Last Monday night, gasps and cries were heard in dorm lounges and sorority houses across the nation as we watched Juan Pablo give out his final rose. After twelve years and eighteen seasons, I can safely say that this was probably the most bewildering season yet.
When Juan Pablo was announced as Season Eighteen’s bachelor, Bach Nation was excited for endless montages of the Latin hottie running shirtless on the beach and playing with his daughter Camila. But a couple of weeks into the season, fans turned against him when he made anti-gay comments in an interview.
Suffice it to say, my weekly Bachelor viewing group thinned out as the season progressed. The 3rd North lounge was packed to the max with girls when the season premiered, and by the time the finale rolled around, there were three left.
Juan Pablo’s homophobic remarks were not the only thing that turned fans away. It also became clear early on that he’s kind of an ass. Calling certain girls “special,” sneaking off to hook up in the ocean with some, then denying kisses to others, his inconsistency-turned-hypocrisy was a major turn-off for both contestants and viewers.
As JP made his choices each week we soon realized that he was keeping the crazies around—namely Nikki and Clare who were the major drama-causers all season. Usually The Bachelor cuts the psychos loose early on, but to everyone’s surprise Juan seemed most interested in them, so it wasn’t a surprise when they were the final two.
But during the finale episode things took a turn for the worse. Clare mentioned in one of her solo-interviews that during a moment when the cameras were off, Juan Pablo made an offensive comment. Suddenly, my friends and I invested ourselves in Clare. If the craziest girl of the season could see Juan Pablo for the jerk we took him as, maybe we could get behind her. But she let him off easy.
Finally, when Juan Pablo dumped her later in the episode, she gained our respect with this move:
Then we jumped to our feet and pumped our fists in the air like crazed sports fans when she yelled at him, “I would never want my children to have a father like you!”
Of course Juan Pablo responded by shrugging and saying, “I’m glad I didn’t pick her.”
In the end, JP and Nikki ended up together, and while he refused to say he loved her during their live “After the Final Rose” interview with Chris Harrison, he released a special video with a song he wrote for her expressing his love the next day. Bach Nation said screw you to Juan Pablo, and he said it right back.
All in all, this season of The Bachelor was a confusing one, mostly because half of the time Juan Pablo’s subtitles didn’t even make sense. But ABC did something right, after choosing the absolute worse bachelor in history; they chose Andi as the next Bachelorette. A girl who dumped Juan Pablo herself is someone Bach Nation can really get behind. I can’t wait to see what the assistant district attorney does on her season. For the sake of her job security, I hope she doesn’t try something like this again: