Hi Steve,
I’m responding to your email where someone commented that Matt wasn’t mentioned in Michelle’s intro package. He wasn’t mentioned at all in Katie‘s season. I think she said “my season” when referring to when she witnessed the other girls in the house bullying each other, or “I’ve been in your shoes.” I thought that because she was 11th and not in love with Matt, that that was why he wasn’t mentioned. But then again, I always get tired of the lead mentioning their “ex,” always makes it seem like they filmed before they were over their “ex.” Regarding Michelle’s intro, injust think the show wants to forget about Matt’s season as much as possible, and it probably doesn’t help that Matt has distanced himself from the franchise. Sorry, ramble over lol.
Comment: Very possible.
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Hello, Steve. A recent reader email mentioned that people on Reddit’s Bachelor subreddit seem to snipe obsessively about race and/or politics. This could not be more true. That site has changed dramatically in the past couple of years, so much so that now someone throws a racism or political remark into almost every post. The good old days of entertaining romance snark are gone, and it’s all about politics, discrimination, wokeness and BIPOC inclusion as relates to The Bachelor/Bachelorette. A further problematic issue is aggressive bullying by contestant stans. God forbid if you don’t fawn all over Hannah Brown in particular. If you don’t, the personal insults hurled your way will occupy you for hours. As a member of a minority and a long-time viewer of the show, I’m over Reddit. Done with that political, bullying, boiling stewpot. I used to enjoy it as such a fun escape, but now — ugh.
Comment: Probably a good idea.
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Hi Steve,
Do you think that The Bachelor and The Bachelorette could be cancelled soon due to the low same day ratings? Or, are Bachelor and Bachelorette not going anywhere for the foreseeable future?
Comment: I mean, they just added a second season of the “Bachelor” for 2022, so it certainly doesn’t seem like they’re slowing down.
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Any attempt to make this show remotely credible is sabotaged by Tayshia and Kaitlyn’s actions.
During the 1st meeting in Episode 1, they act like junior high girls spying on their older sister. The way they went through some of the guys’ rooms was repulsive. If a male host went through the ladies’ rooms and belongings, they would be crucified and cancelled. These 2 hosts are part of the reason viewership has declined.
Comment: There are plenty of reasons why the show’s ratings are declining but I really don’t think that is one of them. People don’t watch this show because of the host(s). Never have and never will. This show has issues, but who is hosting is very far down the list of their problems.
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Hi Steve!
Just thought I’d share a tidbit on Will Urena, on Michelle’s season. My brother is a junior at Davenport University in Grand Rapids and told me the other day that Will works (or used to work) there. He says that Will has a really good reputation among the student population.
I’ve been reading your site for many years (since the Jason spoiler!); I know you get dirt on these contestants – usually unflattering things. It was nice to hear that, at the very least, Will seems good at his job and makes a positive difference among the DU student population.
Thanks for entertaining me since 2009!
Comment: While that may be true, I’d say tweets like these could quite possibly show a different side to the guy:
Will Urena, 29, Domican Republic. IG: (@illmaticwill). Fitness trainer. But holy shit, some recent problematic retweets. Apparently he doesn’t like US women. It’s the Alpha Male-ness for me. Good chance this will kill his chances of making it on the show. Yikes. pic.twitter.com/EPnoXn5crJ
— RealitySteve (@RealitySteve) July 28, 2021
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Curious what you think about current production quality, reasons for it and where it’s heading. These might be dots that shouldn’t be connected, or should they?
You recently wrote that “the vibe of the show has completely changed.” (Agree) Ratings are down. The production/story lines/dates on BIP this past season were an all-time low in quality and interest-value. (And part of the lack of interest was due to contestants we barely knew, because of shortened seasons with Clare/Tayshia.) There wasn’t much of a buy-in with many of those on the screen. (To bring Demi back, after multiple seasons and partners?? It’s beyond obvious she’s just eating screen time to stir the pot – total disrespect of viewer time… and her schtick is OLD.) The show took :45 mins to cover material that could have been shown in :08. (Again, boring.) The general “fun” it used to be to watch the show is long, long gone – replaced with re-run, cliche drama… and for this season, I’ll quote a viewer who said, “In all of America, these are the best guys they could come up with?” Covid limiting taping to single locations has also not helped… eager to see Michelle’s crew hit the road.
Do you hear anything about new production staff/crews/behind the scene folks who were brought on board since Matt’s season. Are they succeeding or failing? Is there one place to look for this state of decline on multiple fronts?
Comment: I know they’ve definitely increased their minority hiring behind the scenes, so that’s a start. Only took them 40 seasons, but hey, gotta start somewhere. And with Clayton’s season, we’re back to normal filming. He did 3 episodes in LA, then travel started, we have international travel, and today starting back with traveling to the four women’s hometowns. So lets see if that adds to it and brings some sense of normalcy back to the show. I mean, we’ve had 4 seasons of bubbles, for the most part. Michelle traveled, but only went to Minnesota and Mexico. Clayton is back to a full season, which I think will be the norm going forward barring something crazy happening with the pandemic again.
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Steve,
I just realized something. Why are we so focused on ratings when probably just as many or more people are watching the Bachelorette on Hulu? Do they even have ratings for streaming?
Network TV seems like it is becoming less and less relevant as more people turn to streaming platforms.
Comment: Yeah, it’s why it’s not really becoming relevant anymore to just look at network TV ratings. Times are changing, and that’s becoming an antiquated way to look at how a show is performing. So I’m gonna try and stay away from giving those every week. So while Michelle’s ratings are the lowest they’ve ever been, basically every season has gone down in recent memory, like all network TV, yet the show is ADDING seasons. So clearly they aren’t affected by the ratings.
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Hi Steve,
Did you notice in Tuesday’s episode that Michelle said she and Joe messaged in DMs “years ago”?? But Joe said he didn’t respond because of everything happening with George Floyd and the aftermath in Minneapolis. Last time I checked that was in May and June of 2020…. So not exactly years ago.
For someone that’s so big about honesty it just seemed odd to me. I genuinely like Michelle but was disappointed by that.
Thanks!!
Comment: I think there’s something we’re not being made aware of. Because a couple DM’s to someone is not ghosting. Even if that wasn’t the real reason he ghosted her, I think most of us see ghosting as someone you’ve seen, dated a few times, then just stop responding to. A couple DM’s, no phone call and/or FaceTimes is not equal to a ghosting job. At least to me it isn’t.
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Hi Steve–
I saw your spoiler about Clayton’s season, and someone who got a rose had it taken back and was sent home at the rose ceremony. It made me wonder, has that ever happened before? If it has, I can’t remember it, and I have watched all the seasons (not since the beginning, but with the help of Bachelor Archive, which now seems to be defunct). Technically yes, it happened during Peter’s season, but that was different than this. Alayah was eliminated from the show, brought back the next episode, showed up on a group date after party AND got the rose, even though she never actually participated in the date. This wasn’t that. A woman this season participated in the group date, got the group date rose, then got it taken away and was sent home the night of the rose ceremony.
Next question: could the guys have stopped Michelle at the beginning of the Rose Ceremony and told her that none of them had heard any talk about her and Joe, or would the producers have intervened and not allowed it? It seems like people have spoken up about things at Rose Ceremonies before, but I’m not sure if it has been done for group things vs. just personal issues.
Thanks for what you do–it makes watching the Bachelor Franchise much more fun!
Comment: I think it’s possible, but I also think we weren’t shown the full scene. Producers control every single thing that happens at the cocktail party and rose ceremonies. It makes no sense to me that not one guy would speak out in that particular moment when she specifically asks for it, so it makes me think they were told to stay silent. Or they did speak up, but it wasn’t shown for dramatic effect. Maybe we’ll hear this come out later when guys start doing podcasts.
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Hi Steve! I have been following you since Jason’s season and I feel like I hardly know who you are. I know you are a private person so I hope I am not asking questions that are too personal.
1. What does your typical day look like? Not remotely interesting to be honest.
2. Besides going to Las Vegas, what do you like to spend money on? Ha ha good one. Ummmm, Mavericks season tickets, going to concerts/other sporting events, comedy shows, and food. Yup, that’s pretty much it.
3. Do you have a bucket list? If so, what are your top 3?
Keep being you!
Comment: I honestly don’t. Maybe I should make one. I guess the ones I do have revolve around sports, but it’s not like I’m dying to do them. Because if I was, I would’ve done them by now.
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Hi Steve,
I’m wondering about your thoughts on the low ratings so far for the Bachelorette. I’ve watched the first two shows and I have to say that it’s somewhat boring. Michelle is absolutely stunning, but the men on the show leave a lot to be desired. I think there are only 2 that I find attractive (Romeo and the basketball player from her hometown). It just feels like the men are not in Michelle’s league. I think if ABC decides to do back to back Bachelorette/Bachelorette/Bachelor/Bachelor episodes the ratings will continue to slide. Some of the reason we watch is because we look forward to it coming on when it hasn’t been on for a while. The show is just too formulaic. And the drama isn’t even drama anymore. It’s predictable and boring. After seeing a few scenes with Clayton, I don’t think I will be watching the next Bachelor. I wish they would bring Greg back on. He was interesting to watch.
Comment: Well, you’re gonna get a break between Clayton and whoever the next Bachelor is. The normal break you’d get in the first half of the year. But yes, Katie, BIP, Michelle, and Clayton running pretty much four seasons in a row might’ve been overkill for them. But that was their decision to run two Bachelorettes this calendar year.
