I've always had my share of pessimism about the success rate of reality shows like The Bachelor and The Bachelorette, but you know who I never expected to agree with me? The contestants themselves. So when I saw this new interview from Chris Soules implying that shows like The Bachelor don't work, part of me was like, "Well, yeah, not with that attitude!" As the audience, it's our job to fuss over how stacked the odds are against you; it's your job to throw yourself into the process with reckless abandon. Otherwise it can't work. Of course it's nutty to imagine that you'll find your forever person in a group of 28 women all dating you at the same time, in six weeks, on national television, but that's the fiction we've all agreed to, so you need to buy into it as well, Chris. And if you can't do that, what are we even doing here?
At least, that's what was going through my head when I was reading some of the quotes from Chris Soules' upcoming interview on Oprah: Where Are They Now? It felt very much like reading the thoughts of a disillusioned fan of the show, except for the fact that, y'know, he was already on it. Here's what Chris had to say about not only the breakup with his former fiancée Whitney Bischoff, but their chances as a couple from the very beginning:
The odds of marrying somebody on a TV show and having that work aren't that good. It's hard. We did the best we could. I have no regrets. I'm thankful that we can remain friends.
Wait, wait, wait, wait — "the odds aren't that good"? I understand that this could just be Soules retroactively having his eyes opened to the difficulty of the process, but I really do wonder if part of him felt this way from the beginning, and he never expected it to work out in his favor. It would certainly help explain why he didn't get to join the ranks of successful Bachelors like Sean Lowe and Jason Mesnick, who both seemed to come into their seasons with much more optimistic mindsets.
So all I can say, Chris Soules, is that I absolutely understand where you're coming from with this lack of positivity about the process. Totally understandable. BUT. If we're gonna be seeing any more of you in Bachelor Nation, like on Bachelor In Paradise or something, I recommend that you get your head right first, or else you'll never find success in an arrangement as wacky as this one.
