Viewers of The Bachelor noticed during Matt James' Women Tell All episode that Heather Martin may have been edited out of the final cut. Now, fans are wondering why Heather was removed when she was clearly sitting next to the other women during the taping, according to pictures emerging online. The episode that aired did not show Chris Harrison or the other women speak or acknowledge Heather's short stint on the season.
Fans of the reality series franchise met Heather when she appeared on Colton Underwood's season of The Bachelor two years ago. She was known as the girl who had never been kissed and later received her first smooch with Colton during a romantic one-on-one date. Heather eliminated herself halfway through the season because she didn't feel ready to introduce Colton to her family. While she did not win Colton's heart, Heather did become close with some of the women from the season, including Hannah Brown. Heather revealed Hannah was the reason she decided to chase after Matt and try for a chance at love with him.
During Monday night's episode of the Women Tell All, fans on Twitter noticed Heather was at the taping, yet she was never acknowledged or spoken to. Viewers began to wonder why the reality star was cut from the show when she was clearly in attendance. Some viewers believe this was payback for when Dylan Barbour called out the franchise for bringing Heather on, only for her to leave a few hours later. Another theory from Reddit claims that, because Heather was bullied by some women of color when she joined the season, having a white woman be a victim on stage while Chris Harrison moderates the conversation would not be good a look for the franchise.
In screenshots from the show, Twitter users saw Heather sitting next to the other women from the season, meaning she was not an audience member or special guest. One viewer tweeted, "Heather's at the Women Tell All???" alongside a photo of her from behind where her face is partially shown. Another wrote, "So are we just not gonna talk about how Heather is sitting next to kit, but they only show her back??" Still another person called out the editors out for "doing Heather dirty again" by taking her out of the episode when she was sitting next to fellow contestant Kit Keenan. After the episode aired, viewers believed the editors mistreated Heather for cutting her out of the episode.
There is no definite reason as to why Heather was cut out of the show, but viewers did feel bad knowing producers made her come all that way just to be edited out. Yes, the producers did her dirty, but it had to be for a reason. Maybe they were aware enough to realize it would be in bad taste for them to show a white woman as a victim in the current situation the franchise is facing. Plus, this may have saved Heather from the backlash she may have received by talking about her experience.
The Bachelor airs Mondays at 8 PM ET on ABC.
Sources: Twitter (#TheBachelor), Reddit