ABC/Craig SjodinRaise your hand if you did not see this coming.
We aren't even talking about the big Bachelorette twist that there will be two Bachelorettes next season: Britt and Kaitlyn. We are talking about "Best Bachelor Ever" Sean Lowe's reaction to it!
Lowe, who has always seemed supremely loyal to the ABC series that helped him find true love (he's the only Bachelor to marry the girl he chose on the show), is throwing some serious shade at the show, going as far as calling the twist "disgusting."
"As much as I love the guys over there," he wrote on his personal website, "I feel like I need to speak out about the development revealed last night by Chris Harrison: in the next season of The Bachelorette, there will be a change. Instead of having one Bachelorette, there will be two women. The looks on the faces of the women in the audience, the uncomfortable banter between the two 'lucky ladies,' and the tweets sent to me afterward tell the story. No one likes the idea. [My wife] Catherine [Giudici] thinks it's disgusting."
Lowe and Giudici apparently feel that far more bad than good will come out of the Bachelorette double down.
"As we were sitting on the couch watching this trainwreck of an announcement, she made a good point. One of these poor girls is going to suffer the same rejection she suffered the first go around," Lowe says. "And–get this–on the first episode. The producers will give the guys the chance to choose which woman they'd like to have as The Bachelorette. The other woman will be sent home on the first night. The first night only allows for very brief conversations, and it's really hard to get to know anyone in that amount of time. Basically, the guys will be left to choose based on looks for the most part."
Sorry, but a minor point worth noting here: Producers have not actually decided exactly how the process will work, or when one of the girls will go home, if at all. We are told that all that is known at this point is that there will be one girl giving the final rose at the very end. And yeah, Chris Harrison may have made it sound like that detail was sorted out last night, but it's still very much a work in progress. Our best guess? ABC is not going to let the whole thing be a horribly offensive shamefest.
We get that the option is "less than ideal" as Kaitlyn herself put it. But also, is someone holding a gun to these girls' heads and telling them they have to do it? They want to find love...and maybe fame. And honestly, in the vast scope of women's issues these days, ABC choosing two Bachelorettes for a show that is, at its core, ridiculous good fun is pretty low on the list of global women's issues. Which is why it sort of rubs us the wrong way that Sean is citing International Women's Day in his post.
"Catherine also pointed out that March 8th was the United Nation's National Women's Day," he wrote, "which was 'a time to reflect on progress made, to call for change and to celebrate acts of courage and determination by ordinary women who have played an extraordinary role in the history of their countries and communities,'" Lowe says. "This year's theme was about empowering women. Then, on the very next day, we have this?"
"I know this show is already awkward and degrading–especially if it's not handled well by the main star," Lowe continued. "I also realize this is 'just another reality TV show.' But, in a way, it's not. The Bachelor and The Bachelorette still have a certain amount of credibility. Why? People watch it because they hope to see people find true love. I'm proof. It happens."
On the one hand, we applaud Lowe for sticking up for Britt and Kaitlyn and being brave enough to stick it to the man. But...If they really feel so unfairly treated, shouldn't the women be doing that themselves? And just...say no?
We would love to hear from you on this. Do you agree with Lowe about the new twist? Are we terrible for thinking the twist isn't so terribly terribly? We are having a crisis of conscience now. Weigh in with your thoughts in the comment section below or tweet us at @eonlineTV.
And make sure you join us for shots with Chris and Whitney as they spill why they arent planning a wedding in the video below...