The Bachelor and The Bachelorette are TV shows with a clear goal that you don't need Bachelor spoilers to figure out:
Set up a man or woman with his or her soulmate.
Heck, nearly every season ends with a proposal, right? And yet, over time, almost no proposals end in actual marriage.
By the numbers, few couples from Bachelor Nation last months; let alone years; let alone an entire lifetime together.
Have there been exceptions to this rule?
Oh yeah, just look at Jason and Molly. Or Sean and Cat. Rachel and Bryan. Even Arie and Lauren ... or JoJo and Jordan.
Nevertheless, it's still an arduous, uphill battle.
See Hannah Brown and Jed Wyatt, or Peter Weber and Hannah Ann, or Peter Weber and Madison for that matter.
Their engagements lasted ... days? Hours?
These are unique cases, and yet ... not. Heck, Peter and Kelley Flanagan broke up too now. Dude was 0-for-3 in 2020!
The fact is that it's hard out there for duos spawned by this franchise to make it work, as we saw repeatedly last year.
If you recall, Colton and Cassie broke up last summer. Followed by Becca and Garrett. Then even Ashley and J.P.
Such a brutal year, 2020.
Oh, and Clare and Dale split up as well. The other Bachelorette of 2020, Tayshia Adams, has fared better so far.
And then there's the dumpster fire that was Matt James' season of The Bachelor. Needless to say, it didn't work out.
Looking back through the years, which duos are still living happily ever after after the final rose was bestowed?
Take a look at notable couples from The Bachelor and Bachelorette and see whether they're still a romantic item now.
1. Clare Crawley and Dale Moss
Where to begin with Clare Crawley and Dale Moss, the latest casualty of The Bachelor Curse a.k.a. real life? These two got engaged after like two weeks, peaced out of the show, and were head over heels in love before a host of usual suspects - cheating allegations, long-distance relationships, conflicting priorities, the stress of the spotlight, the honeymoon phase wearing off - derailed their romance in spectacular fashion in early 2021. Is it possible for a breakup to be surprising and yet not at all?
2. Tayshia Adams and Zac Clark
Tayshia Adams and Zac Clark, on the other hand, appear happy as can be - at least for the time being. After she took over The Bachelorette when Clare bounced with Dale, she went on to enjoy a relatively conventional season, culminating in an engagement to Zac. We wish these two all the best, as they certainly do seem like a great fit. You just never get your hopes up too high as a fan these days.
3. Matt James and Rachael Kirkconnell
What a mess. What a complete and utter mess. An unmitigated disaster that the show will take a long time to recover from, if it ever does, no one can take away the fact that it was, truly, the most shocking season in Bachelor history. (Ironically, Chris Harrison stepped down at the end of it.) Of course Matt James, hyped for months as the first Black Bachelor, would end up giving Rachael Kirkconnell - who came under fire for racially insensitive photos and comments - his final rose. He never even proposed to her (no promise ring, no nothing) on the finale, which is probably the only good news producers could've hoped for, as their Valentine's Day breakup (a month before the season finale even aired) was relatively quick and painless.
4. Colton Underwood and Cassie Randolph
Colton Underwood and Cassie Randolph, as we mentioned and you probably heard if you're reading this, broke up in late May 2020. By all accounts, Cassie was The One for Colton from the start, and it appeared that she was along for the ride long after he busted the inaugural nut. Whether they actually make it to the altar was always suspect, however, given the hesitation we'd seen on the show ... and some of the bombshells he dropped in his recent memoir ... and just the overall odds of reality TV relationships actually lasting. Not good. But hey. They made it over a year and as they said in their joint statement, some people are just meant to be friends instead. No shame in that truth. Of course, given her recent accusations and the restraining order she filed, there may be plenty of shame we've yet to learn about.
5. Peter Weber and Madison Prewett
Peter Weber was an iconic disaster on The Bachelor. So much so that it's hard to decide which of his relationships to even include here. He began his season needing "closure" with Hannah Brown, who returned to the show for multiple episodes ... then got engaged to Hannah Ann Sluss on the finale and dumped her a month later (long before the finale actually made it to air). Then Chris Harrison flew to Alabama to set Peter up with runner-up Madison Prewett, who he went public with on the After the Final Rose special. They broke up two days after. Then he got together with Kelley Flanagan, another contestant on his season who didn't even make it to hometown dates. Good luck to her.
6. Hannah Brown and Jed Wyatt
This one didn't come close to working out. Hannah accepted Jed's proposal... only to find out TWO WHOLE DAYS later that Wyatt had never told her about a quasi girlfriend back at home. She then dumped him. A year later, she said she had doubts even during the proposal itself. Maybe she shouldn't have put herself through that, but what can you do. The heart wants what it wants and sometimes that's douchelords.
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