‘The Bachelor’: Are The Women Actually Friends?
If you’re a devout Bachelor-watcher, it’s easy to forget how weird the show actually is. Thirty women compete for one man’s heart–a man they don’t actually know very well or get to spend a ton of time with. At the end of this wild social experiment, the Bachelor’s expected to propose to one of the thirty women he met about two months ago. Everything in between makes for excellent TV. Luckily for the viewer, the show’s worked just enough for people to keep signing up in the hopes of finding true love.
The women on the show are largely focused on The Bachelor, but a majority of their time is spent with each other. We’ve all heard a villain or two declare that they didn’t go on the show to make friends, but is vibe at the Bachelor Mansion generally friendly? Is it like a big sleepover except everyone’s talking about the same boy? Maybe many of the women fill their time with meaningful conversations with their fellow contestants and create lifelong friendships. If nothing else, the show certainly is a bonding experience unlike any other.
Former ‘Bachelor’ contestants say the women who want to make friends have a better time
Former Bachelor contestant Ashley I. told Yahoo! that viewing the show solely as a competition isn’t a good idea.
“Your odds of receiving the final rose are slim. Some people go into the process thinking, ‘I’m not here to make friends.’ Let me tell you, the ride is much more worthwhile if you do. I may not have left with Chris, but I did find unromantic love. I have great friendships from the show. Now not a day goes by without me texting at least one of my ‘sister wives,’ as Jimmy Kimmel described us,” she said.
Recent Bachelor contestant Hannah G. thought about what would make her happier in the long run–stirring up drama or making friends–prior to going on the show.
“I tried to swerve it as much as I could. I think I did okay and I came out with good relationships with a lot of the women on the show, so that was nice, too. I would wake up every morning and be like, What’s going to make me happier today, causing drama or making fun memories and focusing on me and Colton? I went with whatever made me happiest and that meant not talking smack,” she told Vulture.
‘Bachelor’ friendships last longer than ‘Bachelor’ relationships
Today, Hannah G. is still close with many of her season’s contestants. A few of them even just went to Coachella together.
“I got really close with Katie, Demi, Heather, Hannah. We have this group message–obviously Hannah B.’s not in it right now, but it’s Tripple HDK. I hang out with Katie a lot,” she recently told former Bachelor contestant Olivia Caridi on her podcast, Mouthing Off.
The romantic relationships born out of The Bachelor (and The Bachelorette) don’t have a terribly high success rate. But if you scroll through the social pages of the contestants, you’ll see lasting friendships that started thanks to this crazy show. The real Bachelor success stories are in the relationships the contestants form with each other.
Read more: ‘The Bachelor’: Colton Watched The Fence-Jump Episode With Cassie’s Family
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