The Bachelor has an age problem — and it's that the show keeps bringing it up. Well, it's actually Demi's obsession with other Bachelor contestants' ages on the show, and it's a beyond tired conversation. In fact, it's so tired that it's actually recycled from from last season when the producers hid 22-year-old Bekah M.'s age in her bio and then made a dramatic to-do when she told 36-year-old Bachelor Arie her age. After her big reveal, Arie worried about whether she was ready for marriage and kids and he ultimately sent her packing even though she was clearly wise beyond her years. (Joke's on Arie because Bekah's pregnant with her partner now and seems to be handling the next steps of her life just fine.) And unfortunately, now we're back to this same conversation.
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Arie's season apparently didn't provide enough age-related drama for a Bachelor lifetime, and now Demi is the center of age-related drama. She's made her fair share of condescending comments about the "older women" on the show. (Elyse and Tracy are both 31 and the oldest women on the show). Demi's has openly called them cougars and said that "there’s no advantage to being an older woman" vying for 26-year-old Colton's heart.
Now, the preview for the Jan. 28 episode has Demi getting into another fight about age, this time with 23-year-old Courtney. "You questioned how old I was when we’re the same f***ing age," Demi said after Courtney told her to go take a "time out." Demi's young age has also been questioned in the past by Tracy who called her a "child."
The thing is, the only time anyone needs to discuss age on this show is when talking to Colton, and that's only if they feel the need to bring it up. Colton's already made it clear on the show that he doesn't discriminate based on how old or young his contestants are — he just wants someone mature and ready to take the next step in life with him.
If there's anything that watching multiple seasons of The Bachelor reveals, it's that young people can be mature and having more years under your belt doesn't mean you can't be immature. Age really is nothing but a number, and Demi needs to stop making it the focus of nearly every argument she gets in. It's clear that age is a sore point for her, and she didn't like being treated like a child by Courtney who is the same age as her. But the more Demi plays into these unkind stereotypes of "older women" being "cougars" and the like, the more she invites age stereotypes upon herself.
Bachelor Nation was tired of the age conversation when Arie and Bekah had it. As long as Colton is cool with who he's dating and their maturity level, Demi should stay out of it and focus on her own relationship with him instead of counting the years between herself and each contestant. It only makes her look immature, which is exactly what she's trying to prove she's not.