The Bachelorette's success over the years has shown that Americans still relish romance—even if the large majority of the show's contestants do not skip off into the sunset to enjoy a fairytale happily ever after.
Since 2003, fans of the ABC reality show have watched an array of women comb their way through a long list of potential suitors vying to woo them, with the handing out of a red rose a symbol of the men's efforts working until the final one is chosen.
While being the last person standing in now-defunct reality contests like American Idol and The Apprentice saw the respective serving up of recording contracts and executive jobs as grand prizes, The Bachelorette offers love and marriage. This is usually sealed with an engagement during each season finale.
Unlike newer relationship shows like Love Is Blind, where contestants don't see what the other looks like until they get engaged, or the self-explanatory Married at First Sight, The Bachelorette is low on sensational gimmicks, save for potential suitors living together under one roof as they simultaneously date the lead.
And it's a format that appears to work. Although its ratings have wobbled in recent years, the franchise continues to be embraced as an American institution.
However, the reality of finding a soulmate from an assortment of men reminiscent of early aughts Abercrombie & Fitch models has so far proved itself to be a journey as unpredictable as love itself, if relationship success rates are anything to go by.
Together Forever?
The show, an offshoot of The Bachelor, launched its 21st season last month. Excluding Jenn Tran, whose love journey is currently unfolding on screens, there have been 21 Bachelorettes out of the previous 20 seasons (Season 19 saw two leads). Of those, just four have remained together as couples.
Surviving couples from the show include Trista and Ryan Sutter (Season 1), Desiree Hartsock and Chris Siegfried (Season 9), JoJo Fletcher and Jordan Rodgers (Season 12), and Charity Lawson and Dotun Olubeko (Season 20). The Bachelor, which concluded its 28th season earlier this year, currently has five couples still together, although some of these have come with breakups and makeups, as well as change-of-hearts on previous fiancées.
Other spin-offs of The Bachelor include Bachelor in Paradise, The Golden Bachelor, and The Golden Bachelorette.
With such a low cross-franchise success rate over several years, is there even a reason for hopeless to tune in? Jodi McAlister, Ph.D., an author of several romance novels who is a senior lecturer of writing and literature at Victoria, Australia's Deakin University, believes there's little cause for alarm.
"It's no secret that most Bachelor franchise couples don't make it in the long run," McAlister, an expert on the franchise, told Newsweek. "The Bachelorette has a notably higher success rate than The Bachelor (more Bachelors are happily married to their runners-up than their winners), but when it comes to ultimately delivering on that happy ending, neither show is performing particularly well."
'Enduring Appeal'
"However," McAlister added. "This isn't a new phenomenon—the Bachelor franchise has been around for more than 20 years now, and couples have been failing to make it in the real world since the very beginning, with the notable exception of Trista and Ryan. That indicates that there's an enduring appeal there: one that isn't necessarily tied to the couples staying together forever."
With any TV drama or sitcom du jour, Americans tune in en masse for different reasons. People disagree on and debate their favorite characters, plotlines, and seasons. The Bachelorette's various elements are also alluring to audiences in different ways. As such, the very factors that lead to relationships not working on the outside could be attractive to some fans wishing to see it all play out onscreen.
"It's probably more correct to say that there are appeals plural, because not all viewers are looking for the same thing," McAlister said. "Some, perhaps, are looking for scandal and mess and drama: always chasing the 'most dramatic season ever.'
"Others watch because their friends are watching (stalwart reality TV shows like The Bachelorlette are some of the last examples of appointment/watercooler TV we have). Others, maybe, are hopeless romantics, with their fingers crossed that this time it might actually work out; while others might be relishing the thought of a spectacular failure."
Reality TV Whirlwind
Current Bachelorette Tran, 26, is leading her own love search after competing for Joey Graziadei's affections on the most recent season of The Bachelor. Physician assistant student Tran has made history in the Bachelor Nation as the franchise's first Asian American lead.
She's also got quite the busy schedule. Earning a bachelor of science degree in molecular biology in 2020, Miami-based Tran is pressing on with her physician assistant studies—even though her current status is making that somewhat challenging.
"I took a little break for filming The Bachelorette, obviously, but now that I'm back, I'm in a bit of a pickle right now because I'm doing a lot of press events," she said in a TikTok video posted in mid-June. "There is just so much going on in my life right now. I'm in L.A. like every other weekend."
Tran, who describes this current period as "the craziest time of my life," is typical of anybody who has appeared on a reality show and seen a post-broadcast surge in attention. Over the years, reality shows have cemented their reputation as the fast-track route to becoming a household name and securing a career in the entertainment industry. With the advent of social media influencers, a boost in followers can prove to be highly lucrative if a televised search for love doesn't lead to stardom.
While Tran has been adamant that she is currently on screens to find love, is it right to be a little cynical about contestants' motives, especially as the Bachelor Nations' relationship failure rate continues to be a talking point? McAlister believes it's an unfair to paint them all with the same brush. As with audiences drawn to the shows, there are differing reasons why contestants might apply.
"I think it'd be naive to say that the majority aren't thinking about it in terms of what it can do for their career," McAlister told Newsweek. "It would be pretty much impossible to go on the show purely for the oft-referenced 'right reasons.' However, I think it'd be a bit unfair to [say] that these right reasons aren't in the mix for at least some of them, just like the promise of real love still appeals to at least some of the audience."
Ultimately, said McAlister, The Bachelorette, just like its predecessor, "is, at its heart, a fairytale. Inherent in a lot of romance plots in fairytales is the idea of being plucked from the crowd, of being special, of being chosen: Cinderella is the classic example.
"The more failures there are, the most special the Cinderellas seem... and even though most Bachelor seasons are ultimately failed fairytales, there's something very alluring about the idea that maybe this time (and maybe for you), it'll be happily ever after."
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