Bachelor Nation fans know that with each new season of reality dating’s finest series comes the promise of the most dramatic season ever. Fiery arguments, emotional conversations ending in everything from tussles to tears, and heartbreak are inevitable, and while The Bachelor and The Bachelorette are responsible for endless love stories, over time the franchise has become better known for thriving on its own drama. That is, until Zach Shallcross came onto the scene.
Before we get started, let’s address the elephant in the room: no one came into this season of The Bachelor expecting to be excited or wooed by the leading man. In fact, Vanity Fair called the season premiere “snoozy” and “on life support,” and fans have been all but dreading the start of this particular romantic journey. Shallcross didn’t leap off the screen as a “must-pick” for the next Bachelor, but now that his season is officially underway, we’re starting to sense that that might actually be a good thing.
Zach is proving to be a sincere guy who’s looking for love and genuinely believes in the process. To see these qualities in a Bachelor this early on in a series that feeds on non-stop drama can actually be quite jarring, especially for fans who have been a part of Bachelor Nation since the very beginning. For those who genuinely want the Bachelor or Bachelorette to find love, the ever-present drama that gives reality TV its bad name can be a colossal distraction. Maybe Shallcross is the leading man we’ve been waiting for. Maybe he’ll be the one to make The Bachelor all about finding real love again, not just growing a social media following or carving out a spot on the next season of Bachelor in Paradise.
After Monday’s episode, audiences are more open to the idea of a drama-free Bachelor than ever before, as the Bachelor himself quickly set about stealing viewers’ hearts. Zach is emerging as the least problematic lead in recent memory ⏤ a Bachelor who isn’t interested in drama and who wears vulnerability right next to the heart on his sleeve.
On the first group date of the series, some surprise Bachelor Nation alumni joined hit artist Latto for a memorable date that was all about big big energy: Victoria Fuller, Courtney Robertson, and Tahzjuan Hawkins. They walked into the date promising the girls that they weren’t there to “take their man,” but naturally that sentiment lasted about as long as expected. Before long, Tahzjuan felt that the girls on the date weren’t suitable for Zach and fancied herself the remedy.
After spending no more than a few moments with Zach, Tahzjuan went from visitor to hopeful rose-receiver, pulling Zach away from a date with one of the women who, you know, was officially cast on the show and there from night one. She put it all out there, asking Zach to sit with her so she could explain her spontaneous arrival at the Bachelor mansion. Ever the gentleman, Zach told Tahzjuan that he needed to think about the possibility of letting her join the group of hopeful women, likely aware that the women he should have been spending time with had already made up their minds. It came as no surprise that they weren’t looking for another addition to the season, least of all the shameless Tahzjuan.
When the women decided to confront her as a group, instead of showing a genuine interest in Zach and realizing the awkward situation she had put everyone in, Tahzjuan insulted the women, calling their date “painful to watch.” This completely disrupted the otherwise drama-free night the women were having, which is why Bachelor Nation breathed a collective sigh of relief when Zach told the women that he wasn’t on board with Tahzjuan joining the series ⏤ a big big energy moment of his own.
Other seasons have found other Bachelors leaning into the idea of a lady from the outside joining the house and therefore the competition, but not Zach. Later in the episode, during his one-on-one with Christina, he proceeded to steal our hearts even further when Christina told him about her daughter, five-year-old Blakely, and opened up about being a single mother. Zach was smitten as he listened to Christina talk about her daughter, but he also had a moment of pause where he told her that he needed to think about what bringing a child into the picture would mean for him.
Zach assured Christina that a family is something he wants, but expressed that he wasn’t sure if he was ready to be a father at this exact moment in time. His open dialogue with both the audience and himself led viewers to believe that he wasn’t going to give Christina a rose, but when he did, it was a testament to the connection he felt with Christina despite his initial shock at the mention of her daughter.
Naturally, fans loved how Zach opened up to Christina with his true feelings while being mindful of hers.
It quickly became clear to fans that something very real was brewing between these two.
Of course, after two exciting dates, it was then time for the rose ceremony, and Zach had some critical decisions to make. Once again, he showed us that he’s here for love, not drama, as demonstrated when Brianna pulled him aside for a chat.
Earlier in the night, Brianna had pulled Christina aside to confront her about a joke Christina had made on night one in the mansion. Christina had told Brianna that she was beautiful, but followed it up with, “I hate you. JK.” That last part didn’t sit well with Brianna, who went on to say that she wasn’t sure if the Bachelor mansion was a place where she could find love or friendship. Christina attempted to make amends for what she had said and even apologized for not remembering having said it, but Brianna wasn’t satisfied.
She wasted no time bringing the exchange up to Zach, asking if he wanted to know which woman had rubbed her the wrong way. In a stunning turn of events not normally seen in Bachelor Nation, Zach told Brianna that if it had been taken care of, he didn’t feel that he needed to know who the woman in question was, even despite Brianna’s best attempts to bait him into that chat. Eventually, Brianna walked away, not revealing Christina’s identity to Zach or saying anything else about the issue.
In prior seasons, drama has been what everyone came to watch the show for, but so far, Zach doesn’t seem to want that to take center stage, or even a small percentage of his journey with the women. He even began winning over one viewer who said his “boring” name now deserves some respect.
Zach’s behavior is even being hailed as “unbelievable,” especially as the lead of this particular franchise.
With this many fans tweeting about Zach’s success with shutting down the drama, it’s clear that this Bachelor is making waves ⏤ the refreshing kind.
Even if ratings end up being lower this season than they have been in previous ones, it’s a welcome change of pace seeing a Bachelor not fall into the dramatic traps easily set by producers and overly emotional houseguests ⏤ at least not yet. Fan reactions to Zach’s positive approach to the show even beg the question of whether or not the series’ dramatic tendencies are even working anymore. Is this the Bachelor turning point we didn’t even know we needed?
Of course, the previews for the rest of the season indicate that there’s plenty of drama lurking on the horizon, but we’ve got a feeling that Zach will continue avoiding it as much as he can and wowing us as the season continues. How can he not? He gives the women his full attention when he’s with them, seems genuinely in the moment with each conversation and interaction he has, and doesn’t come across like he’s playing things up for the camera. If there’s a single resounding complaint about Zach, it’s that he spends a lot of time kissing the women he’s dating, to which we say let him (and more importantly, let them).
Our fingers are crossed that Zach’s reign as the most charming, non-problematic, and drama-free Bachelor continues ⏤ at least until the hypothetical excrement inevitably hits the rotating ceiling blades.