All good things must come to an end, even popular TV shows. The Bachelor franchise has dominated ABC for over twenty years. But the network yanked The Bachelorette from the TV schedule for 2025. Now fans think the entire franchise is doomed. Keep reading to find out why.
Bachelor Franchise Shows Airing In 2025
Grant Ellis was named as the Season 29 Bachelor after getting sent home from Jenn Tran’s Bachelorette season. His season was marred by drama among the women and Grant having feelings for more than one of the contestants. He ultimately proposed to Juliana Pasquarosa during the March season finale. But fans weren’t surprised when he announced earlier this month that the relationship was over.
ABC announced earlier this year that a new Bachelorette season wouldn’t air this year. The spinoff usually airs in the summer months. The network hasn’t renewed The Bachelor for Season 30 yet, either. However, Bachelor Nation fans won’t be left with nothing to watch this year.
Bachelor In Paradise returns for Season 10 on Monday, July 7. This season will feature a mix of former Bachelor and Bachelorette contestants, as well as contestants from the two Golden seasons.
Despite Gerry Turner and Theresa Nist’s divorce, ABC renewed The Golden Bachelor for a second season to air this fall.
However, the network has nothing officially in the works beyond 2025 for the Bachelor franchise. A Disney executive told The Wrap in May that the show is being more selective about the leads and contestants.
“We’re only going to roll these out as they come together and meet the bar of excellence that the tradition of the show has set,” Disney boss Craig Erwich told the outlet.
Fans Think The Franchise Is Over
Despite assurances from the network that the franchise isn’t dead yet, fans think otherwise. One fan took to social media to share that they no longer watch or interact with the show at all anymore and asked if other former fans feel the same way.
Former Bachelor Nation fans flooded the comments with reasons why they stopped watching.
- “I’ve been turned off for a while because of influencer culture and how scripted the show is.”
- “prior to 2020/21, bachelor was literally the only dating reality show i knew/watched. now that i see how other dating shows are SOOOO much more interesting, i stopped watching bachelor”
- “It’s just not the same anymore. It’s like the show lost its identity.”
- “I stopped after the first couple of Golden Bachelor episodes. That was it for me. It was obvious to me that the lead was a fake and a bad choice.”
- “Honestly, this years BIP is kinda the shows last chance to keep me around”
- “I am bored yeah. I used to love it but I started to feel like the format is stale.”
Several former avid Bachelor viewers mentioned that other dating shows, such as Love Is Blind or Love Island USA, are better than anything the ABC franchise puts out.
Jennifer Havener grew up in a small town in Upstate New York. She earned her B.A in Writing & Literature from Naropa University in Boulder, Colorado. She always knew watching reality TV shows and soap operas, particularly ‘Days of Our Lives’, would come in handy someday. When she’s not writing, she’s playing with her dogs, Lola and Ruger