Since the first season of The Bachelor premiered in 2002, the show has provided us with 23 seasons full of drama, love, and tears. As of the 23rd season of The Bachelor, only 3 bachelors are married (1 to his final pick, the other 2 to their runners-up) and the most recent bachelor, Colton Underwood, is still dating his final pick, Cassie (the two are not engaged). While Underwood’s fence jump remains fresh in viewers minds as one of the most dramatic moments of The Bachelor, here are 5 of the most memorable moments from the show’s history that we can’t forget:
During the first rose ceremony of The Bachelor Season 5, Bachelor and former NFL Player Jesse Palmer forgot one of the girls’ names he was about to give a rose too and accidentally said a different girls’ name instead!! When he meant to give a rose to ‘Karen’, he ended up saying ‘Katie’.
After this happened, Palmer stopped the rose ceremony and pulled Host Chris Harrison aside to let him know about the mistake. The show’s producers allowed the bachelor to hand out an extra rose to Karen. What made things awkward was that Palmer then had to tell all the ladies about the mistake. In addition, Katie was given the option of whether to stay on or leave the show. She ended up choosing the former option.
Although Ben Higgins remains one of the most popular bachelors in the show’s history, it is hard for some of the franchise’s most loyal fans to forgive him for saying “I love you” to two women. During the fantasy suites episode (three women left at this point) of Season 20 of The Bachelor, Ben H. (there was another Ben, “Ben F.” who was also The Bachelor, but for Season 16) told the two women who would end up being his final two JoJo (on the left in the photo below) and Lauren B. (on the right in the photo below) during his one-on-one dates with each of them that he loved them.
Traditionally, the bachelor only says those three words when he’s about to propose to the final girl left. This is the same thing on The Bachelorette, but only before her final pick proposes to her. Ben H.’s decision to say ‘I love you’ to not one, but TWO WOMEN not only shocked both of them but Bachelor Nation as well.
Although Ben H. dumped JoJo and proposed to Lauren B. in the finale, Ben H. and Lauren B. lasted 18 months before calling off their engagement in May 2017. After their breakup, Lauren B. ended up revealing for the first time publicly in an interview how hurt she was when she found out that her former fiancee had also told JoJo he loved her too.
Nine years after the original switch-up (see below at #1), history repeated itself during Season 22 of The Bachelor when Bachelor Arie Luyendyk Jr. (the runner-up of Emily’s Season of The Bachelorette) ‘pulled a [Jason] Mesnick’ when he called off his engagement to winner Becca Kufrin (on the left in the photo below) while the show was airing when he realized he was still in love with his runner-up Lauren Burnham (on the right in the photo below).
Both the breakup and reunion occurred shortly after The Bachelor Season 22 premiere in January 2018 and was filmed for viewers to see when the finale aired in March. Things were extremely awkward on After The Final Rose (AFTR) when Arie faced Becca for the first time since the breakup. What makes Arie’s switch-up different from Season 13 Bachelor Jason Mesnick’s is that Arie got to break up with his winner and reunite with his runner-up before the AFTR episode. In addition, Arie also proposed to Lauren B. (there were 4 Laurens on Arie’s Season) on AFTR.
Arie and Lauren B. got married in Hawaii on January 12, 2019 and welcomed their first child, a girl, on May 29, 2019. Don’t feel bad for Becca though as she was named The Bachelorette for Season 14 at the end of AFTR. After falling in love with both of her final two guys, she ended up getting engaged to her final pick Garrett Yrigoyen over runner-up Blake Hortsmann. As of today, Becca and Garrett are still together.
While most of the seasons of The Bachelor have ended with the bachelor proposing to his final pick, there have also been seasons where the bachelor doesn’t propose but still wants a relationship with the final pick or dumps the winner for runner-up while the show is still airing. However, Brad Womack, the season 11 Bachelor, made franchise history when he dumped both of his final two women (Jenni and DeAnna) and selected nobody. His decision to pick neither Jenni or DeAnna made viewers angry.
Before Arie Luyendyk Jr. (see #3), there was Jason Mesnick, who pulled the original switch-up. Mesnick initially rejected Molly Malaney and proposed and gave his final rose to Melissa Rycroft. However, while season 13 of The Bachelor was airing, Mesnick realized he was still in love with Malaney.
However, what was different from Arie’s switch-up nine years later was that the AFTR special was pre-taped weeks (it usually airs live right after the finale) ahead of the season finale and there, Jason broke up with Melissa and asked Molly for a second chance. There was no live studio audience for AFTR that season.
In addition, unlike Arie and Lauren B., Jason and Molly took things slow when they got back together, and Jason proposed to Molly in New Zealand (where The Bachelor Season 13 finale was at) off-screen months later. Although Rycroft eventually got back together with and married her ex (they have three children together), she revealed years later that it was only at the AFTR Taping that she found out that the reason why Jason broke things off was because of his feelings for Molly.
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