Bachelor Nation’s favorite insider is calling out ABC for deceptive tactics taken by the network ahead of The Bachelorette season 22 premiere.
On Sunday, March 15, ABC followed up its coverage of the 98th Academy Awards with The Bachelorette: Before the First Rose, a 30-minute special that welcomed back 18 former Bachelorettes to reflect on their journeys, share behind-the-scenes stories, and offer up advice to the franchise’s newest lead, Taylor Frankie Paul.
The special was framed as a pre-season kickoff, making it seem as though the events of the special take place before Taylor began her journey as Bachelorette. It opens with Taylor talking about heading out to the Bachelor Mansion to see it for the first time before meeting the men of her season that evening. Host Jesse Palmer welcomes her to the Bachelorette family as she arrives and mentions that they’re kicking off the main event soon before sending Taylor to look around the mansion for the first time.
She enters to find a room of former Bachelorettes waiting for her, including Kaitlyn Bristowe who tells the audience that she and the others have gathered to give Taylor some advice before her journey begins. “Tonight is the start of Taylor’s journey, and we are all here to get cozy with her and give her some advice,” Kaitlyn comments as the alums welcome Taylor into the family.
There’s just one problem though, filming of the Before the First Rose special occurred weeks after Taylor had already begun her journey on the show.
“They’re already insulting their audience’s intelligence. This was filmed a month into Taylor’s filming, and they’re pretending they’re all meeting her before she started. Good lord,” wrote longtime Bachelor Nation trusted insider Reality Steve via Instagram.
As Reality Steve pointed out, the Before the First Rose special was taped on November 20, while Taylor’s season began filming nearly a month earlier on October 26. This means that Taylor was already weeks into her time as Bachelorette when ABC filmed the Before the First Rose special.
“And just so you know, knowing that Taylor meeting all the former Bachelorettes during filming wasn’t some inside information I got. It wasn’t being kept a secret. A lot of them were posting back on November 20 - the day it was filmed. It’s all on their social media," Reality Steve pointed out, adding, “Her season started filming on October 26. So pretending they’re meeting her before filming started is just dumb.”
Reality Steve certainly has a point. The framing of the Before the First Rose special makes it look like the special was filmed before Taylor’s journey begins. In fact, ABC goes hard on this point right out from the beginning, with the package hyping that Taylor is going to the Bachelor Mansion hours before meeting the men of her season that night and acting as though this is her first time seeing the mansion. The reality, though, is that by the time the Before the First Rose special was recorded, Taylor had been weeks into filming.
Yes, Taylor undoubtedly had pre-season nerves, and we’re sure the advice given to her during the sit-down with the former Bachelorettes was valuable. However, everything about the special was performative given that it was filmed out of order.
We certainly have to agree with Reality Steve in questioning why ABC chose to lie about the timeline for when the special was filmed. If ABC truly wanted to give fans a pre-season episode, they should have filmed the special before Taylor started her journey, which would have made the special much more impactful. Instead, they edited the special in a way that makes it look like it took place before the events of The Bachelorette season 22 premiere, which certainly seems deceptive.