When The Bachelor premiered in 2002 with businessman Alex Michel as its lead, ABC had no idea the intricate and far-reaching ecosystem the Chris Harrison-hosted dating competition would create in the future. In the 17 years that followed that inaugural journey for love, The Bachelor would go on to spawn endless spinoffs (including The Bachelorette and Bachelor in Paradise) and, for better or worse, thrust everyday people into the limelight as reality stars.
But Becca Kufrin isn’t so sure that she likes the direction that Bachelor Nation is headed in. The season 14 bachelorette discussed the evolution of the show on an episode of fellow Bachelor alum Rachel Lindsay’s podcast Bachelor Happy Hour. Kufrin, whose season of The Bachelorette aired just last year, doesn't relate at all to the new generation of Bachelor alum who do everything together. "I still stay in touch with some of the girls [from my season]," she said. " But now...it kind of feels like high school. It's kind of cliquey."
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Taking note of the women competing for Peter Weber’s heart in the upcoming season, Kufrin also observed that the hopefuls are getting younger and younger and says it’s a sign that the show (and the intentions of its contestants) has maybe changed over time.
“I could have never done the show any younger,” said Kufrin. “I was 27 years old when I started on The Bachelor — I was not ready or in the right mindset when I was younger.”
“A lot of them are now younger,” she continued. “When you’re forced into the situation and to come out of the show have all these amazing things being thrown at you...it’s easy to get lost in the shininess of it all and to kind of feel like you're on top of the world, you're invincible, you can say or do whatever."
Is age the reason why many of the new class of Bachelor Nation seems to be motivated by completely different things? Possibly. After all, who really needs "true love" when you can get a standing invitation to Stagecoach and Instagram ad money instead?