Entertainment
With its group dates and forced engagements, the entire premise of The Bachelor franchise is bizarre. So is it really any surprise that so many of the dates featured on the shows are just downright odd? The strangest dates from The Bachelor and The Bachelorette highlight how difficult it is to plan interesting dates that will captivate audiences week after week. And while you have to give the ABC reality TV franchise some credit for its ingenuity in the date department, many of these weird dates prove that less is more when it comes to finding love.
Whether you're on a group, two-on-one, or one-on-one date, no one is safe from bad dates on The Bachelor and The Bachelorette. Becca's current season of The Bachelorette has shown that the dating show loves to put the contestants in awkward situations under the guise of romance. Her contestants had to perform painful variations of "Danke Schoen" at Wayne Newton's Las Vegas show. And even something as simple as being serenaded by a quasi-famous musician turns strange when the Bachelor or Bachelorette and their date are forced to slow dance on stage in front of a crowd. But, as devoted fans know, these perennial date favorites are just the tip of the uncomfortable iceberg when it comes to The Bachelor and The Bachelorette.
As Becca's season enters into more serious territory, the dates should also become more seriously romantic. But this list of some of the strangest Bachelor and Bachelorette dates reminds you that a poorly planned date can happen at anytime.
1Breast Casts With Jason
The women of Jason Mesnick's season created molds of their breasts for the good cause of breast cancer awareness. But that doesn't negate how weird it was that Jason described the date to People by blogging, "I saw sides of them I hadn't gotten to see quite yet (figuratively and literally!)"
2‘Sports Illustrated’ Swimsuit Shoot With Brad
For Brad's second attempt as the Bachelor, he had three women pose for the Sports Illustrated Swimsuit issue. Group dates are always tough, but as US Weekly noted, Chantal and Ashley were super uncomfortable watching Michelle make out with Brad for the photoshoot.
3The Roast With Ashley
You would think that planning a wedding on their first date would have been the worst interaction that William and Ashley had. But instead, things turned nasty when the men — led by "roast master" Jeff Ross — had to roast Ashley during a group date the very next week. William touched on a lot of Ashley's insecurities and she left the date in tears.
4Bikini Skiing With Ben F.
While it wasn't cold in San Francisco when the women of Ben Flajnik's season had to ski on the street there, that doesn't really explain why they could only wear bikinis.
5K-Pop With Juan Pablo
Juan Pablo's season was full of odd moments. And one of the oddest was when he and six women performed in concert with the K-Pop group 2NE1 in South Korea. While 2NE1 was great, their performance by The Bachelor backup dancers was particularly painful to watch.
6Growing Old With Andi
In order to see how they would look if they were to grow old together, J.J. and Ashley had makeovers that aged them by 50 years. They then proceeded to celebrate their fake 50th wedding anniversary. Ah, young love.
7Zombie Paintball With Chris
To Chris Soules, nothing is sexier than the zombie apocalypse. And contestant Ashley S. managed to make this weird date even weirder with her off-the-wall commentary and actions.
8Irish Wake With Kaitlyn
When the contestants traveled to Dublin during Kaitlyn's season, they were forced to also attend a fake wake for her (complete with her pretending to be dead). Apparently, Ireland is less about romance and more about death.
9Smell Test With Ben H.
Even though you can be attracted to a person's scent, that doesn't really justify this mortifying group date where Ben had to smell his contestants with a blindfold on.
10Horsing Around With JoJo
Usually, the group dates take the weird cake, but JoJo's one-on-one date with Alex was an exception. Spending an afternoon with Argentinian gauchos may sound romantic, but the two of them lying on a horse was anything but. No wonder JoJo sent him home afterward.
11Breaking Up With Nick
At the Museum of Broken Relationships, Nick's contestants had to practice breaking up with him in front of an audience. While the premise was awkward enough, Liz took it to another level. She got unexpectedly heavy since she actually had experienced Nick rejecting her before.
12Meeting The Parents With Arie
It wasn't (ahem) crystal clear that Krystal was going to be the villain of the season during her first date with Arie. But what was certain was the fact that a first date was way too soon to be meeting Arie's family. Plus, this one-on-one date added to Krystal's ego for the rest of the season.
13Smashing Stuff With Becca
In case you somehow missed it, Arie dumped Becca after they were engaged. And so to pummel that point into a fine powder, Becca's first one-on-one with Blake had them bashing in Arie-related things, like TVs showing Arie's proposal. Sure, it might have been cathartic for Becca, but that's not really the most romantic way to kick off a relationship — especially when you have Lil Jon in the background offering his commentary.
While not many things in this life are certain, you can take comfort knowing that as long as The Bachelor franchise continues, there will always be roses, champagne, and awkward AF dates.