ABC/Rick Rowell
Good luck, Nick. You're going to need it.
The
• It's no surprise most "Bachelor" and "Bachelorette" couples don't last.
• The contestants are expected to find love in less than two months.
• Only three "Bachelor" couples are still around.
• Five "Bachelorette" couples have lasted.
While America will be following along with Nick Viall and his contestants on this year's "The Bachelor" until mid March, what most viewers may not know was that all the filming was completed for the show well before the January 2 premiere.
Viall and producers started filming with 30 women on September 24. We know the exact date after "Bachelor" producer Mike Fleiss tweeted out some of the first footage from the show. Viall was finished filming by the end of November when he went back to Chicago to see his family around November 27.
That means that Viall and his contestants were expected to find love in less than 9 weeks, or around two months.
This short timeline is pretty standard for "Bachelor" and "Bachelorette" contestants. Dating over 20 people and trying to find love in two short months is extremely difficult, which might be why only two Bachelor couples are still together from the show, three if you count Jason Mesnick who ended the show with Melissa Rycroft but soon broke up with her to date (and later marry) the runner-up Molly Malaney.
Ethan Miller/Getty Images Jason Mesnick is married to his runner up, Molly Malaney.
Sean Lowe, the "Bachelor" for season 17, started filming in LA on September 20, 2012, and finished in the first weekend of that November, which means he only had six weeks to fall in love. Yet, he's now married to his winner Catherine Giudici and the pair have a son together.
Similarly, Ben Higgins and his winner Lauren Bushnell are still engaged and while no wedding date has been set yet, they've used their time to get to know each other more and take other steps forward, like moving in together.
ABC/Matt Dunn
Lauren Bushnell and Ben Higgins are still engaged.
The "Bachelorette" is on a similarly short timeline, and incidentally has a higher success rate, with five of the 12 couples still together. JoJo Fletcher, the most recent "Bachelorette," even gave insight in her season as to just how fast the show moves when she was asked how long she knew the guy she was on a date with.
"We met about a week ago," the 25-year-old said, despite the fact that the show was technically in the third week for television audiences.
It just goes to show you that a little TV magic is necessary when making these shows and stretching out the timeline. So the next time you're surprised that the "Bachelor" or "Bachelorette" couples don't stay together, don't be - the odds are stacked against them.