It’s that time of the year again. Australia is in the middle of a Bachelor frenzy.
This year’s season return of The Bachelor has the usual characters. You have knight in shining armour Matty J, also known as “The Bachie”, trying to sweep 22 girls off their feet. You have the villains Jen and Leah, stereotypically stirring the pot as mean girls. There are front runners Laura and Lisa, and nice girls like Koby and Tara. Every check box for any successful TV-teen drama is ticked.
https://www.instagram.com/p/BRGxNEtj2l9/?taken-by=matthewdavidjohnson
It’s an extraordinary way to meet someone, and not as simple as swiping left or right on your phone.
There are applications to fill out, auditions to attend, medical and psychology tests to partake in, and a house (read: mansion) you have to stay holed up in for months on end without social media. Did I mention you live with around 20 housemates all vying for the love of your life’s attention as well?
But can true love sprout out off all this?
Every week, contestants drop like flies on national television, but the supposed man or woman “of their dreams” embarrassingly sends them packing in a beautifully-edited rose ceremony that makes the whole situation seem a lot less awkward than it actually is. Can you stomach having your heart broken for the rest of Australia to see? Boy, this dating platform is for you!
But if you put all of that aside — we seriously don’t give contestants enough credit — the success rate of couples to come out of The Bachelor franchise in Australia, is surprisingly high.
Past bachelor and bachelorette news has dominated the media in the last year. There were engagements, pregnancies no one saw coming and heck, even contestants in the show started dating each other.
Our judgemental glasses are off and our thinking caps are on. It’s time to debunk The Bachelor franchise’s legitimacy for finding the one.
Let’s take a trip into Bachie history.
Season 1: Tim and Anna
Inaugural Bachelor couple Tim Robards and Anna Heinrich have finally gotten engaged since meeting on the show in 2013. Despite facing pressure from producers to pop the question in the finale, Robards withheld until the couple were together for four years.
https://www.instagram.com/p/BUeHlbTA7Ex/?taken-by=mrtimrobards
Season 2: Blake and Sam/Blake and Louise
One of the messiest and most controversial seasons of The Bachelor saw a brief engagement, a break up, and a shock twist that saw The Bachelor couple up with the second runner-up. Blake Garvey and Sam Frost had what was seen as a dream run. In Africa, he proposed on one knee in the middle of a safari, and she said yes.
It wasn’t long before Frost went to the media and said post-Bachelor life wasn’t what it was cracked up to be. Louise Pillidge was the true captor of Garvey’s heart according to the Bachelor himself, and the pair went public with their relationship much to Frost’s dismay. Garvey and Pillidge have split since.
Season 3: Sam and Snezana
Gym owner Sam Wood and mum Snezana Markoski were the unlikely couple in their season when “Snez” dropped the bomb that she already had a daughter, Eve. But fast forward two years later and the couple are happily engaged and expecting a little one.
https://www.instagram.com/p/BXNLNPGlhF8/?taken-by=samjameswood
Season 1 (The Bachelorette): Sam and Sasha
After getting her heart publicly ripped to pieces by Blake, who actually gained the reputation of the most hated man in Australia, it was only common sense that Sam Frost be Australia’s first ever Bachelorette. We had a duty as a nation to find her the new love of her life. Cue Sasha Mielczarek to enter the picture.
Frost finally had her soulmate after a rough journey and everything seemed fine, until an Instagram post that confirmed their split.
https://www.instagram.com/p/BOgIEc2FLBA/?taken-by=sash1313&hl=en
Season 4: Richie and Alex
After having his heart broken by Sam Frost in the first season of the Bachelorette, Richie Strahan, the contestant who was pegged as “the nice guy”, became the next Bachelor to find someone he could potentially spend the rest of his life with. That person came in the form of Alexandra Nation, a 25-year-old from Melbourne who has a son called Elijah.
The couple are reportedly still together, despite a lack of social media posts from the pair.
https://www.instagram.com/p/BTQVgg3DgJZ/?hl=en&taken-by=richie_strahan
Season 2 (The Bachelorette): Georgia and Lee
Journalist Georgia Love was unlucky-in-love until she met Lee Elliot on the show last year. The constantly loved up couple have stayed together since.
https://www.instagram.com/p/BXWVxiKldxH/?hl=en&taken-by=georgiealove
There were only three failed couples to come out of the shows, and it is important to note that both Garvey and Frost are the common denominators in their failed relationships.
I’ve said it once and I’ll say it again. It’s extravagant. It’s out of the ordinary and a rather dramatic decision to take to meet someone.
But in the end, it is a legitimate, albeit gutsy, journey to meet a partner.
As for Matty J this season, I’m Team Lisa.
