America may finally be sick of The Bachelor.
Or, to be more accurate, America may finally be sick of a Bachelor who looks and acts like basically every other Bachelor in franchise history.
According to the official ratings report, last Monday’s Season 27 premiere garnered a mere 2.96 million viewers, which is a significant drop from the 3.54 million who tuned in for the Season 26 opener.
At its peak in 2003, The Bachelor was drawing in as many 12.55 million fans for the season premiere… but it’s been trending down since Season 24 (6.07 million) and Season 25 (5.23 million).
What may be the problem?
A format that remains the same every year, perhaps. Or the fact that a majority of couples who get engaged each spring on the finale break up a few months later.
There’s also the issue of ABC just selecting the same-looking, same-aged, same type of man to anchor the season every single time around.
Shallcross, for his part, fits this mold so exactly that some observers think he may have been created in a lab by series producers.
The guy is boring AF, is what we’re saying.
“With Zach, execs fear they really made the wrong choice because there haven’t been any indicators people care,” an insider previously told The Sun.
Shallcross, remember, didn’t even advance to the final three or four during his run as a suitor on The Bachelorette in 2021.
“Even with past seasons when [viewers] hated who was chosen as the lead, that drove a passionate outcry on social media or some kind of uproar online,” The Sun added in its recent report, quoting the same source as we mentioned above and adding:
“There was an indicator people cared, even if they didn’t love it or they hated it, they cared.”
Finally, there’s the ongoing issue of race.
Not only does The Bachelor learn HEAVILY toward Caucasians — both in terms of its leads and suitors — but each season seems to bring about a brand new controversy.
Last week, for example, First Impression Rose recipient Greer Blitzer had to apologize after she defended someone’s past use of Blackface.
“In my past, I have made some uneducated, ignorant and frankly, wrong comments on my social media accounts,” the Texas native wrote on her Instagram Stories.
“In particular, I used misguided arguments on Twitter to defend a student who dressed in Blackface as Tupac for Halloween.
“I am deeply sorry to those I have hurt, especially those within the Black community, not because these screenshots have resurfaced, but because I ever shared these harmful opinions at all.”
Of course, plenty of viewers out there still do care about this show.
For some reason.
And, for their sake, you can click on the following link to read through our Bachelor spoilers and find out who wins.