Moments On The Bachelorette That Made Us All Cringe
Along with sizzling seduction and romantic rivalries, The Bachelorette provides its audience with its fair share of outrageous situations. Ever since Trista Sutter (who was Trista Rehn at the time) stepped into the center of the onscreen action back in 2003, single ladies have appeared on the series looking for their special someone, and eligible men have tried to win them over with their charm, good looks, and ability to stand out among dozens of other eager daters.
But as the other women who have become the Bachelorette can attest to, being on a romance-based reality show isn't all wine and roses. In fact, sometimes attempting to find a happily-ever-after in front of millions of viewers involves alleged cheaters, a spontaneous tattoo, and even an incredibly creepy doll.
As weird as that might sound, the details of each incident are even more awkward, which is why you definitely want to check out these moments on The Bachelorette that made us all cringe.
Justin "Rated R" Rego turned tail and ran
Ali Fedotowsky's takedown of alleged cheater Justin Rego led to an epic example of an awkward on-camera exit. After discovering the professional wrestler — a.k.a. "Rated R" — supposedly wasn't single during Season 6, even speaking to his crying girlfriend, Jessica Spillas, on the phone, Fedotowsky sat down with Rego and the rest of her suitors to call him out. "Guys, it's been quite the road getting here so far," she said with a cheerful, yet deceptive smile on her face. "You know, Justin, I think it's been especially difficult for you 'cause you probably really miss your girlfriend in Canada."
Instead of confirming or denying the roundabout accusation, Rego merely walked out in one of the most memorable — and cringe-worthy — moments the franchise has ever seen. Although his departure was less than, direct since he tried to escape through a locked door, then climbed over fountains and through garden planters while hobbling on a cast. Fedowtosky tried get him to explain himself, even warning him that he'd come to regret his actions.
Rego later told ET Canada (via Reality TV World) that while he and Spillas had "a past," it was a totally one-side romance when he started on the show, meaning Spillas wanted a relationship, but Rego didn't. Of course, there were also allegations that he two-timed Spillas with another girl as well. But hey, you don't get the nickname "Rated R" for nothing, right?
Kasey has a permanent reminder of his cringeworthy moment
Think before you ink! Getting a tattoo dedicated to a significant other is always a risky move, and getting one for a woman that you've just met on a reality TV show is extremely iffy. But that's exactly what Kasey Kahl did when he felt like he needed to step up his game on Season 6. Kahl first revealed his penchant for grand romantic gestures during a date with Ali Fedotowsky when he told her he was there to "guard and protect [her] heart," according to Us Weekly. He then decided to prove that he meant what he said by running out and getting a six-inch tattoo on his wrist of a heart with a shield.
Although Fedotowsky was understandably shocked by the permanent symbol of Kahl's (sappy?) sentiment. But, while she wasn't overly impressed by his excessive attempt to woo her, she also wasn't willing to send him home right away. However, fellow contestant Frank Neuschaefer pointed out what a lot of people were likely thinking in this particular circumstance, saying, "Getting a tattoo ... that doesn't prove anything, except the fact that you're nuts."
Kahl and his badge of passion lasted until week 5. Upon his exit, he told People that he "would never change" the tattoo. "It is an amazing thing I got for myself," he said, adding, "I got it to show who I am no matter where I m at or who I m with.
The roast date Ashley Hebert went from awkward to mean
Whoever was responsible for planning the dates during season 7 apparently thought that it was a good idea to have the men who were vying for Ashley Hebert's heart make fun of her onstage. Unfortunately (and unsurprisingly?), things quickly became inappropriate, before they turned downright mean.
"Sixty percent of the guys are not here for the right reason," Bentley Williams said, according to OK Magazine, while joking about Hebert's chest size by saying, "The reason I know that is because 60 percent of guys are boob guys." William Holman went even further by telling the crowd, "Ashley: so beautiful, so gorgeous, so used. They say one man's trash is another man's treasure." He continued, "Get out your cell phones to donate to the Ashley boob fund."
While Hebert tried to laugh it off, she eventually ended up in tears. Holman at least admitted that his attempt at humor was in bad taste and left the group date while telling Hebert, "There is nothing I can say to undo what I said." He later told People, "I didn't watch the past seasons to know she really had any of those insecurities and for myself, I'd never been up on stage before. ... I was just scared ridiculous ... I wasn't even thinking about the outcome."
Bentley had cruel intentions with Ashley
As if it wasn't bad enough that Ashley Hebert had to face a roast during her time as the Bachelorette, she also had to deal with Bentley Williams' cruel intentions. After admitting that he wasn't into Hebert — even explaining unnecessarily that, in his opinion, "Ashley looks like an ugly duckling" — and while he was completely aware of the fact that she had feelings for him, he decided to stick around merely to be the ultimate villain.
"The guys know I'm a frontrunner, but none of them have any idea that I don't care about Ashley. I had the opportunity and I played everyone," he said during a confessional, according to Hollywood Life. While anyone decent would have simply left, Williams admitted that his true goal was "to make Ashley cry." He then cemented his self-centered sleazy status by adding, "I hope my hair looks okay."
Williams eventually quit the show before briefly returning in a head-scratching development that left viewers just as frustrated as Hebert herself. Viewers clearly hoped to see some signs of remorse, but they were out of luck as Williams still seemed satisfied with the situation — even his dad reportedly told Star (via Hollywood Life), "My son needs to apologize!" Honestly, we're still waiting for our apology for having to witness such scuzzy behavior.
Kalon's cringeworthy comments about Emily's daughter
Contestants on season 8 of The Bachelorette learned not to anger mama bear Emily Maynard. While chatting with fellow suitor (and season 22 Bachelor) Arie Luyendyk, Jr., Chris Bukowski revealed (via Us Weekly) that Kalon McMahon had made comments about Maynard's personal life, including her six-year-old daughter Ricki, saying, "Kalon had some words that were pretty insulting to Emily ... that she has a lot of baggage."
When yet another suitor, Doug Clerget, informed Maynard about McMahon's remarks, she freaked out. "I want to go out there and rip his limbs off and beat him with them," she said. "I want to go West Virginia, hood rat, backwoods on his *ss. That's how much I love my daughter." She then told McMahon directly that her daughter is "the furthest thing from baggage" and to "get the f*ck out!"
McMahon later apologized during the Men Tell All special, saying, "I'm obviously sorry the way things worked out between us. ... I'm trying to use it as a growing experience in my future relationships and I really wish the best for you." However, Maynard wasn't impressed, telling him, "You, my dear, should be a politician, because that is the biggest load of sh*t I've ever heard."
The Soulja Boy rap video was all kinds of awkward
Plenty of musicians pop up on The Bachelorette to serenade the reality TV romantics. However, during 2013's season with Desiree Hartsock, the people behind the scenes wanted the cast to get in on the action. With the help of Soulja Boy, both Hartsock and her men dressed up in what was apparently meant to be hip-hop style and performed for the cameras.
You can still watch the resulting video which includes lines from Hartsock such as, "I'm the Bachelorette and I'm rapping to you poolside. Here to find true love, one man for my whole life. ... Dating all these guys really ain't that easy. I'm looking for a husband, not abs and a cheesy smile for the camera."
The men continuously spout a recurring statement from the show, rapping that they're there for "the right reasons." Thankfully, that reason wasn't to launch a rap career because, as Uproxx explained, their video was "the worst."
Nick's cringworthy confession during After the Final Rose
You can choose to be classy during a break-up or you can choose to act like Nick Viall. When he was rejected by Andi Dorfman during season 10, he decided to make the details of their relationship public.
During the After the Final Rose special, Viall asked Dorfman why she "made love with [him]" during their fantasy suite night if she wasn't "in love with" him. Dorfman told Viall that bringing up what happened between them was "below the belt" and should have been "kept private." However, she still tackled his cringe-worthy question by saying, "The things I said to you ... the way I kissed you, the way I looked at you, those things were real." But instead of taking that for what it was worth, Viall continued to dig in his heels by saying what they did together was "fiancée type of stuff." Although that's certainly arguable considering he left the season without getting engaged.
Viall finally apologized three years later during his own season of The Bachelor when Dorfman showed up unexpectedly. "My single biggest regret when it comes to you and I, when I said what I said, that it brought you a lot of heartache and a lot of pain," he said. "It's something you had to deal with for a long time ... and for that I've always been sorry."
Ian's egotistical rant with Kaitlyn
There's confidence and then there's conceit. And the latter is what viewers witnessed when Ian Thompson felt like he wasn't getting enough attention from Kaitlyn Bristowe during season 11. While making it obvious that he couldn't figure out why she wasn't falling all over him, he went on a revealing rant. Along with reportedly calling himself "an enigma ... that you unwrap for life" and boasting about his looks, his intelligence, and his, er, personal life, he admitted, "I don't find Kaitlyn interesting. Like, I don't think that's something wrong with me — I think that's something wrong with her."
He then told Bristowe directly that he "question[ed]" her "intentions," saying that he felt like she was merely there "to make out with a bunch of dudes on TV," before telling the Bachelorette, "I wonder if you're really that shallow because I don't see anything beyond the surface." She was certainly deep enough to send him packing.
Thompson was another contestant who used the Men Tell All special to apologize. After admitting that he had sent Bristowe notes to make amends — a fact she confirmed — he added (via Us Weekly), "I'm sorry to America, and I'm sorry to people in the audience that were offended by things that I said, because that's not a representation of who I am."
Chad Johnson was more scary than awkward
JoJo Fletcher ended up with a scary suitor, who revealed a violent nature while the cameras were rolling. Chad Johnson was seemingly unable to control himself even under relatively mild circumstances. For instance, when fellow contestant Evan Bass joked about Johnson taking steroids, the accused reacted by ripping Bass' shirt before punching a door and making his knuckles bleed. Although he claimed the door was at fault since it "walked into the way of [his] hand."
When confronted about the situation by the show's host Chris Harrison, Johnson didn't back down, but instead took to his confessional with a message for Bass, saying (via ET), "I don't want to have to go physically fight you, but if there's no way to get you to stop saying things that you're saying, then I will physically have to hurt you." He continued, "I'm gonna cut everyone here's legs off and arms off and there's gonna be torsos and I'm going to throw them in the pool and then I'm gonna f*ck up this entire damn thing." It's no surprise that he was soon sent home.
When Johnson finally watched The Bachelorette, he had a eureka moment. "Holy t*ts now I understand why some people hate me!" he captioned a video showing himself laughing. However, he added, "Haha but some parts were hilarious too."
Adam's creepy doll was the definition of cringe
It's important to stand out during the initial limo arrivals on The Bachelorette. Adam Gottschalk did that in spades at the beginning of season 13 thanks to the fact that he brought along a "friend" who happened to be a creepy doll named Adam Jr. Even th the show's official Twitter account noted the disturbing nature of Gottschalk's mini-me, writing, "Adam and Adam Jr. Sure it's creepy, but at least it's not a euphemism!"
The doll seemed to give most people the heebie-jeebies, with one of the contestants reportedly stating, "If that thing starts moving or appearing in different rooms, I'm out of here." Even Adam Jr. acknowledged that he wasn't winning anyone over, especially the Bachelorette, telling the camera, "I disgust her" (in French, no less).
And while anyone who was weirded out by Adam Jr. surely hoped that they would never have to see him again after Gottschalk was sent home, the duo popped up again on Bachelor in Paradise just a few months later.
DeMario's ghosted girlfriend was a cringe queen
Rachel Lindsay wasn't playing around after a group basketball game when she found out that DeMario Jackson was allegedly a cheater, although the cheating wasn't sports-related. During season 13, a ghosted girlfriend named Lexie showed up to inform Lindsay that she had been dating Jackson. The Bachelorette then explained in her confessional (via Elite Daily), "This girl Lexie says she's in a relationship with DeMario, and he disappears for a couple of days, and the next time she's seeing him is on After the Final Rose, meeting me."
From there, Lindsay brought Jackson in to hear what he had to say. But instead of owning up to his shady actions, he reportedly tried to act clueless before offering an unconvincing explanation regarding his relationship with Lexie. However, she shut him down, saying, "Karma's a b*tch, isn't it DeMario?" Lindsay, in turn, rejected a flimsy apology before telling him to "get the f*ck out."
The two were still not seeing eye-to-eye months later, when Jackson reacted to a tweet from Lindsay who claimed "Bachelor friendships are fickle and fleeting." He posted his own opinion, writing, "Someone said, 'These bachelor friendships are fickle and fleeting' and I disagree. These bachelor friendships got me through a dark time and I'm grateful for my brothers, sisters, and bachelor nation. Hopefully that someone will ... stop being petty on social networks."
Jordan's skintight skivvies skeeved everyone out
Not all cringe-worthy moments are caused by shady behavior. In fact, some are sparked by shiny behavior. That's certainly true of model Jordan Kimball's appearance in eye-scorching gold briefs. While Becca Kufrin, the Season 14 Bachelorette definitely got a laugh out of the situation, the other contestants were unimpressed.
Colton Underwood (who went on to become season 23's Bachelor) called Kimball a "clown" and claimed that the other man was being "disrespectful." He stated that he felt like "Jordan [was] focused more on himself." To be fair, it was hard to focus on anything other than those sparkling skivvies. Unwilling to drop the matter as quickly as Kimball dropped his pants, Underwood pulled the other man aside to tell him that he'd "lost all respect for [him]." Thankfully, by that point, Kimball had covered up so it was perhaps a little easier for him to stand up for himself.
And Underwood's criticism certainly didn't seem to dampen Kimball's enthusiasm for his skintight shorts considering a couple of months after the show aired, he tweeted, "The golden underwear need an Instagram." Do they really, though?
Luke refused to leave when Hannah kicked him out
We can thank Luke Parker for one of the most excruciating exits in The Bachelorette history. After a season spent constantly clashing with the other men, Parker told Hannah Brown that he wouldn't want to stick around if she had been intimate with any of the other suitors. When she informed him that he had no right to judge what she may have done — and eventually stated that she had been physically involved with someone in a windmill — Parker engaged in his manipulative ways in order to both judge Brown and attempt to forgive her for something she wasn't sorry about.
When Brown reached her limit, she told Parker to leave, and while that should have been the end of it, he simply wouldn't go. In a moment that lasted forever, and included Parker telling Brown that she "owe[d him] a minute to share [his] heart," which she quickly shot down, he finally climbed into the waiting limo with Brown giving him the finger as the car drove away. It seemed like the perfect way to end their time together, if only he hadn't returned for one more episode to wreak even more havoc before continuing to fight with Brown via Twitter even after he'd been booted.