Why this season of The Bachelor was the best yet
FOR weeks we’ve been bombarded with conspiracy theories about who Nick Cummins would ultimately end up with. And that’s what made it so compelling, writes Lexie Cartwright.
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BROOKE bailed, Tenille bailed twice, there was a mass exodus of mean girls in one single evening, and to cap it off, the guy who went on national television to find everlasting love decided to walk away completely alone and has been MIA ever since .
There’s no denying that this season of The Bachelor has been the most entertaining yet.
From the get go, it copped a fair bit of flack. Australian Bachelor tragics were not happy with the choice of Nick ‘Honey Badger’ Cummins as the cult reality show’s leading man.
After all, he’s hardly your conventional bachelor. He’s a bogan, a famous rugby star, he speaks his own language, and well, he’s not quite the oil painting we’ve become used to ogling over during cheese and wine nights on the couch.
On top of those initial doubts, rumours have been rife about his life after the show. From claims of him hooking up with women in bars, to him being branded “the new Blake Garvey” — it’s rumoured (and been denied) that Cummins has reunited up with another contestant since filming ended— it’s been non-stop for Cummins.
But my God, he has played the centrepiece of a truly exciting series.
And let’s be honest, that’s what this show is about.
Romance reality TV is constructed to be entertaining. That’s why there is always a token weirdo (we’re looking at you Brittany number 2), confusingly confident contenders who somehow think they will win (cough, Cat and Romy), and a stage five clinger who’s ten times more in love with him than the rest of the pack (Cass, sorry but someone had to fill the role).
So this season, like the others, had all the standard tools for great viewing.
But, importantly, it hooked more viewers this time around because beneath all of that, it was actually filled with real women. Kind women.
That’t not normally something that sells, but this time it did.
I don’t think I’ve ever seen a group of girls who were so nice to each other, and this is largely thanks to Nick not listening to producers and kicking the mean girls to the curb earlier than normal. The bitchiness ended there and then, but ratings continued to soar.
Despite being made to look like an actual real-life stalker — and let’s be honest we love to make fun of stage five clingers — we fell in love with Cass and her big heart.
She was head over heels, and we knew from the beginning he didn’t feel the same.
When she was crying in the limo after being eliminated, I was communicating with her via the TV saying: “You’ll find someone Cass, I promise! You beautiful lady!” before catching my reflection in the screen and being confused about my dramatic investment.
We also understood why Brooke — one of the early favourites to win — had to leave. She has had a really tough life, and she desperately needed stability that Nick couldn’t give her. That was extremely brave given how close she got to the finish line.
Then we were left with Sophie and Brittany. Both beautiful, smart, mature and funny women who genuinely did appear to be crazy about the guy. There wasn’t a fan favourite, they both deserved to be loved.
So while it’ll likely take a few days for the true story of what really went down to come out, I’m praying the rumours aren’t true and it doesn’t turn ugly, mainly because I will look like that mushy woman in Mean Girls who spouts dreams about cakes made of rainbows.
But given the overwhelming support this season has garnered, I don’t think I’m alone in rooting for love over hate.
Lexie Cartwright is a journalist for News Corp.