The Golden Bachelorette will be premiering this fall, and I hope that the series isn’t taken over by producer manipulation the way the rest of the franchise has been in recent years. With Joan Vassos leading The Golden Bachelorette season 1, the newest installment of the Golden spin-off that captivated audiences in the fall of 2023, the series is off to an exciting start for its second season. Joan, who appeared as one of the women hoping to win Gerry Turner’s heart on The Golden Bachelor season 1, looks forward to her shot at finding the love of her life.

While Joan’s season of the series has yet to hit the air, the last season of The Golden Bachelor and previous seasons of The Bachelor and The Bachelorette have been riddled with production interference in recent years. Though I believe that many of the matches made in the franchise come from a place of genuine interest, there has been pushing from producers in the Bachelor Nation relationships. While matches like Joey Graziadei & Kelsey Anderson and Charity Lawson & Dotun Olubeko have stayed together, production interference has been a major issue that I hope to see left out of The Golden Bachelorette.

The Bachelorette Seems To Have Several Producer Plants

Many Contestants Have Been Accused Of Being Placed By Production

The Bachelorette has long been accused of having contestants in the running who are producer plants, so I’ve looked back at the show and noticed a trend. On The Bachelorette season 21, Jenn Tran’s currently airing season, there appear to be several contestants working with production interference. Both Sam McKinney and Devin Strader have been criticized for their behavior, with evidence lending to both of them having been put into the cast with specific archetypes to fulfill. This has happened on past seasons of The Bachelorette, as well, to help flesh out a storyline production seems to think viewers need.

The Bachelor Has Even Had Instances Of Producer Plants

Production Interference Has Run Rampant Across The Franchise

While The Bachelorette has been accused of production interference in the past, it hasn’t been the only series in the franchise accused of messing with the organic narrative. The Bachelor has had instances of producer plants over the years, typically in the women they cast to play the villain role on the show. Usually, the villains of the season can be fun or humorous rather than dastardly, and the villains that typically act erratic are the ones who seem more like producer plants than others. The Bachelor season 28’s Sydney Gordon was accused of being a producer plant all season.

The Franchise Should Avoid Producer Manipulation For Joan Vassos Season

Joan Should Be Allowed To Have An Organic Journey

At this point in the genre of reality TV, I believe we’ve surpassed the need for inherent production interference. Producer planted cast members who are on the show to fulfill a certain archetype or storyline aren’t fun to watch anymore, and The Golden Bachelorette’s Joan doesn’t need to deal with guys who are on the show to simply move the narrative forward. I hope that Joan’s season doesn’t feature anyone there without genuine intentions and that the cast members brought into the series by producers are there as potential matches for her, not to push The Golden Bachelorette’s drama forward.