‘The Bachelor’: 5 Things That Have Changed Since Season 1
It’s been over 20 years since The Bachelor Season 1 premiered on ABC. Alex Michel, a Harvard-educated management consultant from Charlottesville, Virginia, stepped into the spotlight as the show’s first lead. Since then, quite a few things have changed.
‘The Bachelor’ Season 1 consisted of only 6 episodes
In 2023 ABC spreads new episodes of The Bachelor out over the course of two months. Season 27 consists of 10 episodes in total, as well as a Women Tell All and After the Final Rose special. However, back in 2002, the first season of The Bachelor was much shorter. Season 1 consisted of only six episodes in total, with the Women Tell All premiering on the same day as the finale.
Bachelor Mansion was not built until 2004
The Bachelor is known for its gorgeous filming locations, and none are as iconic as Bachelor Mansion. According to Men’s Health, Marshall Haraden, contractor and president of The Marshall Group, built the exquisite home in 2004. Known as Villa de la Vina, the 7,590 sq ft home sits on 10 acres in Agoura Hills, California. However, The Bachelor did not begin regularly filming at the mansion until 2007.
Limo entrances were a lot more straightforward
Bachelor Fantake points out that though night 1 of The Bachelor Season 1 included a rose ceremony and limo entrances, the women did not employ any gimmicky greetings or cheesy costumes to try to impress their man.
It’s hard to say exactly when the gimmicky limo entrances began, but they have now become a staple of the franchise. Some women wear silly costumes or prepare a joke to try to make The Bachelor laugh. Others make a grand entrance on horseback, tractor, or some other ridiculous ride. And still, others present the Bachelor with a gift to remember them by.
Contestants sometimes ate on camera
Bachelor Nation knows that one of the franchise’s odd quirks is that the contestants and lead never actually eat on their dinner dates. After a romantic 1-on-1, couples sit and talk in the evening, but there’s a reason not much eating goes on.
“The food on dates is usually good, but the catch is that you aren’t supposed to eat it! No one wants to watch people stuffing their face on a date. If you’re eating, you aren’t talking,” Jaclyn Swartz, a contestant from Ben Flajnik’s season of The Bachelor, told Refinery in 2016.
“Instead, we eat before the dates as we are getting ready. The producers will bring room service to your room or a plate of food to where you’re getting ready in the house.”
In the earlier days of the franchise, however, producers hadn’t quite worked out that trying to talk and eat on camera wasn’t the greatest idea. In a clip from the first season of The Bachelor, Trista Rehn can be seen eating a salad during her Fantasy Suite with Bachelor Alex Michel and sharing some very personal details.
Alex Michel did not travel to any international filming locations
On that same note, Bachelor Nation has become accustomed to watching the lead and his contestants travel outside the country to film the show’s later episodes. However, this was not the case in The Bachelor Season 1. Though Alex did travel to the hometowns of his final four contestants, as well as visiting Hawaii, New York, and Vermont, filming for season 1 never left the United States.
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