Finally, finally, we got to the post-Hometowns rose ceremony and Corinne was sent home in tears, some of which may not have been completely authentic. There was a weird vibe to the whole thing -- for all the supposed hotness of Nick's interactions with Corinne during the show, he seemed almost paternal as he hugged her good-bye, and it appeared to me as if Corinne was play-acting a bit in the limo afterwards, appearing to cry but also keeping a sharp eye on the camera. Since the episode aired she's been making the rounds, giving interviews all over the place and generally being famous. What's next for our girl Corinne? Bachelor Nation thinks she's a shoo-in for Bach In Paradise, but she's also talking about having her own show. Or being the next Bachelorette. Or going on Dancing With The Stars. (And she's up to 434,000 Insta followers.) I think it's safe to say, in the lexicon of Bachelor Nation, that she was never there for the right reasons. Building Brand Corinne was the goal all along and give the girl credit. It worked.
What about Nick? Is he there for the right reasons? There's talk in Bachelor Nation that he isn't. That what he really wants is to be an actor and/or model, and the whole "4th time's the charm" march through the Bachelor franchise, now followed by a turn on DWTS, is in service of that goal. (If his stilted convo with Andi is any indication, he's got a long way to go before the acting thing pays off.) Still, give the boy credit. He may never be a big movie star but he's gamed the system perfectly to build Brand Nick. By contrast, Luke Pell, who came in 4th on JoJo's season and came "this close" to being the Bachelor this time around, apparently couldn't get the "sincerely looking for love" thing going. In the six months or so since Nick was announced, Chris Harrison has said a couple of times in interviews that Luke lost the gig because he wasn't serious about finding love, that he was more interested in business opportunities and building his singer-songwriter career. No matter what your real goal might be, you have to at least pretend to be looking for love if you want to be The Bachelor.
There's actually been another "as famous as I want to be" narrative in Bachelor Nation this week, a little Twitter snit between former Bachelorette Kaitlyn Bristowe and Executive Producer/Show Creator Mike Fleiss. I posted some of the tweets in my previous post (read them here,) and subsequently Fleiss tweeted out a reminder that Melissa Rycroft had been on DWTS and won a mirror ball trophy, followed by original Bach'ette Trista reminding everyone that she's danced the dance too, way back on the first season of DWTS.
It's been fascinating to watch and I found myself wondering, what's really going on here? In particular I was surprised at the sarcastic tone of Kaitlyn's response to Fleiss:
@kaitlynbristowe has my total support if she wants to appear on DWTS!!! #TheBachelor— Mike Fleiss (@fleissmeister) February 28, 2017
Thanks I'll get right on that opportunity 2 yrs ago. I wonder what changed your mind? 🙄 https://t.co/8QMr8XHsIO— Kaitlyn Bristowe (@kaitlynbristowe) March 1, 2017
Is Kaitlyn mad that she didn't get the chance to dance? Clearly. Is she also mad that ABC apparently hasn't offered to televise (and pay for) a wedding for her and Shawn? Looks like it. Consider what she said to ET:
"My
hope in speaking out is that future Bachelorettes are given the same
opportunity as Bachelors," she said. "Whether it be a wedding, to
dance, or another show. (Ben [Higgins] had the decision to do dancing or his
own show.) Just to be treated the same -- to choose whatever will make them
happy." (Read the story here.)
Wouldn't you love to be a fly on the wall when ABC and Bachelor producers decide how to dole out the goodies? In addition to Trista and Melissa, Bachelors Jake, Sean and Chris were allowed to go on DWTS. Franchise couples Trista and Ryan, Jason and Molly, Ashley and J.P., Sean and Catherine and Jade and Tanner have all gotten free televised weddings. (Lacey and Marcus's Paradise wedding ceremony turned out to be a headfake. They never got a legal marriage license and are no longer together.) Sean co-hosted the BIP aftershow last year. Ben and Lauren starred in "Happily Ever After" and twins Emily and Haley will star in season two. Kaitlyn and Shawn have been together for two years. Why haven't they been given a TV wedding? No way to know, but Mike Fleiss is the king of Bachelor Nation. Snarking it out with him on Twitter probably isn't the way to get what you want.
Finally, how are the rest of the final four doing on Instagram?
Vanessa 392,000
Raven 342,000
Rachel 247,000
Get ready for Mondays, rosebuds, because there are not one but two three-hour Bach extravaganzas coming our way. This Monday we'll see the second half of the Fantasy Suites episode, followed by The Women Tell All. The following week is the finale episode, followed immediately by After The Final Rose. Meet me back here, same Bach time, same Bach channel. We're in the home stretch!
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