Bachelorettes With Babies

Wednesday afternoon update: In perusing the coverage of Chris Soules's accident and arrest, I just learned something interesting -- he was asked to go on Bachelor In Paradise, twice. In an interview with ET from last month, he says he said no last year and and doesn't know what to do this year. (Note that this was before the accident. Presumably ABC will rescind the invitation, and Chris couldn't travel to Mexico even if he wanted to, because he has had to surrender his passport.)

I admit I was surprised to hear that someone who has already achieved the highest level of fame and success in Bachelor Nation by starring in his own season would be invited to Paradise, but as I think about it, Chris is still single so perhaps it makes some sense. On the other hand, as I've been saying here for a while, I think the dynamic on BIP this year will be noticeably different. After Nick's redemptive star-making turn last summer, it won't just be about getting more Instagram followers and possibly getting TV-engaged to someone. I assume that everyone who hits the beach this time will be treating the whole thing as an audition to be the next Bach or Bach'ette. Especially the men, who will have the Fall, 2017 shooting schedule of the next Bachelor season firmly in their sights, frantically trying to "pull a Nick" and star in their own season.

And here's a little Bachelor trivia. As best as I can remember only two franchise participants have gotten engaged twice on Bach shows: Emily Maynard, who "won" Brad Womack's second season and got engaged to him, then starred in her own season and got engaged to Jef Holm, and Josh Murray, who "won" Andi's season with an engagement then got engaged to Amanda Stanton last summer on BIP. If things were different and Chris could get engaged on BIP this summer, he would be the third. Emily is now married but Josh, after a nasty break-up with Amanda Stanton, is single. Will he go to Paradise this summer? It wouldn't surprise me.

Speaking of former Bachelorettes, can you name all of them? There are 12, starting with Trista:

1. 2003 Trista Rehn
2. 2004 Meredith Phillips
3. 2005 Jen Schefft
4. 2008 Deanna Pappas
5. 2009 Jillian Harris
6. 2010 Ali Fedotowsky
7. 2011 Ashley Hebert
8. 2012 Emily Maynard
9. 2013 Desiree Hartsock
10. 2014 Andi Dorfman
11. 2015 Kaitlyn Bristowe
12. 2016 JoJo Fletcher

As mentioned below, Trista, Ashley and Desiree are married to the men who won their season. Kaitlyn and JoJo are both still engaged to their winners. Meredith, Jen, Deanna, Ali and Emily are married to non-Bachelor partners and Jillian is engaged to a non-Bachelor man. Andi is single.

Finally, Bach fans, the start of Rachel's season is just 3 1/2 weeks away. According to Reality Steve, the show has just completed filming hometown dates, with the "from four to three" rose ceremony scheduled for tomorrow night.

Original post:
Issue dated May 8, 2017: Bachelorettes With Babies


Oh, the irony. There's currently a huge story in Bachelor Nation, starting yesterday, but it happened too late to be included in this week's issue. In a weird, coincidental bit of cosmically strange timing, however, the distaff side of Bachelor Nation is front and center on the new cover. (Erin Moran and the Teacher and the Teen were on my Guessing Game list.) Thoughts:

Former Bachelor Chris Soules's arrest is the big news, and depending on what happens between now and next Monday, when the new issue closes, I'm assuming his story will be on the cover, maybe not the main story but probably as a sidebar.

The six ex-Bachelorettes featured on this week's cover (Deanna/2008, Jillian/2009, Ali/2010, Ashley/2011, Emily/2012, and Desiree/2013,) represent the "pre-Instagram" era of The Bachelor/ette. They're all on Insta now, ranging from Deanna with 83,700 followers to Jillian with 656,000, but the whole "go on reality TV, shill stuff on Instagram" dynamic hadn't quite exploded when their seasons aired. And for what it's worth, two of the six, Ashley and Desiree, are actually married to the men they got engaged to on the show.

In one of my Blogging The Bach posts about Nick's season, I mentioned that ABC had been featuring former Bachelorettes on Good Morning America; now here's another big mainstream media hit for the franchise. Is all this publicity laying the groundwork for Rachel's barrier-busting season? Almost certainly. Are ex-Bach'ettes Andi/2014, Kaitlyn/2015 and JoJo/2016 a little annoyed this morning? Almost certainly. All three of them are working hard to maintain and monetize their social media influence; it can't be fun to wake up and see six of their older predecessors smiling in the spotlight of a People cover story.  

Finally, Chris Soules's "leaving the scene of a fatal accident" story is a huge black eye for the Bachelor franchise, not to mention a huge distraction from the "happily ever after" People cover story and the excitement surrounding Rachel and her season. Is ABC volcanically pissed off at Soules for his "not such a nice guy after all" turn in the spotlight? Count on it.