who obviously reads and watches more intellectual works – watch this show? I think it’s a curiosity about human nature. Even with the understanding of producer manipulation and editing (both which are highlighted in this book I’m going to review today) I love watching how people act and relate to each other. Thanks to DVR I can turn a 2-hour show into a manageable 1+ hours. (Or the 3 hour episodes – which my husband complains about – into a manageable and fabulously enjoyable 2 hours.)

So when I heard about the newest book about this popular TV franchise, Bachelor Nation: Inside the World of America’s Favorite Guilty Pleasure, I knew I had to read it.


This is not the first Bachelor-related book I’ve blogged about. I read Andi Dorfman’s book a couple of years ago. That one I actually summarized so you wouldn’t have to read it; it was not a good book.

However, I do recommend Courtney Robinson’s (winner of Ben Flajnik’s season) book. It was really interesting: I Didn’t Come Here to Make Friends: Confessions of a Reality Show Villain.

Amy Kaufman’s (who is a staff writer for the LA Times) new book, may be worth a read if you are a fan of the show like me. It’s not as juicy as I had hoped, but I’m glad I read it. I follow so many spoilers and other information about this series, I didn’t “find out” a lot I didn’t already know. Still this book is well written and does justice in its effort to explain the phenomenon of the series. If nothing else it helped me realize I am not alone and SO MANY people watch this series.

Having written a thesis I noticed how the first chapters were like a background and history you would include in a Master’s thesis. She goes through the dating shows that led up to this series (Remember the Dating Game and the Love Connection and Blind Date?) as well as the history of Mike Fleiss’s (the show’s creator and producer) leading up to launching this show. It started with Who Wants to Marry a Millionaire. Yes I actually do remember watching Darva Conger marry Rick Rockwell on that show LOL!! These parts of the book were well written, but I didn’t really care; I just wanted to get to the juicy stuff…

And she did get to some juicy stuff if not enough for my insatiable appetite for these tidbits. Parts I did find interesting included:

  • Play by play of what happens when you make the final 50 for this show.
  • Multiple accounts of the intensity of the ITMs (In the moment interviews) where they pull you aside during filming to get soundbites. She interviewed a lot of former cast members for this book.
  • Details directly from some of the most interesting character’s appearances on the show, like Shaleen Joynt, who left Juan Pablo’s season, and Clare Crawley, who was a finalist on his season.
  • Producers pressuring Chris Bukowski to propose to the girl he knew for like 2 weeks on Bachelor in Paradise. (Remember they left together because he hurt his leg.)
  • Some monetary details on how much the actual Bachelor and Bachelorette have been paid and how many people on the show make money after being on the show. Actually this is why most people go on the show anymore! And lots on the post-show fame many of the characters embrace.

Also, dispersed within the book are essays from many famous people about why they watch and enjoy the show. I told you I no longer feel guilty about watching it and you won’t either!!

The author did her due diligence with attending “Bach events” and telling about them. Like a dating boot camp co-hosted by Chris Sowles. What??

Beyond the actual show another social experiment discussed in the book (and this is getting ugly) is how being on this show affects people. Many become fame hungry and this is understandable because how viewers are treating them!! Yes, I watch this show but I DO NOT attend “Bach events” and make all these people feel super famous and important. Yes people are doing this and it is ridiculous!! Chris Bukowski said he would come home to women on his doorstep.

These cast members also take lots of hate on social media for whatever they do on the show. Yes, they sign up for it all but the level of social media hate in this country is a scary thing. Thinking about this all too much does make me feel a bit badly about supporting this show.

What’s also interesting is that the format DOES NOT WORK FOR FINDING LOVE and yet we are still watching.

At the end of the book there is a full list of all the seasons with the star, the “winner” and if they are still together. For the Bachelor, there is only ONE COUPLE still together. The Bachelorette has a bit better track record but not much. The author maintains (she is a single woman) that she watches it to understand the “brilliant thing called love” and because of admitted fascination with the unrealistic “fairy-tale.” I can’t personally agree with that, all things considered, I obviously watch it for entertainment, and I plan to continue doing so with (almost) no guilt.

 

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