Top 10 Bachelor Franchise Contestants Who Deserved Better

With her bubbly personality, Caila Quinn quickly became a frontrunner on Ben Higgins’s season of “The Bachelor.” Her and Ben’s relationship progressed quickly, but she struggled with her feelings for him. When she finally mustered up the courage to say “the L-word,” Ben told her that his relationships with the other women were stronger and sent her home. If that crushing rejection wasn’t enough, Caila’s time on “Bachelor in Paradise” was spent getting swept up in the drama of Ashley I. and Jared’s tumultuous relationship. At least she had a good chance at being the Bachelorette, right? Wrong! Caila lost that opportunity to JoJo, effectively ending her run on the franchise.

Eric Bigger stole Rachel Lindsay’s heart – and the rest of Bachelor Nation fell for him just as easily. Eric had never been in love before, but the connection between the two was palpable. Alas, it wasn’t meant to be. As Rachel was sending him home, Eric continued to prove what a stand-up guy he was. He harbored no ill will towards her, and supported her in her quest for love until the very end. For all his maturity and grace, he seemed like the perfect choice to become the franchise’s first Black Bachelor. Unfortunately, the show went in a decidedly different direction, choosing Arie Luyendyk, who hadn’t appeared on the show in years. Seems like a missed opportunity in our book.

Much of Kaitlyn Bristowe’s season was taken up by the Nick Viall drama, but we’ll never forget the delight that was Ben Zorn. Besides being an absolute teddy bear of a man, Ben was very open with Kaitlyn from the get-go, telling her about his mother’s death and how that affected him. Even so, he was still forced to go on one of the most uncomfortable group dates in Bachelor history. In Ireland, the men attended a fake funeral for Kaitlyn where they had to speak about her as if she'd died. Needless to say, this may have opened up a can of worms for Ben Z. that he would have rather kept closed. And, he didn’t even get the group date rose — come on!

We love a man with style! Wills is one of the sharpest dressers we’ve ever seen on the show, and seemed genuinely into Bachelorette Becca Kufrin. He dealt with aggressive contestants like Chris Randone and Jordan Kimball with a lot of grace, but was eventually sent home in heartbreaking fashion on a three-on-one date. Lucky for us, we got to see more of Wills in paradise. Unlucky for him, he got caught up in all the Hannah G., Dylan and Blake drama. That’s one tropical storm we wish he could have avoided.

After Becca Kufrin left Blake brokenhearted, he was America’s sweetheart...but then Paradise happened. Or more accurately, Stagecoach happened. Blake’s drama with Caelynn, Hannah G., Kristina, and so many others unfolded on national television, and he endured quite a bit of hate in the meantime. In the wake of Caelynn’s claim that he’d told her hooking up with her was a mistake, he released texts from her in an attempt to clear up some of what had been said. While Blake probably crossed a line by releasing someone’s private text messages, he did prove that there was more to the story than we originally thought.

Was Olivia Caridi, the villain from Ben Higgins’s season, a tad much sometimes? Sure. But, she was also on a dating show where several women were trying to date one man. Who wouldn’t be a little over the top? In hindsight, most of Olivia’s “villainous” moves were obviously the product of editing. On top of that, most of the jokes at her expense had to do with the size of her mouth, not anything that actually came out of it. Since Olivia’s time on the show, many fans have come to her defense - Ben Higgins even apologized to her. Luckily, Olivia seems to be doing just fine, even using her mouth’s reputation to her advantage in starting her podcast “Mouthing Off With Olivia.”

Where do you begin with Bachelor MVP Clare Crawley? You could start with how Juan Pablo slut-shamed her on his season of the Bachelor. Or when she epically told him off when he sent her home. Or you could even start with that time an unfortunate case of editing made it seem like she was ranting about her love life to a raccoon on “Bachelor In Paradise.” No matter where you start, Clare has been through it! Things seemed to be looking up when she was announced as the Bachelorette, but the production ended up hitting more than a few snags due to the Covid-19 pandemic. Our fingers are crossed that she finds her happily-ever-after!

Kenny Layne, known as Kenny King in the ring, could light up the world with that smile of his - and he charmed Rachel on her season just as he charmed the rest of Bachelor Nation. But, unfortunately, he couldn’t have foreseen the astounding amount of racism he would have to deal with, namely in the form of another contestant, Lee. Lee represents one of the worst missteps the Bachelor franchise has ever taken - besides being a proven racist, Lee made up lies about Kenny to Rachel, trying to frame him as a violent Black man. Luckily, he didn’t stick around for too long, but it’s ridiculous that Rachel or Kenny had to put up with him in the first place.

Ah, the Bachelorette that almost was. Britt had the unfortunate luck of being a part of the disastrous two Bachelorette season. The show put her up against fan-favorite Kaitlyn Bristowe, and on the first night, the men were asked to decide which woman they’d like to stay and become the Bachelorette. This was a sexist move, taking away the power from both Britt and Kaitlyn and giving it to the men instead. But more than that, it also takes away the initial excitement of being the lead - you can’t really enjoy BEING the Bachelorette if you don’t know if you will be. The show hasn’t tried this little experiment again, but unfortunately for Britt, she had to be the guinea pig.

Before we unveil our top pick, here are a few honorable mentions.

Joe Amabile, “The Bachelorette” Season 14
Grocery Store Joe May Have Not Won Becca’s Heart, But He Sure Captured Ours

Natasha Parker, “The Bachelor” Season 24
Natasha’s Facial Expressions Alone Deserved More Screen Time

Dustin Kendrick, “The Bachelorette” Season 15
Dustin & His Nose Ring Will Not Be Forgotten

Danielle Lombard, “The Bachelor” Season 21
D-Lo Got Stuck in Hurricane Dean

Marquel Martin, “The Bachelorette” Season 10
A Handsome Man Who Loves Cookies - What’s Not To Love?

Jubilee Sharpe might be one of the coolest women to ever grace Bachelor Nation - and also was done dirtiest by the franchise. Jubilee tried her best to distance herself from confrontation and drama in the house - not a bad idea, if you ask us. But a lot of the women were awful to her for this choice - calling her everything from “ungrateful” for the time she got with Ben, to implying she wouldn’t be a great “soccer mom” - a racist, underhanded remark if we’ve ever heard one. When you take into account this franchise’s history with women of color and Black women in particular, everything Jubilee endured just seems par for the course on the show. Hopefully, we’ll see that change in the future.