Bachelor of Hearts

This week, it's the thrilling finale of this chapter of Ancient Kisstory, and our excavation of The Bachelor US Season 1! What high-concept fantasy dates did the producers select for the apex of the season? Who did Alex pick to spend the rest of his life with - and how much of the rest of his life did he spend with her? What became of the happy couple, and what of the scorned cast-off? Why am I pr...

This EEK on the Bachelor of Hearts podcast - it's our annual arbitrary Halloween special! We're joined by journalist & Bachie expert Matilda Boseley to discuss Week 2 of Brooke's season of The Bachelorette - which included a few pretty incredible milestones for representation of queer communities, a rare moment of passionate, slow-burning tenderness, and a Single Date with a contestant who con...

This week on Ancient Kisstory , we're looking back at the first ever Women Tell All special, to get all the behind-the-scenes gossip straight from the horses' mouths. But since nothing really happened on that episode, we're also presenting an exhaustively researched investigation into Where They Are Now. Was one of the women from this season in Spider-Man? Who was Cyndi Lauper's makeup artist? Who...

It's a groundbreaking week for the Bachelor franchise - the first episodes starring the first bisexual and first Indigenous Australian lead in the franchise's history have just aired, and believe it or not - they were really good. We're joined by the great Nat Tencic (triple j, The Hook Up), who shares her perspective as a broadcaster who discusses sex, love and relationships on the regular; as a...

This week on Ancient Kisstory, we do our best to reckon with the psychosexual gauntlet of The Bachelor's first ever 'Fantasy Suites'. That's right: it's Fuck Week for Alex Michel and his three finalists. How does the show convince us for the first time that this is Going To Be A Thing? How does Alex break it to three women that he's planning to fuck all of them? And can he make it through this wee...

We are SO excited that Brooke Blurton's gamechanging season of The Bachelorette is about to begin! Mere hours after the contestants' profiles went live on 10play, we sat down to pull apart what we could glean from them: both the traditional interview questions and night 1 photos , and also from their linked Instagram pages . We make our predictions for who will win, what kind of characters we're l...

On this episode of Ancient Kisstory, we're looking at the first ever Hometown Dates in Bachelor history. It's an opportunity to reflect on the institutions which run deep throughout the franchise's DNA - Christianity, the city of Dallas, and of course, suffering. It's a little bizarre to see Hometown Dates without the usual cookie-cutter drama: so instead of manufactured 'over-protective dad' trop...

Week 3 of The Bachelor US Season 1 broadens the Bachelor lexicon with the first utterances of "right reasons" and "not here to make friends" - plus the first 'Pretty Woman' date, the first drowned-out musical performance, and the first contestant carted away in an ambulance. A huge episode, in which the blueprint for decades of Bachie torment (or, y'know, fun) continues to be solidified. Plus - we...

Our deep-dive into the protozoic era of The Bachelor continues this week, as we recap an episode full of firsts: the first ever kiss, the first group date, and the first ever LOADED FIREARM... Plus, we look back at contemperanous reviews of the first season as it was airing (hint: people didn't love it!), Max gets to flex his "knowing the names of movies" muscle, and we try and remember the names...

Welcome to the inaugural episode of our new series, Bachelor of Hearts: Ancient Kisstory, in which we take a look back into the ancient texts & historical records of The Bachelor franchise, to learn how the show has changed, and what the document reflects about our changing world. On this mini-series, we're covering the first ever season of The Bachelor , which aired on TV in the USA in March-...

Is The Bachelor in trouble? At what feels like a pivot point for the franchise in Australia, we take a look around at what's working and what isn't, as well as what lessons can be learned from other shows in the dating/reality TV space, and suggest ways that The Bachelor can continue to engage its fans and find new ones into the future. Huge thanks to the members of our audience who contributed th...

This week, we've reached the endgame of Jimmy's season, and we're joined by two superstar returning guests to the podcast - musician & Twitch streamer Eilish Gilligan , and writer & Bachie recap veteran Patrick Lenton . Together, we look at everything that happened on and off the screen this week - the complex interplays of family and class, the moral responsibility of The Bachelor over th...

This week, we're joined once again by the wonderful Janey Birks ( Bachelor AU S4, Bachelor In Paradise AU S3, and School Captain of the Bachelor of Hearts podcast) for a spirited discussion of Hometown Week of Season 9. Jimmy and the women are drawing ever closer to the finish line, but this week thery made some important pit-stops for a cup of coffee, a little pilates, and to check out some pictu...

Another whopping week of Bachelor, and with no guest this week, we can really, really sink our teeth into it. Why are we meeting so many of Jimmy's family members? What attributes are these group dates actually testing for? Can you completely reinvent your reality TV character within the span of one season? What's so wrong about acknowledging you might get a few Instagram followers along the way?&...

This week, we welcome the wonderful April Rose Pengilly ( Neighbours ) back to the podcast; a suitably monumental guest to help us navigate through an avalanche of The Bachelor . The Powers That Be opted to air two episodes back-to-back on Thursday night, so we respond with a marathon-length episode pulling apart everything that happened - including a Family Dinner where tensions build to a fever...

This week, we're lucky enough to be joined by singer/songwriter Imogen Clark , to discuss what The Bachelor branded as "Heart-Racing Week" - which included a few all-time great moments, but ironically slowed the character development to a crawl. We discuss Bachelor' s obsession with vehicles and competence porn, the illness/injury group date strategy, 'Spirit animals', chlamydia, coulrophobia, and...

This week, we're joined by radio host, musician, podcaster and Olympic canoer Erica Mallett ( Wait, You What? ) for a spirited discussion of Week 2 - the two lowest-rated (and therefore most cool and exclusive) episodes of our beloved franchise ever. It's not for lack of trying though - there's a big splashy controversy about a very naughty word, there's a big, box-office-baiting battle of superhe...

It's Week 1 of Season 9 of The Bachelor, and a little bit of reality TV comfort food is almost ( almost ) enough to distract us from COVID lockdowns and the rising tide of anti-vax rhetoric in our Instagram stories. We relish the highlights - our first gamer girl Bachelorette, a puppy in the confessional room, and... whatever is going on with Belinda. REQUIRED READING: The US Bachelor's Commitment...

This episode we are joined by the fabulous Juliette Herrera from Season 8 of The Bachelor AU! We get caught up on Juliette's life post-Bachelor, get some more insight into the events of Locky's season, and most excitingly - Juliette helps us with our traditional first impressions of the incoming crop of contestants, based on what scant info we can glean from their Tenplay bios and their Instagram...

This episode, we're joined by our first ever guest who chose to remain anonymous! (Frankly we're surprised no one else has thought of doing that yet). "Lucy" was kind enough to come on the podcast to share some of her experiences, thoughts, and predictions for the season, given the rare qualification that at one point, she went on a few dates with this year's Bachelor, Jimmy Nicholson. We also app...

The Bachelor of Hearts podcast is BACK! In this episode, we go in DEEP on a couple of big social media posts from the last few weeks, and what they might mean for the future of the franchise as a whole. How do we respond to ex-contestants using their platforms to spread misinformation about the coronavirus? How does one flirty TikTok post from 2021’s Bachelorette fundamentally change the game? And...

This week, it’s a very special Bachie Bonus episode, in which we launch into the Extended Universe of The Bachelor, starting with Aimee Mann ’s 1999 album ‘ Bachelor No. 2 or, the Last Remains of the Dodo ’. We’re joined by Spencer Fox from the fantastic Brooklyn band Charly Bliss to share the story behind the album, and how it reflects (and arguably how it sparked) a turning point for the music i...

The Bachelor of Hearts podcast is BACK! On this emergency mini-sode, we expose all the fresh scoops that we could dig up about our brand-new, just-announced Bachelor, Jimmy Nicholson. We also make a series of casting suggestions for the contestants of this season. Plus, we quiz each other on the events of 2020's season of The Bachelorette , we start a food delivery app, and we just take a moment t...

In which we remember what happened on the Bachelorette season finale.

Listener beware - you're in for a scare! This shriek we're joined by the wonderful Joseph Earp (Junkee, The Brad Pittcast) for a spirited discussion of the penultimate week of Bachelorette - we road-test the theory that Bachie is a slasher, actually; we talk about this season's especially puritanical relationship with sex, and we offer some more novel solutions to this season's low viewership. Plu...