Former Bachelor contestant Becca Tilley is hoping to someday see the franchise show a same-sex relationship–if it’s done in the right way.
“I know they did that in Australia,” Becca said in a recent Us Magazine article. “I think they had a Bachelorette who was bisexual, and I just saw a few clips on TikTok. I didn’t watch the season or anything, but it looked like it was pretty well done and done in a very respectful way.”
Becca added, “The one thing that I have learned in my life so far is that you really can’t make everyone happy.”
Bachelor Nation did showcase a same-sex relationship (and brief engagement) between Bachelor alum Demi Burnett and Kristian Haggerty on Season 6 of Bachelor in Paradise.
“With Demi and Kristian from Bachelor in Paradise, there was that story line, they opened up that conversation. And I think if they do it in a way that’s respectful and just normalizes same-sex relationships, I think there’s a way that it can be done,” Becca continued. “I just worry that, you know, it turns into something — I just never want it to be done in a way that we go backwards. I hope that one day that’s an option and that they consider that. But I also wonder, like, what would that look like for everyone in the house? . . . It would be great TV [if the contestants fell for each other], because you’re all living in a house together. It’s like, ‘How could it not happen?’ If people were having connections.”
Becca continued that she “appreciate[d] the effort of them having that story line on the show,” even though some fans weren’t happy that Kristian wasn’t part of the Bachelor Nation franchise before she showed up in Mexico after connecting with Demi off-screen.
“I think it’s mostly important to show the age old saying, ‘Love is love,'” Becca said. “Just show it–people having the chance to date and fall in love with each other, as opposed to making it a spectacle thing.”
The Bachelor alum (she competed for Chris Soules‘s heart in Season 19) went public with girlfriend Hayley Kiyoko in May after four years of quietly dating. She has since said that the singer is a fan of Bachelor Nation and initially lied to Becca about seeing her on the series.
“Later on, I found out she had in fact watched both of the seasons I was on,” Becca admitted. “I never was like a huge [fan]. I watched it after I was on it, but I wasn’t consistent every Monday. [Now] every Monday that show’s on, we are sitting there and analyzing it. I’m watching it from a different perspective because of, like, being on the show. I can kind of go, ‘Oh, that sounds like maybe a producer asked that question or phrased that question’ and she’ll get so upset.”
No spoilers please, Becca! We all know most of the drama is production driven, but portraying the growth of a same-sex relationship would reflect the world outside of the show.
Bachelor Nation has tiptoed up to the line with a bromance or a close female relationship a time or two, but we’ve never seen a real same-sex romance develop on the show. I agree with Becca that if it’s done in a tasteful and respectful way (I know that’s asking a lot for a show that loves to put people in embarrassing situations and call it “good TV”), it may be time to show a same-sex relationship on The Bachelor franchise.
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