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The stars of The Bachelorette seem to be better at picking longtime suitors than those featured on The Bachelor. Although neither show has produced many couples who get married and stay together for the long haul, The Bachelorette sports a much higher success rate as it enters its 19th season this July.

Here’s a look at which couples from the popular reality dating franchise are still together and which ones are set to take their relationship to another level.

Only three couples from ‘The Bachelor’ remain an item

The Bachelor became a smash hit for ABC when it launched in 2002. Alex Michel ultimately picked Amanda Marsh as the first-ever winner. The first season also served as a precursor to other seasons. After deciding not to propose, Michel started a relationship with Marsh that soon fizzled out off camera. The next 15 seasons followed suit, with the couples ultimately going their separate ways after connecting on The Bachelor.

You have to go all the way to Season 17 to find a relationship that appears to have long-term legs. In 2013, Sean Lowe picked Catherine Giudici with the final rose, and wedding bells soon followed. Not only have the Lowes stayed together, but they’re the only couple from The Bachelor to get married. Lowe and Giudici have three kids together and will appear as a family in the upcoming spinoff series The Bachelor: The Greatest Seasons – Ever!

The only other Bachelor couples still at each other’s side after the final rose have come from the most recent seasons. Season 25’s Matt James and Rachael Kirkconnell experienced a complicated relationship for a while. But the two were able to overcome Kirkconnell’s controversial past and reunite.

As far as we know, Clayton Echard and Susie Evans from Season 26 remain an item, although the relationship just recently moved from TV to real life after the finale aired in March 2022.

Five couples from ‘The Bachelorette’ are still together

Ryan Sutter and Trista Sutter attend a media event in 2019
The Bachelorette stars Ryan Sutter and Trista Sutter in 2019 | Eugene Gologursky/Getty Images

Despite having eight fewer seasons, The Bachelorette has proven to be the far better matchmaker. Overall, five different Bachelorette stars remain with their suitors, including the couple from the very first season in 2003. A majority of those couples have even been together for at least five years. For The Bachelor, the only one that’s made it that far involves Lowe and Giudici. As Bachelorette Wiki points out, there has also been a proposal in every season of The Bachelorette.

The initial season of The Bachelorette certainly set the standard — at least in terms of long-term romance. Trista Rehn and Ryan Sutter got engaged on the show in February 2003, married later in the year, and now have two teenagers (a boy and a girl). The wedding itself was the stuff of fairytales. As Women’s Health reports, Sutter turned a poem he wrote into a song, performed by country music star Brad Paisley at their wedding.

Another happy Bachelorette couple is Desiree Hartsock and Chris Siegfried (Season 9), who wasted little time getting married and having two boys as People reports. Meanwhile, JoJo Fletcher and Jordan Rodgers of Season 12 have also been circling nuptials for a while. According to Fletcher’s Instagram, Rodgers even surprised her with a second proposal in 2019. Season 13 couple Rachel Lindsay and Bryan Abasolo got hitched as well. Last season’s couple, Michelle Young and Nayte Olukoya remain happily engaged.

Plot twists have brought other couples in Bachelor Nation together

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While The Bachelor at least has a few couples still together, there have also been a couple of major plot twists that led to marriage. As Bachelor Wiki breaks down, Jason Mesnick gave his final rose to Melissa Rycroft in Season 13 of The Bachelor. Then he turned his attention back to runner-up Molly Malaney. Mesnick ended up marrying Malaney and the two have settled in for the long haul.

A very similar situation also played out in 2018 during Season 22. Arie Luyendyk Jr. picked Becca Kufrin at the end of the season — only to marry runner-up Lauren Burnham. The Luyendyks have been busy since they got married in 2019, per Us Magazine. Burnham had a baby girl several months after the wedding followed by twins (a boy and girl) in June 2021.

While the most recent season of The Bachelor just wrapped in March, The Bachelorette will look to bring another couple together this summer. Rachel Recchia and Gabby Windey, who were both runners-up in Season 26 of The Bachelor, are both set to star.

Although we don’t have all the details about how having two leads will work, Vulture points out that The Bachelorette has tried a similar move in two previous seasons (11 and 16).

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