Photo by Tracy Fuentes
If you’re like me, you tuned in to this past season of The Bachelor and found yourself glued to your TV screen every week, experiencing an unexpected wave of emotions. After taking a break from The Bachelor last year and not watching Zach Shallcross’ season 27, I was initially skeptical about Joey Graziadei’s season 28. But I quickly found myself setting calendar reminders, buying chocolate, and having tissues on standby.
If you don’t watch the show, this is the perfect season to start on, with Joey being referred to as the “best Bachelor.” This season of The Bachelor was like nothing in Bachelor history, a famous claim from every season of the franchise that finally proves true.
The Bachelor is in a revival stage, proven by the record breaking of both Joey’s season and Gerry Turner’s inaugural The Golden Bachelor series, with the upcoming The Golden Bachelorette to follow. The franchise is appealing to a wider audience and being fueled by interest from social media that is revitalizing the show.
Speaking of firsts, this past season ended with Jenn Tran being revealed as the next Bachelorette, the franchise’s first Asian American lead. In general, Joey’s season of The Bachelor showcased more diversity in its contestants than the show has previously. For example, Daisy Kent is deaf and spoke about her experiences with her cochlear implant, giving visibility to disability. And Rachel Nance, another one of Joey’s final three, shared her Hawaiian and Filipino culture with Joey during her Hometown.
Just like all the contestants said, I have never met a man like Joey. He is truly a breath of fresh air among the rotting fish in the sea. Stand-out characteristics of Joey’s include his emotional intelligence, communication, active listening, and vulnerability. The show literally opens with Joey crying. Watching Joey’s conversations with the women on his season made me cry because of his kindness and my minimal experience seeing or being in a healthy romantic relationship. Watching Joey wipe away tears on the women’s faces, as compiled in this TikTok, made me wish he was in the room with me to do the same.
Joey takes time to listen while nodding his head and saying phrases like: “Take your time”, “I’m here”, “I’m listening”, and “Take a breath”. And then when it’s his turn to speak, saying “What I’m hearing is…”, without repeating the exact words of someone else, Joey acknowledges the emotions behind experiences and sees people as the complex humans they are.
Other stand-out lines are when Daisy says her cochlear implant “will always be a part of me” and Joey responds with “as it should be” and reassures Daisy that her deafness makes her special not different. Further, he emphasizes multiple times how much he admires Daisy and Kelsey Anderson for their strength. In an exclusive interview with Deadline, when asked if there was anything in particular he loved seeing when watching his season on TV, Joey responded by saying, “I think it’s the banter between the girls. To see some of the friendships… grow. To see them uplifting one another in different moments.” This just goes to show the respect Joey has for women, separate from their interactions with him.
Of course, there’s always drama, it wouldn’t be a reality dating show without it. But beyond the drama and team Sydney Gordon vs team Maria Georgas feud, which Glamour summarizes here, The Bachelor showcased women supporting women. A few of The Golden Bachelor contestants from Gerry’s season met with some of the women on Joey’s season to give guidance and comfort. During the season finale, we saw Daisy and Kelsey in the same car, hand in hand, driving to Kelsey’s engagement and Daisy’s simultaneous rejection. And after Daisy’s rejection, Kelsey was still by the car waiting to hug her friend in support while Daisy was encouraging Kelsey and excited for her friend’s proposal.
Outside of the romance, I know we all were rooting for Maria Georgas, a confident woman not afraid to stand up for herself and speak her mind. Viewers’ love for Maria is apparent across social media, like this TikTok showcasing an upset bar when Maria doesn’t receive a rose and gets sent home after Hometowns.
A fast fan favorite, Maria has become a role model by showing women the characteristics we aspire to have. Maria is someone who is willing to defend herself and not accept people pulling her down. But as a result of the Sydney vs Maria drama, Sydney and other villains on The Bachelor were getting flooded with hate comments and DMs due to fans’ extreme support for Maria. The cyberbullying involved worse than just videos of viewers rooting against Sydney like in this TikTok.
From an Instagram post Sydney shared, she says how some viewers have left messages calling her “ugly”, “a fucking bitch”, “skank”, and even saying she’d be “better off dead.” Because of the intensity surrounding this season’s cyberbullying, a majority relating to the Sydney vs Maria drama, Maria was purposeful in squashing any bad blood on live television and saying how she wants all the women to be friends. Since she knew how many fans love her, Maria used her popularity as a platform to do good. During the Women Tell All episode, we saw a lot of apologizing, taking accountability, and making up among the contestants.
The show’s host Jesse Palmer also facilitated conversations on racism and cyberbullying, acknowledging the negative public reactions to certain contestants and calling on fans to be kinder. He stated, “We love your strong opinions. I think it’s important that we uplift these women, who are brave enough to be vulnerable and to share their stories with Joey and with all of us at home. These women, they deserve our praise and not our hate.”
Joey added on by saying, “People need to remember how much courage it takes to be able to do what they did. To come out and to be who you are unapologetically and try to do your best. It should never be met with hate.” In an interview with E! News, Joey specifically defends Sydney, saying that “anyone that’s been on the show can understand how difficult it is sometimes to go through this and how much you do things that you wish you could take back… No one should be treated with any type of that cruelness that Sydney has been getting.” Further stating that “I did get to know her in other ways that you obviously didn’t see on the show… I think she’s a very sweet person.” Additionally, it was revealed during the Women Tell All episode that Joey directly reached out to Sydney to make sure she was ok, once again showing Joey’s kindness.
As much as this past season of The Bachelor was entertaining, it was also educational, for both the franchise and its audience. The Bachelor has seen the positive reactions to a respectful and caring lead as well as the diverse contestants (for the most part). Notably, fans might have witnessed healthy relationship dynamics for the first time that they can take into their personal lives (mine included), in addition to having a new role model and seeing traits they wish to emulate from watching Maria. I’m excited to see what the future holds for The Bachelor franchise and how its various series will continue to evolve.
Kindergarten 