The turbulent 25th season of “The Bachelor” continues to shock viewers due to the bullying contestants have faced in the house.
Matt James, the first Black Bachelor to star in ABC’s reality series, was forced to address the issue when contestant Anna Redman spread rumors about contestant Brittany Galvin.
Redman told contestant Victoria Larson, “Being from Chicago, where she is, I’d heard rumors, and people have gone out of their way to tell me, ‘Oh my god, watch out for this girl… there is a rumor, because she knows all the rich men in Chicago, that Brittany may be an escort. She may be having a transactional relationship with wealthy men.”
Rumors got around and James pulled Redman aside. “If you have to belittle someone else for you to shine, then those aren’t the qualities I’m looking for in my wife,” James said.
Both Redman and Larson labeled Galvin a “whore.”
USC sophomore Amina Niasse believes this could have been an opportunity to address prejudices and biases towards people.
“I think for me, they should have taken the opportunity to redirect the issue….for example, they didn’t take the opportunity to talk about the fact that sex workers shouldn’t be shamed. Even if Brittany was a sex worker and that came out, it still wouldn’t be an excuse for the girls to gang up on her,” Niasse said.
According to Niasse, the focus was mainly on “Brittany being very uncomfortable” and “how her confidence was ruined” rather than addressing the core issue, which is Redman “bashing sex workers.”
It is with no surprise that Redman chose to spread the rumor to Larson.
Since the show began, Larson has been viewed as a bully. “That should not have been allowed. I think there needs to be a line drawn when it comes to that. I think production should have taken accountability for that because you can’t have bullying on TV, just because it makes the TV,” Niasse said.
Garin Flowers, a USC Annenberg adjunct instructor and former “Bachelorette” contestant on the 16th season, said it was uncomfortable to watch.
“It’s gotten pretty aggressive on the ‘Bachelor.’ It’s gotten pretty bad,” said Flowers. “And you know Victoria, obviously we see what she has been doing and everything.”
Throughout the show, Victoria abruptly walked away from conversations. When contestant, Catalina Morales arrived, Victoria saw her wearing a crown. “I’m Victoria, like the queen, and I think I should have that crown actually…,” Larson said to Morales.
Without permission, Larson snatches Morales’ crown.
Without apologizing, Larson finds a way through her actions and words to address that she is the only “queen” in the house.
After viewers saw James eliminate Redman from “The Bachelor” it was evident that bullying is not welcomed.
Although women are there to find love, it has become clear that they will do anything to marry James.
According to Flowers, tearing someone down doesn’t lift you up.
“In the end, it’s all gonna hurt you,” he said. “Even if there were things true about someone that aren’t great, why are you worried about them? That’s that person’s personal business. No one’s perfect, this has caused a lot of pressure. A lot of times you don’t know what’s going on and a lot of times you don’t know who said what.”
“There’s a lot of times where there is a lot of tension in the house. I get how people can be on edge because I definitely felt many times on edge when I was there during the process, but you can’t tear people down,” Flowers added.
Bachelor James continues to strive to create a positive and healthy environment for the women in the house.
Although the drama on “The Bachelor” could be good for ratings, Flowers believes “people are over it.” He continued, “I think people watch the ‘Bachelor’ and the ‘Bachelorette’ to see a love story, not to see people tear each other down. While it might be interesting to see drama, for the most part, people want to see love stories.”