Nick Viall and Vanessa Grimaldi, the “Bachelor’s” latest couple, make a public appearance. (Danny Moloshok/Reuters)
NBC may want to watch its back. On Tuesday, rival network ABC revealed its strategy to peel eyeballs away from the Winter Olympics next February by announcing its own competition, the “Bachelor Winter Games,” a show that promises to “take competitive dating to a chilling new level,” the network said (via Vulture).
A spinoff of the “Bachelor” and “Bachelorette” franchises, which are going on its 22nd and 13th seasons, respectively, the “Bachelor Winter Games” will gather past contestants of the show together in a fancy winter resort, where they’ll “go head-to-head in winter-themed athletic challenges, including the toughest sport of all — love.”
Aww. Except probably not, considering the track record of most “Bachelor/Bachelorette” franchise couples, one of which just announced their breakup on Monday. Whichever “competitive” daters survive probably won’t wind up happily ever after.
That said, let’s be real. No one really watches these shows for true fairy-tale endings. It’s the messy drama, broken hearts and drunken antics that gets us gawking. Add to that a few ridiculous “athletic challenges,” and it appears the “Bachelor Winter Games” is a sure thing for winning a gold medal in beautiful disasters.
Or maybe it will settle for bronze. While fans reacted with glee to the prospect of yet another “Bachelor” franchise spinoff show, the “Bachelor Winter Games” are unlikely to surpass the gonzo ratings earned by the flagship programs or the franchise’s other successful spinoff, “Bachelor in Paradise,” which sends past contestants to a fancy resort in Mexico where they basically play a dating version of musical chairs. Forced to pair off each week, there’s never an even number of men and women, which forces one or more lovelorn co-eds off the island, so to speak, when the music stops.
This isn’t the first time, either, that a “Bachelor” spinoff has attempted to insert physical competition in a spinoff. ABC did this once before with the short-lived show “Bachelor Pad.” It lasted just three seasons before getting the ax to make room for “Paradise.”
No word on if the “Bachelor Winter Games” will air yearly or, like the Olympics, every four years, but it will at least air once, which for now, is good enough.
