Being cast on The Bachelor or The Bachelorette brings lots of new opportunities for contestants such as the ability to find love and make a career out of influencing on social media. However, it's not always sunshine and rainbows for those who appear on reality TV, and while a lot of positive can come from joining the franchise, cast members are also subjected to lots of hate and the public often perceives them in a negative light.
Though The Bachelor is filmed for six to eight weeks on end, a lot of content gets left on the cutting room floor, meaning that viewers only get to see a small edit of the contestants. This allows them to develop bad reputations or become labeled as "villains" when the show only shows a fraction of their personalities.
Heather Martin (Season 23/25)
Heather Martin was simply Miss "Never Been Kissed" when she appeared on season 23 of The Bachelor. She self-eliminated toward the end and was given a relatively nice, though boring edit.
When Heather made a surprise return to The Bachelor on Matt James' season, she was met with criticism from fans and other women of the house. She was bullied from the minute she showed up and accused of only coming on to maintain relevancy. Heather was given the reputation of being a clout chaser when in reality her BFF Hannah Brown just wanted to set her up with Matt.
Olivia Caridi (Season 20)
The outspoken news reporter Olivia Caridi was given the "villain" edit on Ben Higgins' season of The Bachelor, though she later became a fan-favorite when viewers realized she wasn't what her bad reputation on the show made her out to be.
Despite her connection with Ben, Olivia didn't get along with many of the other girls in the house, specifically single mom Amanda Stanton. In turn, she was painted as a bad guy and received a lot of hate post-show by fans and members of Bachelor Nation.
Kendall Long (Season 22)
Kendall Long was America's taxidermy sweetheart when she competed on season 22 of The Bachelor and got third place. She was beloved by Bachelor Nation, only to be accused of indecisiveness in regard to her memorable relationship with Grocery Store Joe on season 5 of Bachelor In Paradise.
When Kendall came back for season 7 of BIP, she faced lots of criticism for wanting to get back together with Joe, despite him being in a successful relationship with Serena Pitt. The backlash continued when she stood before him as he was about to propose to Serena, giving the couple her blessing. It was awkward and sad that Kendall's reputation had become tarnished, mostly because those who watched her on her original season knew her heart was in the right place.
Kelsey Weier (Season 24)
Kelsey Weier was treated as a punchline on Peter Weber's season of The Bachelor. After having a near-meltdown over a bottle of champagne, and then opening it on herself and becoming a meme, many discarded Kelsey as a frontrunner and made fun of her for the unfortunate champagne incident.
Kelsey proved viewers wrong when she made it to hometowns, proving that her relationship with Peter was semi-serious. She was able to shake off her bad reputation even further by appearing on season 7 of Bachelor In Paradise, being eliminated in week one because she was too relaxed in her approach to find love on the beach.
Katie Thurston (Season 25)
Katie Thurston was initially praised for being the relatable girl-next-door on Matt James' season of The Bachelor, only for Bachelor Nation to turn on her once she led her own season of The Bachelorette. Many fans deemed Katie as cringy, pointing to her breakup with Greg Grippo as being one of the most awkward and uncomfortable the show had seen.
Katie received even more hate after her season, when her engagement to Blake Moynes was short-lived, lasting only two months post-show. She then entered a relationship with a week two elimination, John Hersey, which fans thought was in poor taste. Katie has done multiple livestreams and had Instagram posts where she insists that she is just a normal girl who got caught up in the spotlight and doesn't deserve hate for following her heart.
Corinne Olympios (Season 21)
Corinne Olympios was immediately portrayed as a villain when she appeared on Nick Viall's season of The Bachelor. She was deemed a spoiled brat, and accused of appearing on the show for the "wrong reasons". Despite this, she entertained viewers while simultaneously receiving hate from them online.
Corinne was set to return to Bachelor Nation on season four of Bachelor In Paradise, but quit during the first week after sexual misconduct allegations against fellow contestant DeMario Jackson. Following her departure, Corinne has proven that her reputation wasn't deserved at all, as she has gone on to live a relatively normal life and isn't the villain that the show made her out to be.
Lauren Burnham (Season 22)
Lauren Burnham and her husband Arie Ludendyk Jr. are one of the few Bachelor success stories to actually tie the knot and settle down, but before they did so she faced a lot of criticism for accepting his proposal.
Arie originally proposed to Becca Kufrin, only to break up with her a short time later. When he did so, he revealed that he wanted to pursue a relationship with his runner-up, Lauren. Many fans were confused as to how Lauren could take Arie back, let alone support him proposing and breaking up with Becca. Lauren, for her part, stayed mostly positive when viewers criticized her relationship and morals, and has proven everyone wrong by being happily married to Arie with three children years later.
Caelynn Miller-Keyes (Season 23)
Caelynn Miller-Keyes was originally a frontrunner on season 23 of The Bachelor, but was quickly pitted against fellow pageant queen (and eventual Bachelorette) Hannah Brown.
When Hannah brought up to cameras that she and Caelynn had previously been friends but had a falling out in the pageant world, Caelynn was painted as the villain and categorized as a "mean girl". Later, Caelynn appeared on season six of Bachelor In Paradise where she proved the opposite was true, and ended up in one of the most successful Bachelor Nation relationships with partner Dean Unglert.
Jenna Cooper (Season 22)
Jenna Cooper was under a lot of fire after the season five finale of Bachelor In Paradise. After getting engaged to Jordan Kimball, screenshots of text messages circulated around the internet accusing Jenna of cheating on her fiance.
Jenna was shunned by Bachelor Nation and accused of only doing the show and getting engaged to up her Instagram following. It took nearly two years for the allegations to be proven false and for Jenna to clear her name. The reputation Jenna got from these accusations nearly ruined her life, as she was forced to remove herself from the Bachelor franchise and maintain a low profile online for the sake of her family and job.