After two back-to-back seasons of The Bachelorette starring Katie Thurston and Michelle Young, the new Bachelor was chosen out of the final eight of Michelle’s season. 

Clayton Echard is a small town boy from Eureka, Missouri. After appearing on the last season of The Bachelorette, his selection to be the next Bachelor was slightly controversial. 

“His tag line for the show was that he was the ‘underdog’, which was the theme of another guy on The Bachelorette, Rodney, who I personally thought should be the next Bachelor,” senior Maggie Olifer said.

Being called the underdog doesn’t exactly fit Clayton’s persona.

“He’s a conventionally attractive, confident, 6 foot 4, white NFL player, nothing about that says underdog,” Olifer said.

So far, the first three episodes have been filled with an unbelievable amount of drama. That’s very typical of reality television, but the past few seasons of The Bachelor and Bachelorette franchises have been relatively uneventful.

“Michelle was such an unproblematic Bachelorette,” senior Michaela Aka said. “ If she sensed any drama, she would confront it with maturity, then send the dramatic person home. Even though that’s what dating should be like, it made the show a little boring. The drama on Clayton’s season reminded me how entertaining reality TV is.”

Clayton appears to be completely oblivious to the drama and mean nature of the girls on the show. It is a complete contrast to Michelle’s season, the season of The Bachelorette he was on.

“He isn’t really good at handling the drama which makes it frustrating at times, but can also be really funny,” Olifer said.

Some fans are even scheduling weekly nights to watch The Bachelor, bringing the show back from cultural obscurity.

“I even convinced my guy friends to watch the show with me,” Aka said. “The drama has gotten so bad that the show has become ironically funny for them and we all get together for a weekly bachelor night.”

Overall, this season seems like it’s going to have many twists and turns, and return The Bachelor franchise to its former glory after a few dull seasons.