On Being Addicted to the Bachelor
8 million people watch ABC’s The Bachelor each week. That’s 8 million people who could be spending those two hours earning money, exercising, or having dinner with friends, rather than cracking open a bottle of wine to sit and judge the lovelorn Bachelor and his contestants.
ABC has had considerable success since the launch of the series in 2002. The show, and its sister show The Bachelorette, made $86 million in advertising revenue in 2016.
Bachelor Nation is more than just viewership; fans often participate in viewing parties (watching the show together) or taking to the internet to comment. The finale episode for Bachelor Nick Viall amassed over 310,000 tweets and often The Bachelor trends on social media as it's airing.
Former Bachelor producer Sarah Gertrude Shapiro has pointed out that what we are seeing on reality TV shows like The Bachelor might not be real. Much of it is highly produced, with emotions manipulated through the planting of people or controversial subjects and LOTS of alcohol, with some creative and sophisticated editing for good measure.
Let’s face it – you probably already know the recipe. The producers couldn’t possibly think the Bachelor will fall for the crazy girl dressed as a shark.
Will she be the Right Shark for this Bachelor?
Its Superbowl Sunday I’m allowed to make this joke.
Any true Bachelor fan also faces the judgement that the series is nothing but a guilty pleasure.
So why do 8 million of us keep watching every week? Is there something about us that makes us judgmental people or are we just addicted to The Bachelor?
4 Reasons Why You Are Addicted to The Bachelor
With nearly $90 million a season in advertising revenue, ABC has a huge incentive to keep you watching. And they found the levers to pull to keep you hooked. Let’s take a look at how they do it.
1) This is your brain on drama
More than the in-house conflicts between contestants, viewers simply cannot pull away from the sad childhood back-stories that every Bachelor season seems to have. Abuse, death, health issues, abandonment – we’ve seen it all. Each contestant seems content with sharing their most private details to the Bachelor or Bachelorette (and 8 million of us) – even though most have “never shared their secret before”. We can’t turn away. Why? Because it allows us a moment of escape from our own drama.
Therapist Erin Asquith claims this curiosity for drama is related to empathy (in the same way we can’t turn away from a car crash). We compare our own life and drama to that on the show – providing relief that ours is ‘not that bad’.
And drama has a specific impact on our brains. Anyone who has been through high school can probably attest to this but… people! We can get addicted to DRAMA!
Expect Turbulence…
aka Drama
We experience a rush of dopamine and adrenaline when we encounter drama. Dopamine is associated with the brain’s reward centres. It gives us that feeling of excitement and happiness. That release of dopamine trains our brain to like, and continue to seek out, whatever caused the dopamine release in the first place. If the show causes dopamine release, we are more likely to tune into next week’s episode. Again and again and again. There’s a reason why dopamine-stimulating drugs are so addictive!
Adrenaline is our fight-or-flight reaction, released during fear, or excitement, and anger. You can get a shot of adrenaline just from watching something dangerous or risky – without having to partake yourself (ex. watching a scary movie).
The more shocking or entertaining, the more dopamine and adrenaline is released – no matter if it’s in our real life or through a TV screen. The TV is more appealing because after the show ends, we can go back to our lives instead of having to deal with juggling 4 girlfriends at once.
2) Variable Rewards Keep us Hooked
There is a formula to the show. First, the Bachelor or Bachelorette go on a variety of fantastical dates, then we watch drama play out in the house, and the episode concludes with a rose ceremony as a way to eliminate contestants. But in more recent seasons, the producers have started to play with this structure. Now it’s not uncommon for an episode to end on a cliffhanger, with the rose ceremony from this week’s episode being saved for the start of next week’s episode. Viewers are so invested in the story, but get no relief and have to tune in next week. Producers – you’re brilliant!
Which colour of hair do I like… brown or blond?
One way to keep a behaviour going is through variable rewards. The producers have set up a reward schedule where you watch an episode and are ‘rewarded’ with the rose ceremony at the end. But they intensified your commitment to the show by varying when you get rewarded for watching. Sometimes you get the rose ceremony at the beginning of the show, sometimes you have to wait until next week – or maybe the Bachelor cancels the rose ceremony altogether.
Varying the reward has the impact of keeping people committed longer and stronger than any other set-up. Plus, I need to see who didn’t get a rose in the next episode because I already invested the time watching for the past 2 hours!
3) Identifying and Relating to the Contestants
We are feeling more alone than ever. Social isolation, loneliness, busy schedules… they have all been noted as a real problem in our society. But the Bachelor gives us a chance to get to know someone really well every week. We identify with their struggles (i.e., looking for love and belonging, trying to be more open about our pasts, etc.) especially since they are positioned as ‘normal’ people who are just like us. Unfortunately, these passive relationships with people on TV might be easier than trying to schedule time to see a busy friend. It might be easier to tune into the show or connect with others on Twitter about the drama.
Viewers will relate more to some contestants over others. The producers seem to cast a variety of archetypes – the shy girl, the drama queen, the ex-cheerleader, etc. Relating to a character and rooting them on through the competition might signal to ourselves that we have redeeming qualities, sought after by the hunky or beautiful Bachelor or Bachelorette. Hey! There’s a shy girl just like me on the show! (Even if the only relatable quality is shy rather than also having a 12-pack of abs). This also explains the rise of ‘regional’ bachelor series like The Bachelor UK, Australia, and Canada. If these ‘normal people’ can get cast on these shows, winning love and fame, maybe I could too. If nothing else, we get to watch the people we relate to face challenging situations (like rejection, or bungee jumping) and see how they react to it. Even more, we get to see how people deal with topics of gender roles and sexuality, which are normally behind closed doors for us. Seeing the contestants struggle with similar issues to the ones we face makes us invested in their success, and as a result we keep engaged with the show and even with them on social media after it’s all over and done with.
4) We Watch for the Fantasy
So much of The Bachelor is pure fantasy: how many people do you know get to date 30 gorgeous women at once? Or are given a free Neil Lane engagement ring? Or are meant to propose after only a few weeks? This simply doesn’t happen in real life. What this does sound like, however, are the fairytale romances we heard about in storybooks (ex. Cinderella, Snow White, etc.) that we so wanted to be true. In Bachelor World, it is true, with ball gowns, a castle (“mansion”), and even the equivalent of evil step sisters.
Highly photoshopped.
This is a perfect recipe for living vicariously through the contestants on the show. For many people, having a date in an exotic country, with a private concert from a somewhat-famous country music star and fireworks to cap off the night, will never be possible. For many, this might be their only chance to experience some of these luxurious and amazing far-off places. Travel is exhilarating and is another reason why we get a dose of dopamine from watching. The producers know that – why else would they fly a whole cast and crew around the world each season?
Now that we are at Season 24, the faces of the girls start to blend together – which is actually a good thing for the fantasy. Their uniformity makes it easier for us to imagine ourselves up there in a designer gown or custom suit.
Style is personality, not uniformity
Viewers, don’t despair! And please don’t judge yourselves for being hooked on The Bachelor. The producers know what they are doing and they do it well.
The Bachelor, just like every other TV show, will have to shake things up to keep viewers interested. The question will become: will they veer towards the drama (“our most dramatic season yet!!!”) or will they sway towards the relatability (ex. more cast diversity)? We’ll see what kind of a show it’ll become as it evolves – and what kinds of viewers will stay loyal or lose interest.
Happy watching!
