-Soooooo, it’s Colton. You read the “Reader Emails” all season. You knew what my guess was on this. I never thought it’d be him. I just didn’t think he was getting the edit they usually reserve for the lead, nor did I think they’d have someone on for three consecutive seasons. But once I got the solid confirmation last week it was gonna be him, I pretty much resigned myself to the fact my initial thought had been wrong. I’m not the one making the decisions, they are. Do I think he’s the best choice they could’ve made? No. Do I think there were better candidates? Absolutely. Do I think he’s ready to settle down into a relationship that possibly ends in an engagement? Not a chance. He says he is, but then again, what do you expect him to say? He can’t be named the new “Bachelor” then say, “Man, I don’t know. I don’t feel I’m really ready for this, but hey, let try it out and see.” Of course not. He’s already been coached on what to say and whether it’s believable or not is up to each individual person. Count me in as a doubter.
Colton tells all with @michaelstrahan and gets some advice from former @BachelorABC & @BachParadise contestants: https://t.co/VWRnMFrK1s#TheBachelor@Colt3FIVE! pic.twitter.com/2B5XN5rFqB
— Good Morning America (@GMA) September 4, 2018
-With the announcement this morning (and even going back to last week when you heard me spoil it), you’ve seen the response has been very negative. That’s to be expected. One thing you won’t find me doing is bitching about who they chose, fangirling for Blake or Jason, pissing and moaning about why someone else didn’t get picked, etc. And of course, the one thing we get every season, and I mean EV-ER-Y SEASON, is fans saying they won’t watch anymore. Please. I hear it all the time every season, and yet every season, there’s the “Bachelor” winning it’s ratings time slot every Monday night. The new one this year was that there was actually a petition going around to not have him as the “Bachelor.” Seriously? A petition? Did you honestly think that a show which had zero problem televising a girl having a panic attack on TV last night was going to care about some silly petition going around about one of their decisions? Please. I just look at some of these replies on social media and just shake my head.
-I know a lot of you are pissed. I know a lot of you wanted Jason and a lot of you wanted Blake. I guess until the end of time, I will never understand that sort of rage/anger. My simple solution: get over it. Who cares? You’re still going to watch anyway, and if you say you’re not, then 1) I don’t believe you, and 2) millions of others will. So announcing on social media “I’m done with this show!” means that you’ve been watching all these years, but THIS is what set you over the edge? THIS? Colton as the “Bachelor?” THAT was your last straw? I can think of, oh I don’t know, 1,000,000 worse things this franchise has done over the years that would prevent someone from watching and they still do. If Arie didn’t send this franchise into a downward spiral, then I realized nothing will.
-Go back to last year at this time when Arie was announced. This was a guy that hadn’t been involved in the franchise in 5 years. There was ZERO buzz around him before the announcement. He wasn’t on everybody’s radar, yet, we all survived that trainwreck. At least Colton is relevant within the franchise. Say what you want about him, but he has the biggest social media following, he’s gotten a ton of airtime, and yes, there are people out there who absolutely love him. Do I get it? No. But it’s not my decision to make. This show is fine, this franchise is fine, and the naming of Colton as the “Bachelor” isn’t going to be the end of the world as some may have you believe. I say it every season: the lead doesn’t make the show, the cast does. So of course you’re going to tune in to see the drama, the cattiness, the traveling, and then ultimately the engagement at the end, because that’s what the show is about. It’s not about finding the most eligible woman for Colton to get engaged to, and if that’s what you’re watching for, you’re watching the wrong show.
-Again I think people are losing sight of the basis for the show. If you’re watching because you want to see honest people give honest reactions and watch true love come across your screen, then change the channel. This is entertainment. They don’t care about you the viewer and what your wants and needs are. They are putting out mindless television and have for over 16 years and now 37 seasons, and everyone is watching. No choice of lead is all the sudden going to kill the franchise just because you and your friends don’t like him. Especially a lead that has more of a social media following than Jason or Blake. If you’re of the older generation and you’re sick of millennials and social media and who tweets what and who has the most IG followers, unfortunately, that’s the world we live in now and it most definitely played a role in this decision. When I first heard about Colton on Becca’s season, then saw the intro video with the charity foundation helping kids with cystic fibrosis, he screamed next “Bachelor” to me. Then Becca’s season played out along with BIP and it just didn’t seem like that was the route they’d go with the edit he was getting. But here we are.
-I really do think that all the shit the franchise took this past season for casting what turned out to be a bunch of questionable guys, they went for the safe pick in Colton, a guy who screams “Middle America,” has the All-American look, morals, values, won’t find any shady scandals in his past, etc. They took a beating this last season and Colton comes in with a clean record. That no doubt played a role. He’s the closest thing to Sean Lowe as they have in this franchise from the outside and the optics of everything, and Sean is still their only “Bachelor” who married the final girl he chose. Doesn’t mean it’s gonna happen with Colton, but I see what their thinking was in all this. Doesn’t mean I agree with it, but that’s neither here nor there. Their is no “right” or “wrong” choice when it comes to the “Bachelor” since it’s completely subjective. The main thing for me is that there is another season, I’m going to spoil it again, and there’s pretty much nothing they can do.
-I know a lot of you are frustrated and bothered by this pick, and that you claim you’re done with the franchise, but a lot of people have short term memory when it comes to this franchise. I specifically remember back one year ago when the Arie announcement happened, I’m sitting in my hotel room in Las Vegas and wake up to hundreds of tweets, texts, and emails asking “Why Arie?” The venom and hatred last year was just as strong as it is right now, if not worse. But you’re in the moment right now so you think THIS is the worst choice. I get it. I know it’s hard for a lot to remember how bad it was last year, but trust me, I do. I saw it all and for some reason it was directed at me. Yet, we all lived, we all made it through another season, just like we will this season. So to everyone I saw freak out on social media and who’ve emailed me, take a deep breath, calm down, this will be the same show it is every season just with a different cast, and just enjoy it for the mindless entertainment it is. Getting worked up over Colton is not worth it and a waste of negative energy. If anything, you should be HAPPY Colton is the “Bachelor” because look at how easy it will be to make fun of!
-“But Steve, it’ll be virgin talk being shoved down our throats all season.” Really? Like there was with Sean’s season that you watched as well? Like there are repetitive storylines EVERY season that they run with and people still watch? The only thing that changes on this show is the cast. Their formula works. You don’t last 16 years and 37 seasons on network television by not knowing what you’re doing. Juan Pablo was a great choice? Jake was a great choice? Nick? Arie? How are people forgetting how much the fans despised those picks, yet now Colton will be the death knell of the franchise? It’s silly. I don’t buy it for a second. I know you might be upset, but I don’t get what telling people “I’m not going to watch!” does at all. The more people tell me they’re not going to watch, the more I’m convinced they will. Because if you hate something that much, you’ll hate watch the show. Nobody says because you watch that means you like it. I certainly don’t. I watch because it’s my job and I like to make fun of it. That’s why most of us watch. How is Colton as the lead change that in any way? Accept it, it’s now official, and lets enjoy another train wreck of a season.
