It was only a matter of time — after 30-something seasons of watching people "fall in love" and decide to go through with proposals on The Bachelor and The Bachelorette, the franchise just had its very first civilian proposals on the show. Not one, but two! Perhaps that fans have watched so many proposals and so many episodes of The Bachelor that they needed to be reenacted. The regular people have a better shot of making it to the altar, anyway. Leave it to Colton Underwood to get the people inspired, but two fans got engaged on The Bachelor, and honestly, it's the moment Chris Harrison has been waiting for all of his life.
The producers set up Colton's Bachelor premiere as a three-hour event complete with special guest stars (read: just old stars from Bachelor Nation) and viewing parties. Ashley Iaconetti and her fiancé Jared Haibon were helming the party in Utah when Ashley announced that "her new friend Alex" had something he needed to get off his chest and announce to, I don't know, millions of people. I guess he really had something to say.
The proposal was imminent when Alex started talking about being "surrounded by all this love and excitement," and he decided that he couldn't "think of a better opportunity than right now" to say these touching words to his girlfriend Rachel:
"I'm just so excited to be here, surrounded by all this love and excitement, and I can't think of a better opportunity than right now... Rachel, our relationship remind me a lot of The Bachelor because it started out so quickly. You were only here for that first winter season, and I made sure that all our time together counted. When you left for the summer, I knew that I didn't want to lose you again. It was an after an episode of The Bachelor that we first said 'I love you' to each other, and the past three years have been incredible, and I can't wait for what our future holds. You're the most thoughtful and kind person that I know, and you make me want to be a better man. Will you marry me?"
Ashley and Jared lost their minds after the proposal (Rachel said yes, by the way). But it wasn't over yet! In Lansing, Michigan, pregnant Bachelor fan Kimberly and her boyfriend also got engaged on national television! She said yes, too! One proposal was cute, but two? How many more will there be? And frankly, there were some in Bachelor Nation that found the whole thing kind of icky.
While I would never begrudge two people deciding to spend their lives together (which is totally sweet), I personally would never say yes to a man that proposed to me on national television without my consent. Rachel and Kimberly seemed surprised, even though they said yes, and what a thing to put your soon-to-be fiancée on the spot like that! Bachelor Nation wasn't that into either, mostly because producers showed that proposal before we met any of Colton's women — true love is nice and everything, but we're not tuning in to see two normies decided to get married! We're here to watch Colton soar (or crash and burn), and nothing less will do. Next time, ABC, let's do less talking and more limo exiting, OK? But uh, congrats to the couples and all.
