On Sunday, a shocking twist on The Bachelor Vietnam caused a clip from the rose ceremony to go viral. After one of the contestants, Minh Thu, was eliminated, she confessed her love for another contestant on the show, Truc Nhu.
In the viral clip, Thu tearfully says to the bachelor, Nguyen Quoc Trung, “I went into this competition to find love. But I’ve found that love for myself. But it isn’t you. It’s someone else.”
Thu then walks over to Nhu. After embracing, Thu pleads that Nhu should go home with her and Nhu agrees by returning the rose to the bachelor. The bachelor attempts to convince Nhu to change her mind and asks, “If you decide this, would you feel regretful?” The host of the show furthers Trung’s case by saying to Nhu, “You have a connection with Trung that made him choose you. You should give yourself a chance. Don’t pass it up.” However, Nhu stands by her decision and decides to leave the show.
Social media and particularly Twitter were uproarious after this clip went viral. Many viewers were surprised at this turn of events, but many also lauded the progressiveness of the show in regards to the two women.
Even so, this celebration was premature. After the cameras went down, Nhu and Trung had a conversation that led to her making this statement: “After talking to Trung, I’ve changed my mind to accept this rose and continue this journey.”
This is not the first time that contestants have found love amongst one another. Australian contestants Megan Marx and Tiffany Scanlon made a splash when they famously become a couple in 2016. However, what differentiates the two relationships is that one happened after the season was over, while the other happened on-camera.
This raises concerns over whether the sentiments expressed in the clip were genuine or simply a publicity stunt. After the mess that was season 22 on the American version of The Bachelor with Arie Luyendyk, it is entirely possible that The Bachelor Vietnam were only trying to increase their viewer count. If this is the case, then this is very disappointing, particularly for the LGBTQ+ community. This apparent advancement and victory for homosexual relationships was simply exploited by television show executives for monetary gain. Let’s hope that this is not the case.