With Matt James ready to make history on ABC, it’s almost time to talk about The Bachelor spoilers … but also this:
Which Bachelor is the #1 hottest of all time!?
‘Cause, even if ABC does scour the Earth for eligible dudes who are the total package, that’s still a real debate.
And subjective, we know. But a fun one!
For those keeping score, Matt is the star of The Bachelor‘s 25th season, making him the 24th Bachelor of all time.
(Brad Womack famously got two cracks at the job … and yet didn’t get a happily ever, or even close, after either).
Obviously, Matt is the first black Bachelor, and the franchise’s second black lead overall, following Rachel Lindsay.
The show’s low-key racism and how it needs to handle Matt’s 2021 season are topics that will be debated at length.
But we’re glad he’s the new leading man of the franchise, and today we’re just here for pointless fun in his honor.
Gaze at the ghosts of Bachelors past, see for yourself who’s the hottest of the hot and where you’d rank Matt.
24.
Matt Grant
Matt Grant is, if you couldn’t immediately tell, British. He’s the first (and only) British Bachelor, in fact. Amazingly, he gave his final rose to none other than Shayne Lamas. They were then engaged for like 40 minutes before she upgraded BIGLY to celebrity gossip blogging legend, scholar and entrepreneur Nik Richie.
23.
Lorenzo Borghese
If there were a Bachelor, and season of The Bachelor, that left less than a memorable impression, it might have to be Lorenzo Borghese. He is eminently forgettable. But he’s not exactly hard to look upon.
22.
Andrew Firestone
Is Andrew Firestone a contender for Hottest Bachelor Ever? Maybe. Do you remember that he was actually on The Bachelor? Less-convincing maybe.
21.
Bob Guiney
Bachelor Bob Guiney starred in Season 4 of the ABC hit. No, seriously, he did. Guy was kind of a turkey TBH.
20.
Charlie O’Connell
Not to be confused with his brother Jerry O’Connell, who’s starred on things like Sliders, Scream 2, and Crossing Jordan, Charlie O’Connell once starred on the ABC show.
19.
Byron Velvick
The bass-fishing Byron Velvick had the outdoorsy thing going for him in Season 7, that’s for sure. He got engaged to Mary Delgado, with whom he had a tumultuous relationship.
18.
Andrew Baldwin
Will you accept Andrew Baldwin’s rose? This hottie – a Naval officer! – was an early contestant on this ABC hit. That didn’t help him find love during the show’s decade-long doldrums but hey. Still a hunk.
17.
Aaron Buerge
Aaron Buerge was the second-ever Bachelor and also a serious stud, though perhaps even less well known than the original.
16.
Jake Pavelka
Pilot Jake Pavelka was a controversial Bachelor, and his romance with winner Vienna Girardi collapsed so fast and so epically that some might deem his season one of the franchise’s most disastrous. Why does it seem like the most controversial leading men are also the hottest? Sometimes, anyway.
15.
Alex Michel
Alex Michel was, as those of you versed in Bachelor lore will recall, the very first leading man on the series. But how many people actually remember that season? Did he set the gold standard for hotness or was he just a warmup for later hunks?
14.
Brad Womack
Brad Womack was the Bachelor so nice, ABC gave him the role twice. Is he hot enough to merit that, though?
13.
Jesse Palmer
Jesse Palmer was a big-time football player … well, at least in college. His NFL career was mostly spent as a New York Giants backup, but then he went on to broadcasting at ESPN. In any case, do his looks score a touchdown in your book?
12.
Arie Luyendyk Jr.
The 2018 Bachelor, Arie Luyendyk Jr., was runner-up on The Bachelorette … in 2012. Was no one else interested in the gig? Arie made a lot of headlines (none of them good) when he got engaged to Becca Kufrin and dispatched her after the fact, wooing runner-up Lauren Burnham instead; Arie and Lauren are still together, married and with a family years later, so at least it was worth it for him.
11.
Ben Flajnik
Ben Flajnik is very easy on the eyes, even if his season ended up being quite forgettable or polarizing because of Courtney Robertson, the model who made enemies of everyone else on the program and later published a memoir about “successfully completing the reverse cowgirl” on Ben. Anyway, fans fell in love with Flajnik on The Bachelor. No matter where he ranks in hotness, we’d say that he has the best hair in Bachelor history. Don’t try to deny it.
10.
Juan Pablo Galavis
Juan Pablo has his fans, despite many people ranking him as a less-than-ideal partner. But the guy’s hot. Like, even for a Bachelor, he’s super duper hot. Eees more than okay. (If you will.)
9.
Travis Stork
Travis Stork isn’t just a hunk and a gentleman. He is a doctor, people. Incredibly he and Sarah Stone broke up between filming and the airing of the finale on ABC, and despite living in the same city. But whatever the reasons for that … hawt.
8.
Ben Higgins
Ben Higgins was your Bachelor for 2016. Things with Lauren Bushnell didn’t quite work out, but viewed solely through the lens of hotness, he ranks pretty high up there, right? Surely his fiancee Jessica Clarke would agree.
7.
Nick Viall
From a pure looks standpoint, Nick Viall would be the first to tell you that he can’t hold a candle to Sean or Chris … but he’s been “hot” enough to nearly get engaged to TWO Bachelorette stars, AND get the nod from ABC to star in his own season, and be on Bachelor in Paradise, and get his own podcast where somehow he remains relevant five years later, so that tells you a lot actually.
6.
Colton Underwood
For now, Colton Underwood comes in a strong third. The virginal good-guy jock persona got him pretty far in Becca Kufrin’s season, and – despite a pair of high-profile, questionable dalliances with Aly Raisman and Tia Booth, and a stint on Bachelor in Paradise – ABC gave him the green light to hand out the roses come 2019. He had his heart set on Cassie Randolph from the beginning and did not disappoint fans by picking her. Then they broke up in 2021, and he was accused of harassing her and trying to monetize their breakup, but still, it was a good run while it lasted.
5.
Peter Weber
Some derided his casting as generic, and not everyone is thrilled with his indecisiveness as the lead. But hey, he’s a hot ticket and clearly Hannah Brown, Hannah Ann Sluss, Kelley Flanagan and whomever else from his seasons who slept with him were drawn to him for a reason. (Madison Prewett, of course, didn’t let the dude get in her pants, but was engaged to him for like two days.)
4.
Chris Soules
Chris Soules was nicknamed Prince Farming for a reason. That reason was because he is a farmer by trade, and is quite charming. So it was a clever play on words to say the least. Somehow it didn’t last between Chris and Whitney Bischoff, most likely because he lives in small-town Arlington, Iowa. He did slide into Victoria Fuller’s DMs and get her to move out there for awhile, so perhaps there’s hope – though quarantine may have played some role in that.
3.
Jason Mesnick
Then-single dad Jason Mesnick won over Molly Malaney even after he originally rejected her and got engaged to Melissa Rycroft. Then they lived happily ever after, because he’s awesome.
2.
Sean Lowe
Hello there, Sean Lowe! This Bachelor ranks among the show’s best looking, and for good reason, though his good-guy personality carries more than its share of weight here as well. Sean went on to marry Catherine Giudici, making him THE ONLY BACHELOR to wed his final rose recipient (Jason and Arie both lose out on this honor on the previously mentioned technicalities of dispatching their original winners on the After the Final Rose special). A solid top tier pick as far as we’re concerned. Agree? Disagree?
1.
Matt James
Okay, perhaps it’s unfair to rank Matt James at the top of the list before he’s even done anything, and these rankings are certainly subject to change, but 1. look at this photo of him with his best buddy Tyler Cameron and puppies, and 2. see #1, because there is no #2.