The Bachelor franchise is under fire on multiple fronts. Season 25 lead Matt James defended the franchise, despite how controversial his season was. Keep reading to see what he had to say.
Bachelor Franchise Under Fire For Lack Of Background Checks
Season 21 of The Bachelorette came to a dramatic conclusion earlier this month. Jenn Tran got engaged to Devin Strader but they broke up before the season finale aired. Jenn put her ex on blast on live TV for ghosting her and then breaking up with her on the phone.
He didn’t say much to defend himself that night. But a week later, he posted a lengthy video explaining his side. The video included screen recordings of their text messages, including sexts. While many fans were outraged that he violated Jenn’s privacy, many others thought the texts showed Jenn as needy and immature.
Devin had about a day of people on his side before shocking details came out about his past arrest and allegedly abusive behavior in previous relationships.
Bachelor Nation fans slammed the show for not doing a deep enough background check. This isn’t the first time in the franchise something like this has happened.
Viewers Angry Over Clout Chasing Contestants
Another issue angering viewers of the show is none of the contestants joining the show to actually find love. These days, it seems most contestant join for their 15 minutes of fame and a career as a social media influencer.
Given how quickly Devin ended his engagement to Jenn Tran, fans suspect he was never really into her and just wanted to be on TV. However, a surprising alum spoke up to defend the franchise.
Matt James Defends ABC Dating Show
Season 25 of The Bachelor will go down in history for the franchise. Matt James was the franchise’s first Bachelor lead. However, his season also saw the departure of fan-favorite host Chris Harrison and a huge racism scandal surrounding Matt’s final rose winner, Rachael Kirkconnell.
Chris Harrison was put on pause for defending Rachael Kirkconnell after photos surfaced of her attending a college party at a plantation. He later chose to leave the show completely and was eventually replaced by Jesse Palmer.
Rachael and Matt broke up after the scandal hit social media, but reunited and have been dating ever since with signs of a proposal in their future.
“I think that most people are going on there to find somebody,” he told Yahoo! Entertainment. He went on to use his former roommate, Tyler Cameron, as an example.
“It didn’t seem like something that the Tyler I knew would do. So I think that when you go into a situation like that, you might have expectations, but they’re going to change when you get there and it becomes real for you.”
Does it surprise you that Matt James would defend the franchise after his disastrous season?