9 'Bachelor' & 'Bachelorette' Seasons To Binge

The premiere of Kaitlyn Bristowe's season of The Bachelorette doesn't air until May 19. How are you to live until then? I'll tell you how. Binge watching old seasons of The Bachelor and Bachelorette while you wait for the new season, that's how. As I prepared to binge watch old seasons in preparation for the debut of Bachelorettes Bristowe and Nilsson, I had a few things to keep in mind when deciding which seasons to revisit. I prioritized the successful relationships first. I have made it my goal to analyze the development of successful Bachelor/Bachlorette relationships in order to ascertain how the couples we have seen succeed have managed to make it work.

My second item of priority in choosing old seasons of the Bachelor/Bachelorette to watch was sheer entertainment factor. Nothing is worse than a season of a reality show with no catfights, no drama, and no fun. As everyone knows, we're not here to make friends or behave like rational human beings — so let the chaos begin! With only two stipulations (seasons that involved a successful couple or succeeded by the entertainment factor alone), I had nine seasons on my list to binge watch.

Check out these nine great seasons of The Bachelor/Bachelorette to binge watch while you wait for the new season of The Bachelorette to air on May 19.

Byron Velvick (The Bachelor, Season 6)

Byron Velvick's season is key to watch heading into Bachelorette Season 11. In a tricky maneuver, ABC surprised us at the end of Chris Soules' season by announcing that the new season of The Bachelorette would start off with two bachelorettes — Kaitlyn Bristowe and Britt Nilsson.

Byron Velvick's debut on Season 6 began in a similar manner; the season began with two bachelors that the contestants had to choose between. Byron Velvick came in first and was the official bachelor for the rest of the season.

ABC might pull another fast one on us and do something different with Bristowe and Nilsson, but this season is good to watch either way for its rule-breaking.

Ashely Hebert (The Bachelorette, Season 7)

At the end of her season, Ashley Hebert picked J.P. Rosenbaum and somehow managed to avoid the Bachelor/Bachelorette curse. Their relationship endures to this day and the duo recently had their first child. This season is worth revisiting because of Ashley's persistent charm and humor, as well as the epic cast of guys.

Trista Rhen (The Bachelorette, Season 1)

The Bachelorette OG proved that you could, in fact, find love on a TV show. Trista picked Ryan Sutter and the couple have been married since 2003.

Sean Lowe (The Bachelor, Season 17)

Though this season strayed a little bit too far into 'cutesy' territory, I can help but love this Bachelor couples. Lowe tied the knot with Catherine Giudici on his season finale and later married her in a Bachelor special on January 26, 2014.

Emily Maynard (The Bachelorette, Season 8)

I will go ahead and out myself as a Kalon McMahon supporter right now. Hate on me all you want for liking the villain of Emily Maynard's season, but McMahon's sarcasm kept me in stitches throughout what could have been a boring season that consisted 90 percent of Emily fake smiling and calling people darlin'. This season is worth the re-visit, if for no other than the pretentiously awesome villain who arrived at the Bachelor mansion by helicopter.

Jake Pavelka (The Bachelor, Season 14)

Jake Pavelka's season was like a walking soap opera. Pavelka chose Vienna Girardi, the season's villain, and the season ended in chaos. The couple later broke up and waged a press war on each other, bashing each other in the tabloids before appearing in a special 'couples therapy' Bachelor exclusive with Chris. B. Harrison as their wise therapist. It did not go well. Pavelka's season is like watching the most entertaining trainwreck in a massive explosion.

Desiree Hartsock (The Bachelorette, Season 9)

The conclusion of Desiree Hartsock's season of The Bachelorette was downright bizarre. First, Hartsock tells one of her final three that he's "the one," only be swiftly dumped by him on national television. Then, seemingly out of nowhere, Hartsock ends up choosing one of the poor schmucks left and goes on to marry her reject-turned-fiancé, Chris Siegfried (making this technically one of the seasons in Bachelor/Bachelorette history where the couple actually stays together). So entertaining, and it even has a happy ending.

Charlie O'Connell (The Bachelor, Season 7)

If you've ever been to Mardi Gras (or really any place that is filled with drunk people), then you have an understanding of what Charlie O'Connell's season on The Bachelor was like. Charie O'Connell, brother of actor Jerry O'Connell, had a little too much fun on his season of the show, which looked more like a bar crawl than a dating game show. This obviously means that O'Connell's season was chock full of endless entertainment.

Ali Fedotowsky (The Bachelorette, Season 6)

A season's worth of Roberto Martinez's dimples. That is the only explanation you need to watch this one again.

Images: ABC; Getty Images (9)