Luke Pell's Very Bad Day

Photo credit: ABC

As we've discussed before here at Writing The World, the main reason for going on The Bachelor or any of its sister shows is to get famous. Some participants hope to do well enough on their first appearance that they're chosen to star in the next season. Some are hoping to go on to more media fame, as Ali, Jillian, Melissa Rycroft and others have done. Some just want to attract enough followers to make money shilling ridiculous products (Sugar Bear Hair???) on Instagram.

For Luke Pell, who made it to the Hometown dates episode on JoJo's season and was in the running to be the next Bachelor, it almost worked. He thought he had the Bach gig, having signed a contract, packed his bags and even checked in for his flight to Los Angeles to being filming, only to be bumped at the last minute for Nick. He did get famous, however, at least in the ecosystem known as Bachelor Nation, with 523,000 Instagram followers and the beginning of a career as a Country singer.

Then, starting Wednesday, it all came crashing down, and Luke is now experiencing the downside of fame. It has to do with women he either did or did not date, starting last summer when he thought he would be the Bachelor and continuing into this year. Reality Steve, who has never been a Luke fan, gleefully lays out the details in a blog post from Wednesday (read it here) and a podcast posted yesterday (listen here.) If you go to Google News and type in Luke's name, this is (some of) what you'll see:

At Cosmopolitan: Former "Bachelorette" Good Guy Luke Pell Reportedly Planned Out...
At Screener: A Bachelor Nation in mourning, as fan-favorite Luke Pell turn out to...
At Bustle: "Bachelorette" Star Luke Pell Rejects Cheating & Ghosting Claims...
At The Stir: Luke Pell Would've Been a Seriously Shady "Bachelor" -- Here's Why
At Blasting News: Reality Steve calls out "Bachelorette" alum Luke Pell
At OK Magazine:  "Bachelor" Reject Luke Pell Is Secretly A Major Player & It's Seriously...

Confession: I'm feeling some sympathy for Luke this morning. It looks like he did treat these women badly and that's indefensible, but he's clearly in over his head now as he tries to clean up the mess. He initially responded to Reality Steve with a snarky tweet that appeared to play the Veteran card, but the backlash, from Bach fan Possessionista and others, was sharply negative and he eventually deleted the tweet.



He also did a segment for Entertainment Tonight, with guest host and former Bachelorette Ali Fedotowsky, which didn't go as well as it could have:



Granted Luke isn't on the level of a presidential candidate caught in a sex scandal, or even a big movie star going through a nasty divorce, but he is trying to build a career in the public eye as a singer and even a mini-scandal like this can hurt. In particular, men behaving badly towards women is a hot button issue right now, not one a male singer wants to be on the wrong side of. Seriously Luke, get a good PR/Crisis Management guru to help you navigate this. And one more thing: Give up the dream of being the Bachelor. Don't go on Paradise, don't hang out with (or date) other alums, don't get into Twitter spats with Reality Steve. It's over. Let it go. Move on.

Blogging The Bach: As Famous As I Wanna Be

Thursday morning update: Is Luke Pell still mad that he wasn't chosen to be The Bachelor? Sounds like it:

In a new interview with [InTouch magazine,] Pell — who competed for JoJo Fletcher's heart on the Bachelorette Season 12 — may have taken shots at Viall's reality show performance. "I definitely would have made a better Bachelor,” Pell told InTouch. "I’m one of the most genuine and honest people.”

As you may recall, Pell was a fan-favorite who was all set to be the next Bachelor until he reportedly was nixed for Viall. Last year, he claimed to Us Weekly that he was the original choice and even had his bags packed when he got a call from the producers. It's why you can't blame Pell for being a little anti-Viall, but is this self-proclaimed genuine and honest guy really trying to start something with the most recent Bachelor?

Well, in the interview with InTouch, Pell admitted he hadn't watched the show but said, “Based on the unsolicited feedback I’ve gotten from people, this season has been terrible." He also reportedly didn't believe that Viall, who ended up proposing to Vanessa Grimaldi, was actually in it for love, but for the fame. "He could have ended this season and [gone back to a normal life]," Pell said, "but instead he chose to do the most narcissistic thing you can do, which is Dancing With the Stars. I think that makes a statement.” (Read the article at bustle.com here.)

Original post:


I started writing this post Tuesday morning and here's what I wrote on the first "morning after":
This is it, Rosebuds, Nick's biggest moment in the spotlight. Yes, he's been getting a lot of attention throughout his season, but the "morning after" is as bright as it gets when you're The Bachelor. As of this morning, the following stories are currently posted at People.com:

Nick Viall Opens Up about 'Emotional Roller Coaster' Proposal to Vanessa Grimaldi: 'It Was Worth All The Tears'
Bachelor Nation Isn't so Sure About Nick & Vanessa's 'Awkward' Interview: 'This Is All Making Me Very Uncomfortable'
The Bachelor's Nick Viall and His Fiancee on the Pressures to Make Things Work: 'We Have a Long Way to Go'
Nick Viall and Vanessa Grimaldi Go Instagram Official with Super Hot Engagement Selfie
The Bachelor's Nick Viall and Vanessa Grimaldi Explain Why They're Waiting to Wed
The Bachelor's Nick and Vanessa Discuss Their Big News (video)
Nick and Vanessa Respond to Criticism from Bachelor Nation: 'You Can Never Make People Happy'
Nick Viall Says Vanessa Grimaldi Was Always the One: I Measured Every Other Girl Up to Her

And it's not just about Nick and Vanessa. Runner-up Raven gets a story:
What Really Happened Between Nick Viall and Raven Gates in the Fantasy Suite? 'The Show Pretty Much Captured It,' She Says

Vanessa's ring gets a story (and that's a graphic of it above):
All the Details on the 'Massive' 3.75-Carat Engagement Ring The Bachelor's Nick Viall Gave Vanessa Grimaldi

Vanessa's dress gets a story: 

You Can't Marry The Bachelor's Nick Viall, But You Can Rent Vanessa Grimaldi's Winning Dress

Even ex-Bach Chris Soules gets a story:
Former Bachelor Chris Soules Says Finding Love Has Been 'Really Hard' -- But 'It's Just a Matter of Time'

In spite of all this saturation-level coverage of the big finale, the new cover, presumably featuring Nick and Vanessa, isn't posted yet and I'm wondering if perhaps they've been bumped off the cover, or at least downgraded to a smaller, "sidebar" story. With all the information available on the website this morning, what could possibly be left for the actual cover story? According to Reality Steve, Nick and Vanessa's cover shoot took place on Friday, but that doesn't guarantee they'll actually be the main cover story. As soon as the new cover shows up on People.com, I'll post it here.

And with that, I'm officially over Nick, at least until the big break-up announcement comes. (Soules and Whitney Bischoff were over by May 28th of their year, less than three months after their big finale aired. My guess: Nick and Vanessa also won't make it to June 1.)

Now let's talk about Rachel! I confess that I didn't watch After The Final Rose last night, and I fast-forwarded through most of it this morning until I got to Rachel's grand entrance. ABC may be ready to break-up with Nick and Vanessa too, as evidenced by that fact that by 9.35 p.m. Central Time as the show aired live, Nick and Vanessa were done. The rest of the show was devoted to Rachel. Did you notice the serious charisma gap between Nick/Vanessa and Rachel? ABC has a star with their new Bachelorette!

That's as far as I got yesterday. Now I'm back on Wednesday morning and my hunch was right. Nick and Vanessa are only a sidebar on the new cover:

Issue dated March 27, 2017: Prince's Ex-Wife


I wonder if the happy couple knew in advance that they wouldn't be the main story. I further wonder if they're disappointed and possibly pissed off as well. (Imagine getting up this morning and racing to people.com expecting to see your own smiling face on the cover of People magazine, only to end up staring at a musician who's been dead for almost a year.) Every newly engaged Bach couple since Jason M in 2009, except for Ben F and Courtney, has gotten the full cover story treatment. (See those covers here.) Nick and Vanessa didn't even get bumped for a breaking news story. Presumably Prince's ex-wife's new book could have been saved for next week, so I am wondering, what's the real story? Given the online coverage yesterday, Nick and all things Bachelor are big news in People-land, apparently just not big enough for the main cover story. Strange.

Finally, for now, there's a Rachel story at people.com too:

A Bachelor Nation First! New Bachelorette Rachel Lindsay Meets a Few of Her Suitors on After The Final Rose

I never liked Nick much and his season was bleh, so much so that if I wasn't intrigued by Rachel as The Bachelorette I might kiss this show good-bye altogether. More to say about that soon, Rosebuds.

Blogging The Bach: Boring

Update #3: I saw an interview with Luke Pell, who came in 4th on JoJo's season and was passed over for the Bachelor job. He says he would absolutely date Rachel, which makes me think maybe the show is bringing back one or more contestants from previous shows for Rachel's season. As I've said here before, I'm sure there are several alums out there who are trying to figure out how to "pull a Nick" and get another shot at the starring role. Maybe they're getting the band back together?

Sunday morning, update #2: Bach guru Mike Fleiss says something "historic" will be announced on Monday's Finale/After The Final Rose show:

Monday's live season finale is going to be historic!!! Believe me... #thebachelor

— Mike Fleiss (@fleissmeister) March 8, 2017

They've already announced Rachel as the first African-American Bachelorette, so what can possibly be coming next? When they've teased the finale in the past the first guess is always a wedding. Will the newly engaged couple get married right then and there? It's never happened before and almost certainly won't happen this time either. So what's the big announcement? My guesses right now are that they're moving Bach'ette filming to Dallas, Rachel's hometown, or possibly the entire cast of Rachel's season will be black men. Beyond that, who knows?

Actually, Reality Steve says he knows:

For all those asking what this "historic" announcement at ATFR will be, I'll fill you in on Monday. It's definitely something...

— RealitySteve (@RealitySteve) March 11, 2017

We'll see.

Update #1: I meant to include current Instagram numbers for the final four:

Corinne: 520,000
Vanessa: 457,000
Raven: 406,000
Rachel: 284,000

Original post:
Yes, Rosebuds, I am so over Nick and his season. In the second half of the Fantasy Suites dates, Raven either did or did not have the big O, Rachel was eliminated, no surprise, and Vanessa has some doubts. Blah, blah, blah. Finland looked gorgeous and very cold. Very, very cold. For my money, a warm tropical setting, with everyone in swimsuits and flip flops, is so much more romantic than the top of the world covered in snow and ice. The parkas, the hats, Nick's turtlenecks, it just wasn't working for me.

As for The Women Tell All, I didn't even watch. It's actually more entertaining to read all the various blogs and recaps that pop up almost as soon as the show is off the air in the Eastern and Central time zones. There was even a theme with the coverage: "What you didn't see" and note that there's some duplication in the stories. The reporters were all at the same taping, after all.

From The Hollywood Reporter: 17 Moments That Didn't Make It To Air, including the fact that Chris Harrison mixed up some of the contestants and Jasmine blamed Corinne's napping on her drinking. (I did too.) The article also states that the real reason the women were screaming at each other is that they were auditioning for Bachelor In Paradise, which fits with my ongoing belief that no one goes on this show to actually find love anymore. (Read it here.)

From Entertainment Tonight: 23 Things You Didn't See On TV, including a hug between Corinne and Taylor and that the taping actually takes about seven hours. (Read it here.)

From E! Online: The Craziest Moments You Didn't See On TV, including "Make Corinne Great Again" and "Vagine" T-shirts handed out by producers and the Corinne/Taylor feud went on even long than was shown during the show. (Read it here.)

Finally, barring a Dead Celebrity or a big Celebrity Divorce announcement, Nick and his new fiancee should be the main story on People magazine's cover next week. In the meantime, to tide us over until then, let's tiptoe through past cover stories featuring true love and Neil Lane engagement rings, starting with Jason M in 2009. What's most interesting to me is how similar the pictures are and how negative most of the headlines are. (Bachelor Betrayal! I Didn't Make A Mistake! I Am Not The Bad Guy!) Right now I'm guessing Nick's headline will read something like this: "Nick Proposes, But Will He Move To Canada?" (Or Arkansas.) We'll know in six days.

Jason Mesnick, 2009


Jake Pavelka, 2010


Brad Womack, 2011


I couldn't find a cover story for 2012 Bachelor Ben Flajnik; if I remember right he and Courtney got bumped for a last minute news story.

Sean Lowe, 2013


Juan Pablo, 2014


Chris Soules, 2015


Ben Higgins, 2016