‘The Bachelor’ shows reality TV love is far from real

Sage Ludwig, Contributing Writer

Hannah Brown, “The Bachelorette” of season 15, got happily engaged to contestant Jed Wyatt after rejecting Tyler Cameron’s proposal. After a couple of days of off-camera romance, it was finally revealed that Wyatt had a secret girlfriend the whole time. 

Yes, the whole time he was supposedly falling “in love” with Brown, Wyatt was scheming a less interesting plot than the show: his singing career. This was devastating to Brown, who had really fallen in love with him and would not be able to forgive him. Brown’s ending to her journey is just another reason why reality TV rarely shows true authentic love. 

That is because most of the contestants that come on the show are not really your everyday people. You’ll find your teachers and healthcare workers joining the series, but most of them are already social media influencers trying to boost their following. 

The show gets millions of viewers because of its cult following, so some men and women competing on the show realize they will gain attention, especially if they appear memorable. 

“The Bachelor” franchise is a dating, reality show that displays a single man, or the “Bachelor” or woman, the “Bachelorette” looking for love with around 30 men or women. The show does a pretty solid job at combining romance and gossip. 

The new season of “The Bachelor,” which aired a few weeks ago, has a girl being questioned for her intentions on the latest episode. There are multiple men or women every season who are called out for not being on the show “for the right reasons.”

Now you may be wondering, do these people going on “The Bachelor” really get famous? Why go along with the show and promote a false narrative if you aren’t going to get that much attention? 

Well, they might not be A-listers, but they do garner lots of attention. Famous alums from the show, like Tyler Cameron, Brown, Hannah Godwin, Tayshia Adams and Kaitlyn Bristowe all have over a million followers on Instagram. 

Even the most recent “Bachelorette” Gabby Windey has one million followers on Instagram and went on “Dancing With the Stars” and finished in second place. Brand deals, commercials and TV appearances are all included with being a “Bachelor” celebrity. So why wouldn’t a guy or girl go on and experience the bachelor bubble and maybe get some clout from it? 

It seems like a great experience to get 15 minutes of fame by auditioning for the show and seeing where it goes — even if one’s not ready for engagement. 

As someone who has been watching the show since I was 11 years old, I’ve seen the big change: the show is not about love anymore. 

It is simply about which girl is going to be the next “it girl,” and which boy is going to be the next heartthrob for all the fans and even non-fans. This goes for all reality shows.

It’s understandable that reality dating shows might not end up with the outcome we want because it’s reality. What’s real, however, is love, and viewers have not seen that in the past couple years. 

Shows like “Too Hot To Handle” and “Love is Blind” contribute to this. It’s common once these shows finish to see that all these couples that were shown to be in love end up breaking up, sometimes even before the show airs. People that join these shows might not end up with someone, but they gain thousands of followers in the process. 

Followers and everything that comes with being a reality TV star seem to be why young adults keep going on these shows. 

Producers and creators of these shows have all these contestants in a bubble. When it’s done, and they get back to the real world, they realize they weren’t “ready for love” and capitalize off their experience on the series. This is why reality dating TV doesn’t have the best track record for producing real couples that are still together. 

I’m hoping the newest Bachelor Zach Shallcross can find real love and not end up alone due to certain contestants’ desire to have temporary fame and not a long lasting relationship. 

I wouldn’t be surprised, however, if he becomes the next Bachelor to not find his future wife, as only five did.