Corinne on the Ellen DeGeneres show
I'm not enjoying watching this season of The Bachelor very much, as you may have discerned from my minimal blogging. It might be because after 32 previous season, including Bach'ettes, over 15 years, the show isn't that interesting anymore. Or it may be that I'm just sick of hearing about Corinne. A little of both, probably.
On the other hand, I'm fascinated to observe the franchise's place in pop culture and I give the producers and the network credit. Very, very few shows in any genre are still on the air after 15 years, and if anything the Bachelor brand is stronger than ever. If you don't believe me, consider this: Survivor started in 2000, a couple of years before The Bach, and is also still on the air after 32 seasons. Now ask yourself this: When was the last time you saw anyone from Survivor on the cover of People magazine, or any other tabloid? Trending on Twitter? Featured in The Atlantic? (Seriously. Check it out here.) Survivor's just not workin' it like The Bachelor franchise does, and not many other shows do either.
The Bach has even infiltrated the political world. As I wrote about last night, Twitter was full of tweets comparing the announcement of the president's SCOTUS pick to The Bachelor and wondering which of the final two judges would get the rose. And these tweets weren't from denizens of Bachelor Nation or the entertainment world in general, they were from political observers. Amazing.
Now, about Corinne. I get what the producers are doing with her edit. She's outrageous, she's annoying, she's immature, needy and a show-off. (She also drinks way too much.) What she isn't is boring, and that makes for good television, at least in theory, but the producers have to walk a fine line. After all this time, they don't want the show to get stale, and a "villain" like Corinne ratchets up the drama. The risk is that she gets to be too annoying, which translates to too unpopular. On the surface, at least, the show is still about "finding love," and many viewers are tuning in hoping to see a love story. For many reasons, including the age and maturity gap, Corinne almost certainly isn't going to go the distance and get engaged to Nick and even the most casual viewer knows it. That brings up the question: why is she still there? Why hasn't Nick sent her home already? The obvious answer is that producers want her there.
And it's working. I said in an earlier post that ABC is heavily promoting the show this season and "Nick is everywhere." That post was written just before I watched episode 3. Now after 5 episodes, it's Corinne who is everywhere. She was even on the Ellen DeGeneres show this afternoon, an appearance that's being covered by everyone from the Daily Mail to the Hollywood Reporter to USA Today. To say that it's unusual for a contestant to get that kind of publicity at this point in the season is a massive understatement and the fact that producers and ABC made it happen pretty much proves the theory. Corinne, love her or hate her, is driving ratings and that's always the bottom line.
It's also been good for Corinne. Don't be fooled by all that talk about running a business. Yes, her father has a business (it's called Armor Garage and they sell epoxy floors, check it out here) and yes, she's been working there, but she's also an aspiring model/actress who has an IMDB page (check it out here) and is already selling stuff on her Instagram feed. On January 3, the morning after episode 1 aired, she had 11,000 Instagram followers. As I'm writing this on Wednesday evening, she has 210,000. She's a shoo-in for Bachelor in Paradise and who knows what else. Bachelor contestant Ashley Iaconetti, who was a sort-of villain on Chris Soules's season and was eliminated on a two-on-one date in week 6, is now recapping the show for Cosmopolitan and appears on Access Hollywood every week. Even after Corinne is eliminated, she's not going away.
And speaking of Instagram, it's not just Corinne who has more followers:
Nick: Jan 3 = 795,000, Now = 946,000
Raven: Jan 3 = 9,995, Now = 132,000
Vanessa: Jan 3 = 21,400, Now = 220,000
I couldn't find an account for Rachel on January 3, but she's got one now and she has 41,100 followers. (And by-the-way, her father is a federal judge. Wow. Just Wow. It sure sounds like Nick is planning to have a hometown date with Rachel and when he does, he better behave himself. Definitely call him Sir.)
A few other Bach tidbits:
It's not just Nick's show that ABC is promoting. Former Bachelorettes Trista, Ali and Emily have all been featured on Good Morning America on Tuesday mornings in January. Trista and Ali's segments were about what you would expect, but Emily's was a commercial in disguise. After a cute mention of her new baby boy, Emily stated that she had suffered from severe morning sickness during her most recent pregnancy. I thought they might reference Princess Kate and discuss hyperemesis gravidarum, but no, Emily stated that a product called Diclegis fixed her right up. I thought Wow, that's some blatant product shilling, is she getting paid for that? And sure enough, the reporter stated that Emily is a paid spokesperson for the drug. And yes, she's promoting it on Instagram. (Followers? 619,000)
Several past participants write reviews/recaps of the show each week. I enjoy reading them mostly because occasionally they'll share some behind-the-scenes info about what really goes on during filming. If you're interested check out Ali Fedotowsky, (Scoop: by this point in the season the lead almost certainly knows who their finalist will be, and doesn't really care who goes on which date and who gets eliminated at each rose ceremony. In particular, she says the lead would never let someone they really care about go through the misery of the two-on-one date,) Ashley Iaconetti, writing at Cosmopolitan and Jillian Harris. Sharleen Joynt write a recap for Flare, a Canadian magazine, and also at her own website called All The Pretty Pandas. If you only read one I recommend Sharleen at Pretty Pandas. She analyzes the show in some depth and most of the comments are thoughtful and respectful. (Scoop from Sharleen: it's not just the women on one-on-one and two-on-one dates who have to pack their bags. Every contestant is required to pack their bags before every rose ceremony, so they can leave immediately if they don't get a rose. Brutal.)
Have you ever wondered how much money the person in the role of The Bachelor makes? Last March, Fortune magazine had a feature about former Bach Sean Lowe, how much money he made and what he did with it. Read it here.
Final thought for now: the dates this season are icky and/or boring. I feel strange agreeing with Corinne about anything but on last week's farm date, I wouldn't have wanted to shovel manure either. I thought the haunted house date this week was silly and went on way too long. And the two-on-one in the Bayou, with snakes, alligators and bugs, not to mention Tarot cards, voodoo dolls and some kind of weird cleansing ritual when Taylor got left behind? No, thank you. Forget the rose, I would have been begging to be sent home from the minute we stepped out of the boat. (Note: this post has been edited. I originally said "Rachel" got left behind. It wasn't Rachel, it was Taylor. Apologies.)
That's it for now, Rosebuds, see you soon, same Bach time, same Bach channel
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