- "Bachelor" alums have called out the franchise for its recent boxing date on
Matt James ' season. - The group date showed girls getting punched in the nose and throat.
- "I know they can do better than that,"
Rachel Lindsay told Insider. "We don't want to see that."
"
But franchise alums Rachel Lindsay and
The date featured a group of James' contestants in the "Battle for the Bachelor," where some of the women took punches to the nose and throat during the date.
"I know they can do better than that," Lindsay told Insider while promoting new episodes of her MTV series "Ghosted."
"Maybe they're running out of material just because we're in COVID times and they can't travel anywhere, but as a viewer we don't want to see that," she added.
The boxing date was featured in last week's episode
James announced the boxing group date as tensions between the contestants continued to rise at Nemacolin resort - which has been serving as the temporary "Bachelor" mansion - after new women arrived to compete for James' heart.
"If I was on that date, I would've punched Katie multiple times in the face because she's been pissing me off. She'd wake up with a black eye," controversial contestant Victoria Larson said as the other women found out about the date.
As punches were thrown in the ring, it was clear that both James and the other contestants who were watching on the sidelines were uncomfortable with what they were seeing.
"Fun and games were over, that emotion comes out and they started throwing. It was kind of frightening," James said in an on-camera confessional during the episode.
And after contestant Serena Pitt took a brutal punch to the nose, James decided to call it.
"It was getting dangerous, and that's not what we're going for today," he said. "We're here to have fun."
'Bachelor' alums think it's time for the show to retire the boxing dates
"Nothing good comes from it, someone always gets hurt," Lindsay told Insider. "You can see that the women are extremely uncomfortable with it, and even Matt was uncomfortable."
"So, hopefully, this was the last time we see it, I don't want to see it anymore," she added. "It just doesn't do anything for me as a viewer, it's not entertaining, it's painful to watch."
Contestant Chelsea Vaughn, who was on the group date but didn't have to fight after her partner opted out, also told Lindsay that she didn't like the idea of the boxing match.
"Honestly, we were all kind of uncomfortable with the date," she said during an appearance on Lindsay and Becca Kufrin's "Bachelor Happy Hour" podcast last week. "Just the idea of it, a bunch of women are going to fight over the guy."
Catherine Lowe, who won Sean Lowe's season of "The Bachelor" in 2013, said she thinks the boxing dates are "very bizarre."
"I feel like they could do better," Lowe told Insider after co-hosting a virtual event with Noodles & Company to announce their new cauliflower gnocchi dish.
"Obviously, if there's aggression in the house, they want to have that be a good storyline for the boxing," she added. "But I would be fine with no more boxing or wrestling each other. It doesn't add anything to my watching experience. It kind of makes me scared."
'The Bachelorette ' also came under fire for a controversial group date
In the second episode of the most recent season of "The Bachelorette," Clare Crawley revealed during a group date that her suitors would have to remove a piece of clothing every time they lost a round of dodgeball. At the end, the losing team appeared to walk back to their rooms completely naked.
Many criticized the date for showing a double standard in how the franchise treats its contestants on "The Bachelorette" versus "The Bachelor."
"If this was a 'Bachelor' season, no way this happens, no way they get away with it, no way it's appropriate," former "Bachelor" star Ben Higgins said on his "Almost Famous" podcast. "I think the show is super smart. They knew this wouldn't shut down the show, but it's pushing the envelope a little bit here."
But host Chris Harrison told Insider he knew the date "would raise debate."
"I knew it would raise talk. I don't mind that," he added. "I like that we kind of stir things up from time to time, whatever the topic is. And this is one of those where I didn't mind all the talk."
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