I've been watching The Bachelor and The Bachelorette since the franchises began. One or two seasons I've joined "already in progress", but most I've viewed from the very first episode 'til the tearful and often bitter end. In many cases, I've scouted out the contestants pics on abc.com prior to the airing of the first episode and have done a little preliminary judging. All this is to say that I can pick 'em!!
The first runner-up, that is.
Whether I start judging a book by its cover using the pre-show on-line pics and mini bios, or if my opinions form during the season debut, I generally find that my impressions are spot on. I chose Kelly Jo for Bob Guiney. I chose Charlie for Trista. I chose Matthew Hickl for Meredith. I chose Jason for Deanna. And all of my choices made it to Final 2... only to leave brokenhearted. Now, to be fair, I shouldn't say that I always picked these contestants "for" the bachelor/ette. For example, I really liked Jason during Deanna's Bachelorette season. He was my favorite. Did that necessarily mean I thought he and Deanna were made for each other? No. Still, he was my favorite of all the guys, so I hoped that he would be able to find love with Deanna.
When The Bachelor 13 debuted last Monday night, I hadn't had an opportunity to preview the contestants online. However, once the show got underway, I felt I had a pretty decent handle on who the nicest girls were. My favorites were Sheila, perhaps because she shares the whole pilot thing with Jake; Ali, a fun and bubbly girl who definitely does not share the pilot thing with Jake and would likely not make the best match for him; Ella, a real Southern pleasure, but because she's such a strong woman might not make the best wife for Jake; and my very favorite, Tenley.
Ah, Tenley! My heart goes out to this girl. She and her ex-husband were virgins when they married, and she believed with all her heart that this man would be her one and only. Some years pass, infidelity occurs, and now she has a serious self-esteem problem. She feels she must somehow compensate for her non-virginal, divorced status and "make herself better" for men. This poor girl! Tenley's sweet, cute, and a Christian, all of which might make her a good match for Jake, but unfortunately it's her insecurities about her worthiness that probably make her a shoo-in for Jake's Final 2.
You see, my theory about Jake is that he needs to be adored and revered - badly. Sheila can probably do anything in an airplane that Jake can do; she might love him, but would she ever stand in awe of his plane prowess? Ella would put Jake in his place in a heartbeat if need be. Tenley, on the other hand, is bound to be enamoured by everything Jake is, says, or does. So Tenley's my top pick, both because I feel for her as a person and because her extreme humbleness and humility fit right into Jake's wishlist.
So will Tenley get a proposal from Jake at the end of this season? Hella no!! She will, however, end up in tears, her heart broken into many tiny pieces as the runner-up. Why? Because of my own Personal Favorite = Runner-Up curse.
Poor Tenley.
The good news is that after Tenley gets her heart stomped on by Jake, ABC will probably offer to make her the next Bachelorette. Hey - at least the
bachelorettes have a slightly better track record.
Edited to add: Teviko and I have been doing a weekly reality TV podcast for the past few months. We're currently podcasting about The Bachelor 14. If
you'd like to take a listen to our thoughts on the premiere episode, click here, and if you'd like to see a list of all our podcasts, click here!
