Bachelor and Bachelorette’s Most Dramatic Moments

This is the definitive list of Bachelor and Bachelorette’s most dramatic moments to date. Despite every season claiming to be the most dramatic, some characters stand out from others. Jaw-dropping, heart-wrenching moments that will make you close your eyes and yearn for more at the same time.

1. Arie choosing Becca, and then choosing Lauren. Arie waffles with the decision to choose the dependable Becca or the younger, carefree Lauren. He proposes to Becca, but then months into their engagement, takes back his proposal and proposes to his runner-up, Lauren. He became one of the most hated Bachelors.

2. Hannah Brown chooses Jed Wyatt, and then finds out he had a girlfriend at home. Jed told this girlfriend he loved her as he left for the show. Once Hannah found out post proposal, she ended the engagement.

3. Hannah Brown asking out Tyler Cameron on live TV. After she broke off her engagement with Jed, she decided to shoot her shot with her runner up at the After the Final Rose episode. He agreed. But they never got together, sadly. He ended up going out with supermodel Gigi Hadid instead.

4. Jason Mesnick changed his mind and chose his runner up. Basically, anytime a runner up is chosen, it’s a huge deal. You think they’ve picked someone, and that they’ll get married, and then they just change their mind? Jason breaks up with Melissa, his fiancé, on live TV, and then proposes to his runner up in the same episode.

5. Ali Fedotowski leaves Jake Pavelka’s season to keep her job. At the time, she worked at Facebook, but now she’s a journalist. She left the season when she was in the top four to remain employed. She ended up regretting leaving and asked Jake for a second chance, but he declined.

6. Brad Womack doesn’t choose any of his contestants. He got to his final two, and instead of becoming engaged to one of them, he chose to leave solo. It was the first and only time a bachelor has done this. Usually, they get engaged and then break up three months later. Or a year later, because then they get to keep the ring.

7. Courtney Robertson goes skinny dipping with Ben. On Ben Flajnik’s season, he breaks the rules and decides to get naked with Courtney before their fantasy suites. Considering she was also the villain of the season, it was a big deal at the time. He didn’t mind breaking the rules, but the other women sure did.

8. Blake made a name for himself on Bachelor in Paradise. He tried to talk to girls before the show, talk to many on the show, and ended up looking like the worst guy ever. He slept with two girls at Stagecoach who ended up on the show. He ended up alone, and hated by Bachelor nation for trying to get with everyone.

9. Brooks Forester breaks up with Desiree Hartsock, but this wasn’t your average breakup. She was the bachelorette, and he was the contestant. She was going to choose him, and even professes her love for him. However, he isn’t interested and sadly leaves. It was shocking for viewers to see the switch up from the norm.

10. Clare Crawley leaves her season of the Bachelorette when she falls in love with Dale. She shocks the contestants and the producers when she doesn’t even finish her contractually obligated season. After only three weeks, she asks Dale to propose and leave the show with her. He does.

11. Tayshia becomes the first Bachelorette to step in midseason. When Clare Crawley leaves her season for Dale, the rest of the men are left with nothing. So, the producers decide to switch things up and bring in a new bachelorette for them. This is something they’ve never done before, so it was shocking for both the viewers and the men.

12. Vienna crying over Jake Pavelka post breakup. Jake proposed to Vienna, and they broke up several months later. During their post-breakup interview, she claims he’s the biggest liar she’s ever met. Then, he says that’s how their fights usually go.

13. Kaitlyn Bristowe sleeps with Nick Viall, early in her season. She is the first Bachelorette to sleep with one of her contestants before the fantasy suites, that we know of. It was a huge deal at the time, for a promiscuous woman to sleep with one of the men after a one-on-one date. She was heavily criticized online, despite it not being a huge deal in the show.

14. Becca and Garrett break up over politics. Becca is a hardcore Liberal, while Garrett, her final choice when she was Bachelorette, is a hardcore conservative. Garrett was a Trump supporter. This was too much for Becca, so they decided to mutually end their relationship. Love can’t overcome every barrier.

15. Peter Weber made headlines when he chose Hannah Anne, proposed, and then broke up with her months later. His reason was he couldn’t stop thinking of Madison, his runner up who broke up with him before the season ended. Peter lied to Hannah, and said he chose her, when he really wanted Madison. He got with Madison afterwards, but then they broke up.

16. Peter Weber is now dating his fourth-place contestant. He is dating Kelly, the lawyer he met before the show. He met her at a party, but sent her home in fourth place. After going through the first, second, and third picks, he lands on her. Now, they’re adorable on Tik Tok and make cute videos together. His first and second picks, Hannah Anne and Madison, are now friends.

17. Colton received a lot of criticism for leaving his season early. He left for Cassie, even when she broke up with him. He jumped over the wall and almost quit the show, because he was so hurt she was leaving. Eventually, they got back together. Now, they’re broken up again a couple years later, and she has a restraining order against him for stalking.

18. Rachel Lindsay made headlines when she was cast as the first Black Bachelorette. She is a lawyer who married Bryan Abasolo, rather than the hunk Peter Kraus. Bryan’s mother made headlines when she was overly protective of Bryan on their hometown date.

19. Peter Kraus tried a bit too hard to be the Bachelor. When producers realized he was setting himself up to be Bachelor, by trying to get the finals but not fully committing to Lindsay, they cut him loose. They told people he wasn’t in the running to be Bachelor, and instead chose Arie (sigh).

20. Arie is chosen as the Bachelor, way after his season. Arie was on Emily’s season in 2012, and became the Bachelor six years later in 2018. Arie was 36 as the Bachelor, and Lauren, his final choice (after proposing to Becca and breaking up with her) was 26. This age difference sparked controversy.

21. Matt James was named the first Black Bachelor. This came in the wake of the Black Lives Matter protests. The show has been criticized for a lack of diversity, especially among the leads. They chose Matt when he’d never even been a cast member on the Bachelorette before, which is uncommon.

22. Ben Higgens made headlines when he said, “I love you,” to both his runner up and his final choice. This was uncommon at the time, as you usually would only say this to your final pick. It made both women believe they were the final choice, until he only picked one.

23. Sean Lowe is one of the few Bachelors still with his final choice. He was a born-again virgin on the show, which created headlines for the unusual term. It means he wasn’t a virgin but is now waiting for marriage. Him and Catherine have kids and are happily married, so it must’ve counted for something.

24. Colton was an actual virgin on his season. He wasn’t waiting until marriage, but just for the right person. When he met Cassie, he knew she was the one, and she presumably took his virginity.

25. Nick Viall was the runner up for his season on the Bachelorette with Andi, and then he applied to be on Kaitlyn’s season. He became the runner up, again. He went on Bachelor in Paradise and didn’t find love. Then, he became the Bachelor himself, and only stayed with his final pick for a short amount of time. He really is unlucky in love.

26. Wells Adams broke the stigma of dating celebrities when he started dating Sarah Hyland. Hyland is an actress on Modern Family and made headlines when she began dating this D-list celebrity. They’re still together and are now engaged.

27. Tyler Cameron dates Gigi Hadid, the supermodel. This is after Wells broke the barrier for dating celebrities. Gigi and Tyler went out a couple of times before Gigi got back together with Zayn Malik from One Direction. They now have a child together.

28. Ashley Hebert was famously not the best suited for Bachelorette. She had many men consider leaving simply because they didn’t consider her attractive enough. She stayed with her final pick for years, had babies, got married, and then they split up.

29. Josh Murray received a lot of backlash for his manipulative and abusive actions. He was Andi Dorfman’s final pick, and then dated Amanda Stanton after Bachelor in Paradise. Both ladies came out to say he was manipulative and emotionally abusive.

30. Peter’s mother (Barb) made headlines for being way too overbearing on Peter’s final pick. After he chose Hannah Anne, then reneged and chose his runner up Madison, his mom was not happy. She thought Hannah Anne was perfect for Peter, so she publicly called out Madison and said she hoped the relationship would fail.

31. Chris Soules became famous as the Bachelor for being from the middle of nowhere. However, the farmer stayed famous when he was charged with a fatal hit-and-run accident. He hit a tractor and fled the scene, causing the death of the man in the tractor.

32. Dean’s love triangle with Kristina and D-Lo on Bachelor in Paradise. He acted like he was obsessed with Kristina, but then once D-Lo came on the show, he played them both. He had a love triangle and became known as one of the biggest jerks of Bachelor nation.

33. Juan Pablo speaking out against the gay community. After being one of the worst Bachelors, and not proposing to his final choice, he stated there shouldn’t be a gay Bachelor. He said this because he thought it would be a bad example for children and is comparable to pedophilia.

34. Rozlyn Papa didn’t find love in the traditional way. She didn’t fall for Jake Pavelka, the Bachelor. She fell for one of the producers of the show. She was kicked off the show and he was fired from the production team.

35. Kaitlyn and Britt had a lot of controversy for Kaitlyn’s Bachelorette season. At the beginning Kaitlin and Britt had to meet all the men, and they got to choose their favorite for the rest of the season. They ended up picking Kaitlyn, but it was hard on both women to be pit against each other.

36. Arie’s season had a huge upset when Becca’s ex-boyfriend came on the show. Becca was his final pick, and her ex came to win her back. She declined and chose the Bachelor, Arie, but then he broke up with her soon after for his runner up, Lauren.

37. Kasey Kahl got a tattoo of Ali Fedotowsky on his wrist. Ali was the Bachelorette, and he assumed this would help prove he had affection towards her. It did the opposite, and she sent him home. Too crazy, bro.

38. Emily Maynard chose Jef Holm on her season of the Bachelorette. Once she was with him and engaged, she got caught texting NFL quarterback Matt Leinart. This forced them to call off their engagement.

39. Emily Maynard made news when she was cast for the Bachelor. Her husband, Ricky, was a racecar driver who died in a plane crash. After he passed, she realized she was pregnant with his child. She had the baby and named it after him. This sad story made headlines and garnered her enough support to become Bachelorette.

40. Bentley Williams was disappointed when Ashley Hebert was announced as Bachelorette. He thought it was going to be Emily Maynard and told Ashley that when he left. It was a very jerky move, and all of Bachelor nation was against him after that.

41. When Courtney Robertson was on Ben Fajnik’s season, she was cast as the villain. After she got the final rose, they were together until the show aired. Once it aired, Ben broke up with her over her performance on the show. He thought she seemed mean, just like the other girls did. However, when the other girls warned him of this beforehand, he didn’t listen.

42. After Jake chose Vienna, he made it seem like he wanted to continue being a pilot. However, he actually wanted to be an actor. She thought her life would be with a pilot, but he wanted the stardom. She explained this in her After the Final Rose, along with how he never wanted to sleep with her. It was the juiciest part of their entire season.

43. Hannah Brown says a racial slur while singing a song. She says the N word in “Rockstar” by DaBaby. After first claiming she didn’t say this, Rachel Lindsay and other cast members spoke out against her. She then wrote a written apology for her actions.

44. Victoria Fuller was supposed to be on the cover of Cosmopolitan magazine during her Bachelor season. They did a photoshoot in the water and she won the contest for best photo. However, she modeled for a supposed, “White Lives Matter” brand, which was actually “White Marlin Lives Matter” brand. The confusion led to her being dropped from the cover.

45. Luke P was shamed by Bachelor community when he slut-shamed Hannah B. After Hannah slept with Peter on her fantasy suite night, Luke shamed her for considering sleeping with men before picking her final one. Despite this being part of the show, that has existed for years, she was singled out by Luke P and shamed for sleeping with Peter.

46. Chad Johnson was charged with domestic violence, an event which shocked no one. When he was on Jojo’s season, he was aggressive towards the other men, and would frequently try to get in fights. He entered into a plea deal with his girlfriend for the charge.

47. When Jenna and Jordan got together on Bachelor in Paradise, it seemed like they were soulmates. Two weirdos in love. However, after the season ended, text messages showed Jenna had a boyfriend on the side and was only using Jordan for publicity.

48. Marcus and Lacy had a supposedly fake wedding, since she ghosted him right after it. When Marcus and Lacy came back from Mexico after the ceremony to sign the papers, she left him. He said it felt like she was a “runaway bride.”

49. Kaitlyn Bristowe and Shawn Booth spoiled the ending of their show accidentally. They were sending snapchats of each other in bed to the producers, but miss clicked and put them out to the public. The producers were very unhappy and both participants felt awful.

50. Michelle Kujawa had an affair with a sound guy on the first season of Bachelor in Paradise. When the crew tried to get in the room they were in to film, he jumped off the balcony and broke both of his legs. They had a dramatized re-enactment of the scene.