There's no denying it: The Bachelor and The Bachelorette are fabulous TV and everyone loves it. There's also no denying that some of the contestants are, how do we put this kindly, um... shady AF. Here's a deep dive in the worst that reality TV has to offer — buckle up, because it's pretttty bad.
Garrett Yrigoyen
The Bachelorette, Season 14
So, this guy's a fucking mess. Garrett won Becca Krufin's season (woof!), and whatever, he's a generic looking white dude. But look beneath that boring-ass exterior and you will find some pretty shitty garbage. Bachelor Nation alum Ashley Spivey shared screenshots of Garrett's old Instagram likes, in which he allegedly liked posts that insulted feminists, the trans community, and even Parkland shooting survivors (this account has since been deleted). OUCH. Becca's non-response to the situation made matters worse; this could turn into a whole avocado salad of guacamole, as they say. (Nobody says that, but it's a REAL SHIT SHOW.)
Lee Garrett
The Bachelorette, Season 13
There's another racist in The Bachelorette manse! This time from Rachel Lindsay's season—especially alarming seeing as she was the show's first black Bachelorette. Lee's Twitter account leaked on social media, and featured such charming tweets as, “What’s the difference between the NAACP and the KKK? Wait for it…One has the sense of shame to cover their racist a– faces.” Uh, yikes. In a tense "Men Tell All" episode of the show, Lee addressed the tweets, saying, “I’m facetious. I make jokes when I’m uncomfortable in inappropriate times. It doesn’t always come off right, and I definitely learned that about myself.” Uhhhh... OK?
Juan Pablo Galavis
The Bachelor, Season 18
Where to begin? The hunky Venezuelan soccer player really did not take his job as the Bachelor seriously, and everyone hated him for it! He allegedly slept with a bunch of women on the show, and the big rumor is that he whispered to runner-up Clare Crawley on their final date, "I love fucking you but I don't know you." Damn! Also, he refused to propose or say "I love you," to Nikki Ferrell, the recipient of his final rose, and a whole slew of other messy shit, including, most egregiously, saying a gay Bachelor would not be "a good example for kids." BOY, BYE!
Bentley Williams
The Bachelorette, Season 6
OMG, remember this fool?! He popped off when Ashley Herbert was named the Bachelorette instead of Emily Maynard, and was SUCH a D about it. He called Ashley all sorts of names on camera, saying he'd rather "swim in pee" than marry her, and deemed her an "ugly duckling." I mean, seriously. What a fucking D.
Jason Mesnick
The Bachelor, Season 13
OK, so this was DRAMARAMA back in the day. Jason pissed off Bachelor Nation when he dumped winner Melissa Rycroft on live TV, telling her he was in love with his runner up, Molly Malaney. She (very rightfully) chewed him out on air, and then essentially threw his ring back at him and stormed off stage, like a QUEEN. Luckily for him, Chris Harrison then brought Molly onstage and he proposed to her and she accepted and today they're married with two kids. Sometimes controversy can end with a smile! Take note, Arie!
Arie Luyendyk Jr.
The Bachelor, Season 29
I mean... who could forget the (seemingly) million-year-long on-air breakup Arie made winner Becca Kuffin endure? It was hell on earth. HELL ON EARTH. Seriously, it was the worst, and therefore Arie is the worst — no matter what he says about editing!
Courtney Robertson
The Bachelor, Season 15
I mean, she DID write a book titled, I Didn't Come Here to Make Friends: Confessions of a Reality Show Villain, so uh, I kinda think she *has* to be on this list?! And yes, Courtney, the winner of Bachelor Ben Flajnik's season, did have sex with him in the ocean. That's not controversial, though, it's just awesome. She might be the only awesome person on this list, actually??
Nick Viall
The Bachelor, Season 21; The Bachelorette, Season 10; The Bachelorette, Season 11
Oh, Nick. NICK, NICK, NICK. To be clear, this dude isn't a total mess, but the fact that he's thirstily appeared on approximately one million seasons of The Bachelorette (not to mention The Bachelor and Bachelor in Paradise) in the hopes of finding a soulmate earns him a spot on this list.
Even more iffy? The time he slut-shamed Andi Dorfman for having sex with him on the show, saying "If you weren't in love with me, I'm not sure why you made love with me." No one deserves to have their private "love making" (BRB, vomiting) aired on national television—even if you signed up for a dating show!—and the backlash Nick got cements his status as of one of Bachelorette's most UGHHHHH-inducing contestants.
Chad Johnson
The Bachelorette, Season 12
Chad Johnson was one of JoJo Fletcher's messiest Bachelorette rejects, but actually showed his true colors on Bachelor in Paradise, where he spent the season 3 premiere binge eating deli meat, potentially pooping his pants (memories!), using homophobic slurs, and insulting contestant Sarah Herron for being born with one arm. Basically, he acted horribly and was kicked off the show as a result.
And by the way, it would be wrong not to mention how Chad threatened poor Evan Bass the erectile dysfunction specialist, implying he was lucky he didn't "rip his dick off and shove it in his own mouth." Chad later low-key blamed producers for letting him drink so much on the show, which he claims exacerbated his gross behavior.
Olivia Caridi
The Bachelor, Season 20
Olivia quickly became public enemy #1 in the mansion on Ben Higgins' season of The Bachelor after making it very clear that she thought she was smarter than the other contestants. To quote: "Everybody here's, like, really into, like, painting their nails and doing each other's hair. That's great, but I'm just different. I like reading books in my room and thinking. I wanna talk smart things."
Look we all wanna TALK SMART THINGS, Olivia, but sometimes you get the TV edit you get!
Tierra LiCausi
The Bachelor, Season 17
Tierra LiCausi and her self-described "sparkle" were among the biggest highlights of Sean Lowe's season of The Bachelor. Let's see, there was the time she fell down the stairs and got "injured," the many times she was accused of fake crying, the time she claimed she had hypothermia (classic!), and the iconic moment where she refused to befriend her fellow contestants and pulled out a cot in the living room to avoid bunking with them. Let's just say she lived up to the nickname Tierrable.
Kalon McMahon
The Bachelorette, Season 8
Kalon the "luxury brand representative" made his mark on Emily Maynard's season of The Bachelorette—except by "mark" I mean "stain," because yes' he's the guy who called Emily's daughter Rikki "baggage." Honestly, HOW DARE YOU, KALON? Emily's reaction to the ill-advised musing? To gift us one of the most dramatic moments in Bachelor Nation history, wherein she kicked him out, publicly shamed him, and said "I want to go out there and rip his limbs off and beat him with them. I will never as long as I live let anyone speak ill of Ricki or any other kids I may have or husband I may have. I want to go West Virginia backwoods on his ass. That's how much I love my daughter."
Kelsey Poe
The Bachelor, Season 19
Chris Soules' season of The Bachelor introduced us to Kelsey Poe, who was side-eyed for her major attitude with other women, as well as making everyone deeply uncomfortable due to her seemingly nonchalant attitude about her ex-husband's death. “Isn’t it amazing?” Poe infamously told cameras of her tragic backstory (which, to be fair, is a large part of how she landed her gig on The Bachelor). “Tragic, but amazing. I love my story!”
Obviously, everyone felt deeeeeply awkward about this comment, but wait! There's more! “I know this is a show about Chris,” she also said. “But this is my love story, too. This is the unfolding of somebody who’s been through something so tragic and you get to watch her pick up the pieces and grow into another person and into another relationship." Literally...NO. NO, KELSEY POE, NO!
Nick Peterson
Bachelor Pad 3
Please cast your mind back to the days of yore, a simpler time when Bachelor Pad 3 was still on the air, and Nick Peterson was completely and totally savage. In the event that you've blocked this moment from your mind, Nick screwed over Rachel Truehart in the show's final moments, "stealing" their mutually earned $250,000. Which yes, was allowed, but I'm not going to take up your valuable time explaining the complex rules of Bachelor Pad to you. Just know that Nick is literally HEARTLESS.
Rozlyn Papa
The Bachelor Season 14
To be clear, though, #TEAMPAPA on this one. If there's one thing we've learned from Selena Gomez it's that the heart wants what it wants, and Rozlyn's heart (allegedly) wanted to hookup with a sexy Bachelor producer. Both she and the dude in question were kicked off the show after their dalliance—which Rozlyn denied—while host Chris Harrison basically threw her under the bus, telling People “She had a physical relationship with a producer on our show. You cannot do that. There is no gray area … Other girls on the show saw it. The producer confessed more than once and to more than one person. I cannot make it any clearer.”
Jake Pavelka
The Bachelor Season 14
Jake managed to get on Bachelor Nation's shit list when he broke up with his fiance Vienna Girardi and then, for reasons that make no sense (just kidding, the reason is RATINGS!), ABC made them hash it all out on a couch. The segment basically involved Vienna weeping and Jake smirking. Honestly, just watch:
In case you need convincing about how deeply everyone hates poor Jake, please see this tweet from when he made an unscheduled appearance on JoJo Fletcher's season of The Bachelorette:
Dean Unglert
Bachelor in Paradise 4
Fan-favorite Dean got into a world of hurt on season 4 of Bachelor in Paradise, when he entered into relationships with two women and led them both on, and on, and on some more. It came out of nowhere! THIS WAS NOT THE DEANIE WE KNEW AND LOVED! Are we also surprised he hosts a podcast called "Help! I Suck at Dating"? Also no.
Lincoln Adim
The Bachelorette, Season 14
Where to start with Lincoln? First of all, there's the fact that he believes the earth is flat (to quote: "why does the water not fall on all humankind if it’s on top of us?"). But far more disturbingly, it was recently revealed that Lincoln was found guilty for inappropriately touching a woman aboard a harbor cruise ship in 2016. Not sure how the hell ABC didn't flag this, but you can read more about the incident, and Warner Bros' statement on the matter, over here.
