It’s that time of year again. All over the country, people hunker down to enjoy the “most dramatic season yet” of “The Bachelor,” and students on Kent State’s campus are no exception. 

The hit reality show, now in its 28th season, follows one man who sets out on a journey to find love, dating upwards of twenty women while traveling the world. Each episode contains both one-on-one and group dates with the season’s bachelor, as well as drama between contestants and tenuous rose ceremonies in which contestants are eliminated.

At the end of each season, the bachelor, who this season is 28-year-old Joey Graziadei, ends up on one knee with whomever he chooses as the winner between the two final contestants. Graziadei was the runner-up on season 20 of “The Bachelorette,” a spin-off show of “The Bachelor” where a woman looks to find her true love. 

Since its inception in 2002, “The Bachelor” has amassed millions of viewers worldwide and even expanded to other countries as well. Now, over twenty years later, there are 37 different countries with its own version of the show.

Jodi Frontino, a graduate fashion industry studies student, said she’s been watching the show or “The Bachelorette” since she was a child with her mother, and she then began watching with friends in college. 

She said she rarely watches “The Bachelor” alone, and instead always watches it with groups of friends. 

“In college, we’d end up having ‘Bachelor’ or ‘Bachelorette’ nights where all our friends would end up getting together, and we’d all crowd around any TV that we had and watch ‘The Bachelor’ together,” she said. “It kind of evolved into a fun little social gathering.”

Kiara Derbyshire, a junior speech pathology major, said watching “The Bachelor” is a bonding moment between her and her friends. 

“I think with this show, it’s really fun to comment on what the girls are saying and what connections they’re making with other people,” Derbyshire said. “It’s one of those shows that’s fun to talk through and be with other people.”

Frontino said even though few of the relationships on “The Bachelor” last long term, she still returns with hope. 

“Not a ton of the relationships work out,” Frontino said. “So I always come back every year hoping maybe this one is going to be the one where they fall in love and start a family.”

Nicole Beard, a junior interior design major and member of the Alpha Phi sorority, has watched the show with her mother since high school and said the tradition of discussing the show with her mother has kept up since she went to college. 

Beard said the producers of the show pull out all the stops with keeping the audience on their toes. 

“They always say ‘the most dramatic season yet’ or say ‘this has never happened before,’” she said. “They always show the most dramatic clips. They say it’s never happened before just to get you to want to know what happens.”

Beard also said she thinks some aspects of the show are manipulated by the producers to create more entertainment. 

“During the rose ceremonies, I feel like the order of the girls that are called is definitely up to the producers,” she said. “Because every time two girls are having drama, and it gets brought up to whoever the bachelor is, and he’s aware of the problem, they always leave the final rose down between those two girls just to let the anticipation rise.” 

Social media also plays a large role in people discussing and bonding through the show, Beard said. 

Every Monday, while “The Bachelor” airs, tweets on “X” (formerly known as Twitter) pour in under the tag “Bachelor Nation,” discussing the current episode. 

“Everyone goes crazy on Twitter,” Beard said.

She also said other apps like TikTok help spread fan theories on who the winner will be.

“I’ve seen on TikTok a lot about Daisy,” she said. “I’m wondering if she’s the one.” 

Derbyshire, who has watched “The Bachelor” for six years, said she thinks Daisy Kent, a contestant this season who opened up about her cochlear implant, is her projected winner as well.

 “I really want Daisy to win, I hope that she does,” Derbyshire said. “It’s kind of hard to say, since it’s only week two, but she’s promising for sure.”

Leah Shepard is a reporter. Contact her at [email protected].