‘The Bachelor’: 7 Spinoff Shows You Should Know About
Since the first season of The Bachelor aired back in 2002, several spinoffs have come and gone. The show’s original concept began with one single man and a group of women vying for his love. Since then, many things about The Bachelor have changed, but the show remains. Fans might not know just how many other shows the franchise has created. Here are some notable spinoffs worth watching.
‘The Bachelorette’ has a better success rate than ‘The Bachelor’
Of course, the first spinoff we have to mention is The Bachelorette. The aptly named show really needs very little explanation. On The Bachelorette, a group of men competes for the love of one beautiful woman, hoping to end her season in an engagement.
The Bachelorette first aired in 2003 and continues to this day. The show’s first lead, Trista Rehn, was actually the runner-up on the first season of The Bachelor. Notably, The Bachelorette has led to more successful relationships than its parent show, as well as having more diversity in its choice of leading ladies.
Before ‘BIP’ there was ‘Bachelor Pad’
Fans of The Bachelor franchise are probably familiar with Bachelor in Paradise, but before the steamy summer show kicked off, there was Bachelor Pad. The spinoff series premiered in August 2010 and ran for three seasons.
Similar to BIP, Bachelor Pad brought back contestants from The Bachelor and Bachelorette for a second chance at finding love. However, unlike BIP, Bachelor Pad followed a game show-type format, and contestants competed for a grand prize of $250,000.
‘Bachelor in Paradise’ still makes waves
After Bachelor Pad was canceled, the franchise took a turn in a slightly different direction. Bachelor in Paradise premiered in 2015, thrusting former contestants from the franchise together on a beach in Mexico for another chance at finding love.
Instead of a game-show format, BIP brought back the roses. Each week producers decided whether the women or men on the beach would wield the roses and decide who to pair up with — and who goes home.
These two ‘The Bachelor’ spinoffs explore life after being on the show
As The Bachelor franchise went on, fan-favorite leads, and contestants caught producers’ eye for spinoff shows. In 2016 the series Ben and Lauren: Happily Ever After? launched on Freeform. The series followed former Bachelor Ben Higgins and his season’s winner Lauren Bushnell during the course of their new life together.
The following year Freeform launched The Twins: Happily Ever After. The new series followed Haley and Emily Ferguson, former contestants on Ben Higgins’ season of The Bachelor, as they move out of their mother’s house and learn to navigate the real world.
‘The Bachelor: Winter Games’ is the winter counterpart to ‘BIP’
After the success of Bachelor in Paradise, ABC released a winter counterpart in 2018. The Bachelor: Winter Games features a few twists, such as including international contestants and having contestants compete in winter sports to win date cards.
Don’t forget ‘The Bachelor Presents: Listen to Your Heart’
In 2020, ABC released the first and only season of The Bachelor Presents: Listen to Your Heart. The spinoff series brings together singles looking for love who are musicians or work in the music industry.
Listen to Your Heart has similar rules to BIP, with the women holding the roses some weeks, and the men others. However, contestants can also be eliminated while being put to the test through music-themed challenges.
