I’ve been a loyal member of Bachelor Nation for longer than is psychologically recommended (according to my therapist). In fact, I’m so invested in them that I spend almost seven months out of every year chained to my TV for two hours on Monday nights, just to watch these people find love while simultaneously bringing dishonor to their family name. I then meticulously record this aesthetically-pleasing car crash in a weekly recap so that we can all remember that one time Chris Harrison had to explain to Colton which hole to put it in for posterity purposes. One could even argue that watching The Bachelor has been my longest relationship to date.
And, like any other toxic relationship in my life, I’ve put up with my fair share of bullsh*t. Getting rid of Jorge The Bartender on Bachelor in Paradise in favor of Wells, who is about as much a mixologist as I am a person with good credit? Fine. Letting Chris Harrison negotiate a new contract that allows him to speak seven words or less per episode, despite the fact that he is the glue that holds that insane asylum together? Also fine. Giving Nick Viall not one, not two, not three, but FOUR separate seasons to con the American public into thinking he could ever be a catch? Fine, fine, fine. But what I won’t stand for—what I absolutely refuse to allow—is Bachelor Nation infiltrating the lives of real celebs.
For those of you who haven’t been paying attention, recently there has been a number of former Bachelor contestants vying for the hearts of actual celebrities, like Tyler C and Gigi Hadid, Demi Lovato and Mike Johnson, and as of last week, potentially Nick Viall and Rachel Bilson. And these are just the most recent couplings!
When I first found out about Tyler C hooking up with Gigi Hadid, I was disappointed and a little upset. My friends, on the other hand, were ecstatic. “Good for Tyler!” They’d say. “He deserves only good things!” Look, I’m not going to pretend that watching 30 hours of TV footage of the man makes me an apt judge of his character, but I was inclined to agree. Good things? Sure. But going from dating a girl who names her zits and regularly butchers the English language to dating one of the highest-paid models in the world, who also happens to be an international superstar? Are you f*cking kidding me, Tyler?
Bottom line? I felt lied to. I had just spent weeks this summer watching Tyler profess his love for Hannah B, a girl who is the definition of “hot mess” in Urban Dictionary, only to find out that what he was really searching for in a partner was 108 pounds of hairspray and coconut water. Part of those feelings of betrayal came from the fact that these guys are supposed to be somewhat attainable. These are supposed to be guys who would theoretically be into us, the viewer (assuming we are under a size 4, have at least 10K followers on Instagram, and look professionally airbrushed at all times). AND GIGI F*CKING HADID IS NOT LIKE US, THE VIEWER, IS SHE TYLER C?!
Furthermore, I’ve always considered the stars of Bachelor Nation to be their own sad, demented sorority/fraternity, that real stars—people with certifiable talents and ambition that goes beyond which Instagram sponsorship will pay for their Revolve credit card—would look down upon. Bachelor contestants are willing to debase themselves on national television, wear chicken suits and cry about being seagulls instead of pigeons. Why would a person who has won Emmys for acting or hit the Billboard Hot 100 want to date a person whose bio can be summed up as “social media participant” or “former high school athlete”?
Take Mike Johnson and Demi Lovato, for instance. Do I love them both? Yes. Do I want both of them to be happy? Also, yes. But Demi is a rockstar, a huge advocate for mental health, and has a world-wide fanbase, while Mike… has a really great smile? Calls women “queens”? Seriously, what does this guy do for a living and is he really good enough for MY queen Demi? Their budding relationship feels mismatched and off-kilter. That’s not to say some relationships can’t be mismatched, but this feels like something more than that.
And for the most part, it’s the men of BachelorNation who are sliding into the DMs of A-list stars. You don’t see Bibiana hitting up Michael B. Jordan’s IG comments section with flirty emojis or Kristina Schulman going on dinner dates with Chace Crawford. Which brings me to the real reason I’m so offended by these recent couplings: why is this phenomenon so one-sided?
We’ve talked at length about how The Bachelor men dating A-listers won’t be great for the franchise. It already felt like a real suspension of reality that these conventionally attractive, mildly successful men weren’t able to find love in real life and that’s why they came on the show. Over the years, it’s felt like less of the contestants are actually there to find love with the lead and more of them are there to find fame and careers on Instagram. And now the female leads must contend with the likes of Demi Lovato and Gigi Hadid potentially sliding into the guys’ DMs post-production, apparently.
Aside from Lauren Bushnell’s recent engagement to country music singer Chris Lane, the majority of the ladies in Bachelor Nation are single or are dating in the Bachelor pool of potential suitors, but the men aren’t playing that game anymore. While Nick Viall serenades Summer Roberts on his podcast, Caelynn felt so desperate for a happy ending that she settled for a man who lives in his van.
More and more I watch this show and think, “man, she’s settling” and I’ve realized that’s not the kind of reality TV I want to watch anymore. This used to be a show about real people looking for love. Over time, that’s shifted into cosmetically enhanced, famous-adjacent people looking for love, and I was fine with that too. But I can’t stand for this new turn of events. I don’t watch The Bachelorette or Bachelor in Paradise to find out how a good looking dude from Florida somehow managed to bag a supermodel. I watch this show to root for the women, for them to find themselves and maybe find love too.
Hannah B set a new precedent for Bachelorettes: that we can be funny and messy and say the wrong things and STILL be desirable—still be wife material. But watching her men declare that’s what they want in a wife and then go out and date international superstars in the next breath is enraging and upsetting. If this is what the next generation of Bachelor looks like, then count me out.
Images: ABC; Giphy (2)
It’s a sad time for true love in BachelorNation, because it’s starting to look bleaker and bleaker for any chance of Hannah and Tyler ending up together. This is tough for all of us, and Chris Harrison will probably never believe in love again. Basically, Tyler Cameron and Gigi Hadid haven’t stopped hanging out in the last two weeks, and they took things to the next level with a weekend trip to upstate New York.
On Thursday, Tyler and Gigi were spotted together at a Starbucks in Lake George, New York, which is about four hours north of NYC. Really, the fact that they spent four hours together in a car is equivalent to being engaged in my mind, but maybe they took a helicopter or something fancy like that. Then, they were seen together at a liquor store, where Tyler was carrying a case of wine to the car. There was at least one other friend on the trip with them, but it’s pretty clear that Tyler and Gigi are a thing that’s happening.
Tyler cameron and Gigi Hadid pic.twitter.com/G97BZoFFms
— Enrique (@Henryballeste17) August 17, 2019
It’s pretty hilarious to see a picture of Gigi Hadid wearing her neon biker shorts at a liquor store in what is probably Trump country. Gigi’s outfit only looks appropriate for an approximately three-block stretch of Soho, so the locals in Lake George probably have no idea what is happening. Also, I’m not sure what kind of fugly patterned shorts Tyler is wearing, but I’d still drop literally everything to sleep with him.
In my life, if I was spending the weekend with someone upstate, it would be the result of months of planning and saving money, so it would basically mean we were about to get married. I obviously can’t relate to Gigi Hadid’s lifestyle, where she could probably purchase an entire town in upstate New York at the drop of a hat. In her world, a trip upstate is basically the most casual thing you could do.
Interestingly, the Elle article about Tyler and Gigi’s trip claims that “The two appear to be taking it slow,” which seems like the exact opposite of what’s happening. I mean, they’ve hung out at least five times in the last two weeks, including a literal vacation together. All of this has happened faster than I usually get a single text back, so there’s really no evidence that they’re taking anything slow. I don’t know if they’re in it for the long haul, but they seem pretty inseparable right now.
So what about that time literally four days ago, when Tyler was seen leaving his friend’s apartment with Andi Dorfman? It seems likely that they were just hanging out because of the event they’re doing together, because I don’t even know how he would have time to be seeing someone in addition to Gigi right now. Either way, Tyler is living his best life right now, and I don’t think that’s going to involve Hannah, or being the next Bachelor.
Clearly, Tyler is just enjoying himself right now, and why wouldn’t he? He has millions of Instagram followers, a hot maybe-girlfriend, and probably a lot more career opportunities than he did six months ago. Meanwhile, Hannah is going to be doing Dancing With The Stars, so I think they’ll both be just fine.
Images: Shutterstock; henryballeste17 / Twitter
We’re rapidly approaching the end of this season of The Bachelorette, and while it’s been a great season, it feels like it’s been going on for a thousand years. With all of the drama that’s been going on, whether it’s on the show, with past girlfriends, or on social media, these past few weeks have felt like a sh*t show in Bachelor Nation. Going into the finale, the only guy who remains untarnished is Tyler C, but it remains to be seen whether Hannah will find her way through the trash to the hottest (and best) choice.
But let’s ignore Hannah for now. While she’s had to stay relatively quiet about Tyler while the season is airing, the rest of the world has been openly thirsty for him for months now. He seems like a genuinely nice guy, he’s incredibly hot, and he’s actually hilarious on social media. This seems too good to be true, but it’s why he’s the first Bachelorette contestant to ever hit one million Instagram followers while his season is still airing. Tyler, you’re doing amazing sweetie.
Obviously a lot of people have followed Tyler C in the last few weeks, but one in particular caught the internet’s eye on Tuesday morning: Gigi Hadid. Within minutes, Gigi and Tyler followed each other on Insta, which is more than a little suspicious. It’s too soon to draw any conclusions here, but this definitely raises some questions.
It wouldn’t have been surprising if Tyler C was already following Gigi Hadid before this, considering that she’s world-famous and has almost 50 million followers. I’m sure thousands of people follow Gigi every single day, but the fact that she followed him right before he followed her makes me pretty sure it’s not a coincidence. At the very least, it seems like they could be DMing each other, but why? How? Where? I need answers!
I have a feeling that this all boils down pretty simply. My best theory is that Gigi Hadid probably watches The Bachelorette like the rest of us, and has been into Tyler C for a while. Or, maybe one of her friends told her she needed to watch because there’s this hot guy on the show, and liked what she saw. Even if Gigi followed Tyler without any kind of conversation, he would probably follow back ASAP, because he’s not exactly in the same league as her career-wise.
But of course, it’s more fun to imagine that there’s some kind of flirty DM conversation going on between these two, because they’re both incredibly hot, and now I kind of feel like they belong together? Gigi split up with Zayn Malik for the last time in November, 2018, so as far as we know she is very much single and ready to mingle.
We can wait for next week to see if Tyler C is officially single and ready to mingle as well, but at this point I’m not sure if I’m team Hannah or team Gigi when it comes to who gets Tyler C. Maybe both? Monogamy is a social construct!!
Obviously, we’ll be keeping tabs on whether these two start showing signs of an Instagram flirtationship, because Tyler C and Gigi Hadid would make the most beautiful babies the world has ever seen. Okay, might be getting ahead of myself, but I can’t help it.
Images: themorningtoast / Instagram
