Not only that, but the franchise is seeing an all-time low viewership across the board. The Bachelor has even reportedly hired a new casting team to revamp the original show following a decline in ratings in recent seasons. Meanwhile, the fate of The Golden Bachelor is now very much up in the air after fans dubbed it a “waste of time.”
As Bachelor Nation scrambles to reconfigure itself to the changing TV landscape, viewers are turning to reality shows like The Traitors, a competition series where a group of contestants, known as the Faithful, work together on missions to build a cash prize, unaware that a few players are secretly the Traitors.
Now, Sophie Hastings, a Digital Marketing Specialist at CableTV.com, has told Express US, “Audiences are tired of watching the same dating drama over and over.”
Hastings continued, “Not to mention it has been replicated across multiple channels. The authenticity of finding a relationship has been replaced with a chase for fame.”
The expert continued, “The Traitors work because they feel fresh; it’s about strategy and trust, not just who gets the final rose. They offer viewers unpredictability and drama that feels unscripted.”
According to a July report from The U.S. Sun, the ABC dating competition series has hired Los Angeles-based casting company Wyldside Media to handle the upcoming season, which is tentatively set for some time in the beginning of 2026.
The company is best known for hiring talent for Bravo shows, including The Real Housewives of Beverly Hills, The Real Housewives of Atlanta, and The Real Housewives of Miami. They’ve also helped cast MTV’s The Hills: New Beginnings, VH1’s Basketball Wives, Discovery’s Undercover Billionaire, and Bravo’s Married to Medicine, among many others.
An insider reportedly told The U.S. Sun that the Bachelor franchise is in “crisis mode” as it attempts to find a way to improve declining ratings. This includes casting “someone from outside the franchise to be the lead for Season 30.”
“They need a fresh start. They won’t be following the tradition of choosing someone who’s already part of the franchise,” the source claimed. “They want someone who’s serious about looking for love and not just in it to be an influencer.”
The insider added that The Bachelor wants to return to its roots. It’s also working very hard to find a lead who is “well put together and just in need of a life partner,” rather than using the series to catapult their fame.
“He’ll most likely be in his 30s and will have a good career, good morals and is going to be a huge catch to any contestant on next season,” the source added. “It will be like the earlier years of the show, for sure.”
Season 29 of The Bachelor, featuring Grant Ellis, saw ratings averaging around 2.4 million, according to Nielsen figures.
For comparison, Season 28, which saw Joey Graziadei as the leading man, averaged 3.45 million viewers. The Season 28 finale reached 4.138 million viewers, while Season 29 dropped by around a million viewers, with 3.224 million viewers.
Meanwhile, The Golden Bachelor, which only recently finished its second season, has not fared better. According to a new report, things are getting so bad that some are wondering if ABC will be canceled entirely.
The Sun reported that this season of The Golden Bachelor has brought in about half the viewers of Gerry Turner’s Season 1. A show insider told the outlet, “At this point, it’s just outright embarrassing.”
According to the source, the lackluster ratings had production doubting Mel Owens as the lead.
“He wasn’t the right pick and they see that now, but didn’t see it until it was too late,” said the insider. “That mixed with overall interest in the franchise dropping and you have the dismal numbers that the show is left with.”
The insider claimed that while the franchise was “past the point of being upset” by the declining in viewership, so much so that it might be time to end The Golden Bachelor—and even the entire Bachelor franchise—for good.
“They are doing everything they can to revive this franchise from the dead,” the source said. “It might be time to put it to bed for good.”
According to the insider, the franchise is hoping that casting The Secret Lives of Mormon Wives star Taylor Frankie Paul will boost ratings.
Fans have continued to voice their displeasure with the franchise, including on one Reddit board that kicked off with, “If you look at the ratings/viewership of every season it’s been consistently going down.
“The last leads they’ve been choosing have been very cookie cutter and boring (Charity, Zach, Clayton, etc) and people are getting sick of seeing the EXACT same storylines each season.”
Someone added, “The formula is dying because people are no longer coming in to find love and experience the ‘magic’ that used to be the show. We’re getting flooded with clout chasing people. Why can’t we break the bachelor/bachelorette formula and bring in people outside of the franchise who deserve a shot at love?”
Another agreed, “Agree. Same Same every season,” as a third said, “It’s so boringgggg. None of my friends want to watch it anymore, and we used have a get together every monday night to watch.
“It doesn’t matter who the lead is, I’m just sick of watching the same season over and over again. Every year it’s ‘the most dramatic season ever’ and then we’re let down. They either need to end it completely or bring in a completely new team tbh.”
After Mel’s season concluded on November 12, fans quickly branded it as one of the most boring and “worst” in franchise history.
“Here we go, thank goodness this season is over after tonight cause I have never been so bored,” one said on X (formerly Twitter). “Thank goodness that this season is finally over, for now,” a second wrote.
“It’s the golden bachelor finale and twitter is crickets. Nobody cares, this is the worst bachelor or bachelorette ever,” a third added.
