Bachelor Nation Couples Who Never Made It To The Altar

When "The Bachelor" made its television debut back in 2002, viewers experienced a reality competition like no other. While game shows like "The Dating Game" and "Love Connection" had been pairing people up for years, "The Bachelor" put a whole new spin on the concept with their first season by casting 25 women who each strove to win the heart of titular bachelor Alex Michel. Armed with a supply of red roses, Michel's ultimate goal was to find his perfect partner — with the expectation that the season would culminate with an on-camera marriage. However, that didn't happen; Michel selected Amanda Marsh, but stopped short of proposing. They split up a few months after the show aired. 

Regardless, the show was an instant hit, and more seasons followed — as did spin-offs, including "The Bachelorette," "The Golden Bachelor," and "Bachelor in Paradise." Many of those seasons did end with engagements, yet over the course of the franchise's two-plus decades the number of Bachelor-verse couples who have actually remained together remains surprisingly small — less than 30 as of mid-2025. On the flip side, there have been a lot of breakups; one-time Bachelor Peter Weber, in fact, holds the dubious distinction of splitting up with not just one woman from the franchise, but three (Hannah Ann Sluss, Madison Prewett, and Kelley Flanagan, for those who are wondering). 

So what happened after all those final roses were presented and all those proposals were accepted to prevent those couples from tying the knot? Read on for a rundown of "Bachelor" Nation couples who never made it to the altar. 

Season 25 of "The Bachelor" was a historic one for the show, with Matt James becoming the first Black man to be tapped as the lead. That season was also notable when Rachel Kirkconnell received James' final rose — and subsequently was criticized for a resurfaced social media post celebrating her attendance at an antebellum-style "Old South" party. When the series' longtime host, Chris Harrison, defended Kirkconnell during an interview, the backlash was so severe that Harrison was ultimately forced to step down as host.

The irony, of course, is that when the dust cleared and the season ended, James and Kirkconnell became a bona fide couple. While they never did get engaged, they did remain together for four years. 

Sadly, it didn't last. In January 2025, James announced in a prayer (in a since-deleted Instagram post) that they'd broken up. "Father God, give Rachael and I strength to mend our broken hearts. Give us a peace about this decision to end our relationship that transcends worldly understanding," he wrote. Later, Kirkconnell revealed she'd been blindsided by James' prayer, which he'd posted without warning her. "It almost seemed like [him] saying it like a prayer was the easier way to say it than to say something real, something authentic to our actual relationship," Kirkconnell told "Call Her Daddy" host Alex Cooper when appearing on the podcast (via the Los Angeles Times). "It's very him. I guess it didn't surprise me that he said it like that, I guess I was just surprised that he said it at all. That he posted that."

Like Matt James, Jenn Tran also made "Bachelor" franchise history — Tran was the first Asian-American woman chosen for "The Bachelorette." Starring in Season 21 of the spin-off, Tran ended her run by getting engaged to Devin Strader. While the proposal was as romantic as they get, the romance flamed out quickly. By the time they appeared together on the post-finale "After the Final Rose" special, they'd already gone through a bitter split.

Details of what happened, however, vary considerably, with Tran claiming that Strader began pulling away from her pretty much immediately after the cameras shut off. "He basically said that he didn't love me anymore, didn't feel the same way," Tran said tearfully, claiming that he'd dumped her in a two-minute phone call. "He regretted getting engaged." Strader, however, countered her narrative in a social media video in which he displayed numerous text exchanges between him and Tran, which he said refuted her claim. That, however, blew up in his face when he was hit with backlash for publicly exposing their private conversations. 

Strader wound up issuing an apology. "I deeply am so sorry for showing sensitive information from the bottom of my heart," he wrote in a post shared on his Instagram Story (via Us Weekly). "My only intention is to show the relationship from my perspective. I gain nothing from that text conversation being shown. I promise you that was a mistake. I tried to censor all our personal/sensitive information, I honestly missed this one & f***ed up."

While Kaitlyn Bristowe may have stated that being the Bachelorette wasn't fun, there's no question she made an impression on viewers while being wooed by 25 men in Season 11 of "The Bachelorette." When she handed over her final rose, it went to Shawn Booth. The two got engaged in the season finale, and went on to spend the next three years together.  

It all came to an end in November 2018, when they issued a joint statement to Us Weekly confirming they'd called off the engagement. "After three incredible years, we have decided to go our separate ways," the statement read. "This difficult decision comes after thoughtful, respectful consideration." 

Bristowe didn't waste much time when it came to moving on. In January 2019, she confirmed she was dating fellow "Bachelor" franchise alum Jason Tartick, who'd been a contestant on Becca Kufrin's season of "The Bachelorette." Booth, however, later claimed that he'd abandoned plans to break up amicably when Bristowe accidentally sent him a text that was intended for Tartick — whom she secretly began seeing before their split. "When we had broken up, the last time I saw her, I was like, 'I do not want to talk to you or see you ever again,'" Booth recalled in an episode of his "In the Booth with Shawn Booth" podcast

Bristowe's relationship with Tartick was ultimately doomed. In August 2024, the two announced via Instagram that they'd decided to end their engagement.

Following a stint on "The Bachelor" attempting to win the heart of pilot Jake Pavelka in Season 14, Ali Fedotowsky was invited to star in Season 6 of "The Bachelorette" in 2010. Come the finale, Fedotowsky chose suitor Roberto Martinez and accepted his proposal when he got down on one knee. At the time, the two were all-in on the idea of getting hitched ASAP. "Planning a wedding is a lot, and we don't want to go through all the motions," Fedotowsky told People, revealing they'd floated the idea of eloping. "We just want to be married. We're just excited for that. We're like, 'Let's be married — right now!'"

Eventually, a wedding date was scheduled — but had to be postponed while Fedotowsky recovered from leg surgery. "We had a date set, and that date has now passed," she told People in August 2011. Just a few months later, however, the pair called it quits. "Ali Fedotowsky and Roberto Martinez have ended their relationship," her rep said in a statement to E! News.

Fedotowsky subsequently broke her silence about the breakup, telling E! News that they'd been struggling in the relationship far more than fans realized. "We were really trying to make it work, and realizing it wasn't getting better," she said. "We were unhappy more than we were happy, and something needed to change ... I didn't want to let people down. I felt anger from my followers, fans ... The pressure was to make sure we did what would make both of us happy."

Emily Maynard first entered the Bachelor-verse in Season 15 of "The Bachelor," which ended with her accepting the proposal of Brad Womack. Their engagement didn't last long, and they split up in 2011, just a few months after the finale aired. "It didn't last so long, but I take a lot of the blame for that, too," Maynard said when appearing on the TV special "The Bachelor: The Greatest Seasons — Ever!" (as reported by People). "And it was really hard. We both put in a lot of work traveling back and forth and all of that, but I think we both knew, 'This is just not fun anymore. This is just not going to work.'"

The silver lining of their breakup was that Maynard was selected to headline Season 8 of "The Bachelorette," which aired in 2012. That season ended with another engagement, this time to contestant Jef Holm. Storm clouds gathered quickly, with Holm's brother claiming to Us Weekly that Maynard was cheating, followed by a bonkers conspiracy theory that Maynard was paying Holm to stay in a faux relationship that was more about business than love.

In any case, they pulled the plug in October 2012. "I am sorry to tell you that Jef and I have, indeed, parted ways," Maynard told People. "It was a very difficult and heartbreaking decision." Maynard finally got her happy ending, marrying husband Tyler Johnson in 2014. They remained happily married and started a family together; in 2017, Maynard welcomed her fourth child with Johnson.

Juan Pablo Galavis catapulted from "Bachelorette" suitor to starring in Season 18 of "The Bachelor." As viewers will recall, his final rose went to Nikki Ferrell, though he stopped short of proposing. Given the controversy that erupted when Galavis appeared unable to say "I love you" to Ferrell during the "After the Final Rose" special, few fans were surprised when the two broke it off not long after the finale aired.

Viewers eventually learned the real reason Galavis and Ferrell called it quits. "It all played out over a couple of days, right before my birthday," Ferrell revealed in an interview with Life & Style. "We were just going back and forth through texting. He was questioning the relationship and I was questioning it back. I sent him a message saying, 'We should fight for this. We should work this out.' And he didn't respond."

Ferrell was done, and she (impulsively) blocked Galavis on social media. By the time they met in person a few days later, it was clear to both that it was over. As Ferrell recalled, "we both knew we were wasting each other's time. The relationship wasn't making us happy anymore. We were never a normal couple."

Season 21 of "The Bachelor" was built around Nick Viall. Viall was first introduced in Andi Dorfman's season of "The Bachelorette" before then returning for Kaitlyn Bristowe's season the following year — he notably became the first"Bachelorette" contestant to become runner-up two seasons in a row. In the "Bachelor" finale, Viall proposed to Vanessa Grimaldi, who happily accepted. The engagement, however, lasted a mere five months. 

"It's with a great amount of heartbreak for the both us as we have decided to end our engagement," the ex-couple said in a statement to People. "We gave this relationship our all and we are saddened that we did not get the fairytale ending we hoped for."

As Grimaldi later told People, there was no big dramatic moment that led to the end of the relationship, simply a dawning realization that it simply wasn't working. "In the end, as much as we loved each other and tried to make it work, we just realized we were different people fighting to keep a relationship when ultimately we just weren't the best fit for each other," she said, insisting there was nothing fake about the feelings they had for each other. "I fell for him hard," she added, "and when you fall in love that hard, your heart breaks even harder."

After losing out to Jef Holm for the heart of Emily Maynard in Season 8 of "The Bachelorette," Arie Luyendyk Jr. was tapped for Season 22 of "The Bachelor" in 2017. With one rose left at the finale, Luyendyk gave it to Becca Kufrin, who accepted his on-camera proposal of marriage. 

However, this would not be the happy ending viewers anticipated. Two months after filming the proposal (but before the series aired), Luyendyk had an epiphany, realizing that he'd proposed to the wrong woman — and was actually in love with runner-up Lauren Burnham. He broke off the engagement, and then shared his true feelings with Burnham, all while cameras rolled.

Although he agreed to be filmed, Luyendyk later felt that producers had hung him out to dry. As he told People, he'd been promised that the footage would "make Bachelor Nation fully [understand] that he was being respectful and just following his heart," but felt "100% betrayed" when he saw how it had been edited to alter the narrative. "They cut out, obviously, production talking to me from 10 feet away," he said, insisting that what aired "was super unfair to me." Meanwhile, he and Burnham subsequently got engaged, tied the knot and started a family; in April 2025, they revealed they were expecting their fourth child.

Dale Moss and Clare Crawley met when he was one of the suitors competing for her affection on Season 16 of "The Bachelorette," filmed during the summer of 2020. After just 12 days, she presented him with her final rose; he responded by popping the question. 

The following January, Moss announced they'd split up. "I wanted [to] share with you all that Clare and I have decided to go our separate ways," he wrote in a since-deleted Instagram post, as reported by People. While fans were shocked to learn of the breakup, so too was Crawley. "I was made aware of a 'mutual' statement at the same time you all were, so I've needed some time to really digest this," she wrote on social media (via People), adding, "the truth is I am crushed." A friend told the outlet, "Clare feels blindsided by the split."

Within a few months, however, the two reconciled. They celebrated their first anniversary in July 2021, but their happiness didn't last. In September, a source confirmed to People that they'd split again. "It was mutual," said the source, indicating the breakup had taken place two week prior. In the fall of 2022, Crawley had fully moved on, announcing she was engaged to new beau Ryan Dawkins. They got married and welcomed a child together. Moss went on to date HGTV personality Galey Alix, eventually breaking up after two years as a couple.

Star of Season 15 of "The Bachelorette," Hannah Brown presented her final rose to country singer Jed Wyatt, resulting in their engagement. Wyatt, however, was not on the show "for the right reasons," signing on with the sole intention of bolstering his music career. That plan, he later claimed, was derailed when he legit fell for Brown. Also derailed, though, was Wyatt's promise to return to the girlfriend he'd been hiding, Haley Stevens, when filming completed. When his engagement to Brown threw a wrench in those plans, the irked Stevens told all. "We spent the night together the night before he headed to L.A.," Stevens said when interviewed by People, revealing that when Wyatt returned to Nashville, he completely ghosted her.

Understandably, the revelation that her fiancé had a secret girlfriend did not go over well with Brown, who immediately called off their five-week engagement and dumped Wyatt. "This is not the future I expected," she told People. "It was heartbreaking ... He always said he never wanted to hurt me, but he hurt me worse than anybody else did."

According to Brown, she'd previously been in a relationship in which she learned she was being lied to, and refused to place herself in that position again. "I deserve better," she declared. She subsequently got engaged to Adam Woolard, and the two moved in together; in early 2025, they revealed that, for religious reasons, they would be living separately until their wedding that summer.

Making his debut on Season 14 of "The Bachelorette," Colton Underwood starred in the 2019 season of "The Bachelor." His stand on premarital sex made him unique in the franchise's history. "I'm the first virgin Bachelor and it's crazy to even think about that," he said in the series premiere, via People. While there were some dramatic ups and downs, Underwood's final rose ultimately went to contestant Cassie Randolph (who returned after quitting the show in the wake of their Fantasy Suite date). While there was no engagement, there was no question that the two were a couple. "We're super in love," Randolph said in an episode of "The Bachelor," as reported by People. 

Unfortunately, the two split up in May, 2020. The breakup took a nasty twist when Randolph issued a series of Instagram Story posts that July, accusing Underwood of attempting to "monetize" the split. Underwood, however, denied her claims, telling E! News that her allegations were "simply not true." Underwood then briefly dated "Pretty Little Liars" star Lucy Hale, while Randolph then filed a restraining order against him, accusing Underwood of stalking her. 

In April 2021, Underwood guested on "Good Morning America" to make a stunning confession. "I've ran from myself for a long time. I've hated myself for a long time. I'm gay," he shared. Underwood shared later that year that he was in a relationship with political strategist Jordan C. Brown. "Everybody went through my breakup [with Cassie Randolph] ... It's nice for me to have something for myself," he shared about their private relationship. In 2023, Underwood and Brown got married and the following year, the couple welcomed a son, Bishop Colton Brown-Underwood.