Since The Golden Bachelor premiered on September 28, the highly-anticipated senior Bachelor spinoff has warmed hearts, restored faith in late-in-life love stories, and set record ratings with more than 11 million Week 1 viewers across linear and streaming platforms. The series is thriving and helping revive a franchise that, just last year, longtime fans described to Decider as “stale and tired.” But the show’s impact within the franchise isn’t all positive…
The Golden Bachelor is so good that it’s making the case for canceling Bachelor in Paradise, the franchise’s least structured spinoff that welcomes former Bachelor and Bachelorette alum to a beach in Mexico for another shot at finding love.
Now on its ninth season, Paradise once served as a lighthearted, low-stakes filler show in between seasons of The Bachelorette and The Bachelor. Episodes were cherished as mindless escapes full of petty drama, goofiness, and hot hookups that people typically crave from reality TV dating shows. But once fans got a taste of The Golden Bachelor‘s classy, heartwarming, wholesome foundation, traveling back to Paradise gave them emotional whiplash.
A look at Paradise‘s last two seasons shows the series has been losing viewers for years. Season 7 episodes averaged 2.975 to 3.286 million viewers, while Season 8 episodes averaged around 2.265 to 2.375 million viewers. In recent years, Paradise aired twice a week (Monday and Tuesday), but in 2023, the series switched to a single two-hour episode on Thursdays after The Golden Bachelor. But even with the Golden Bachelor bump, the first three episodes of Paradise Season 9 only pulled between 2.080 and 1.895 million viewers — not including streaming viewership. Contrast that with The Golden Bachelor, which has been a veritable ratings juggernaut so far, pulling in 4.277 million viewers Episode 2 and 3.929 million viewers in Episode 3, without taking Hulu streams into account.
Numbers aside, fans of the franchise — including Bachelor Nation’s favorite spoiler Reality Steve — have regularly voiced their growing disappointment with Paradise online.
“Convos about smells of cinnamon, wedding cakes, and memories. In less than 30 min, BIP starts and we’ll be talking about toe sucking, poop babies, and the Boom Boom Room,” Reality Steve tweeted mid-Golden Bachelor Episode 2.
In past seasons, silly Paradise antics — such as bartender Wells Adams acting out a contestant’s dramatic arrival — genuinely delighted viewers, while other elaborate production ploys — like Ashley Iaconetti and Jared Haibon’s extended Season 8 vacation — felt overly forced, much like Season 9’s gross “toe sucking” and “poo baby” plot lines.
In a recent Instagram Story, former Bachelorette and current Paradise Season 9 contestant Rachel Recchia addressed the recent influx of negative feedback towards the show, saying, “I am so confused with all this hate I’m seeing online about Paradise. Every year Paradise is so silly, it’s so fun, it’s goofy, it’s the point of it. It’s very lighthearted. It’s not like the traditional seriousness we see on Bachelorette and Bachelor and that’s why people love Paradise. And I’m seeing so much hate for it, that it’s like — going from Golden Bachelor to Paradise — yes, I get it. It’s very wholesome, we love Golden Bachelor. It’s incredible. But it’s a completely different show. It’s always been the same exact show. It’s hilarious. It’s lighthearted. I don’t know, maybe I’m biased.”
The Golden Bachelor‘s groundbreaking shift towards senior contestants marked a major step for inclusivity and representation for the franchise. The series tugs at the heartstrings and prioritizes what was once the core of the franchise: finding love. So to chase a refreshing hour of wisdom, life experience, and maturity of 60 and 70-year-olds having deep, moving conversations about dead spouses, families, and second chances at love with two hours of 20 and 30-somethings fighting over love triangles, bouncing from hookup to hookup, and chatting about superficial topics, feels a bit like backsliding.
In an ideal world, The Golden Bachelor will spark an evolution within the franchise; a move towards smarter, deeper, more inclusive programming. Though Recchia is biased, she’s also correct in her evaluation of Bachelor Nation’s past appreciation for Paradise. But perhaps the growing distaste signals the franchise’s fanbase is ready to evolve alongside it.
Has The Golden Bachelor helped us outgrow Bachelor in Paradise? Will the franchise call Paradise quits and invest in fresh series like The Golden Bachelorette instead? Only time will tell. If Paradise is sticking around, however, here’s hoping ABC will take scheduling into consideration come 2024 and ensure its weakest series doesn’t air directly after its strongest.
New episodes of The Golden Bachelor and Bachelor in Paradise air on ABC Thursday nights, with next-day streaming on Hulu.