Heading into its 16th season shortly, The Bachelorette is widely known as one of America's most popular and longest-running reality television franchises. For over a decade, audiences have watched strong women fall in love, experience devastating heartbreak, and navigate the trials and tribulations of finding a lasting relationship in the modern dating world. Season after season has delivered the heart and the drama, with plenty of jaw-dropping moments that will always be remembered by Bachelor Nation.
As Clare Crawley sets out to find love in 2020, let's look back on the most popular The Bachelorette seasons to date, ranked by their IMDb score.
Rachel Lindsay was no-nonsense on her season, making her desire for marriage clear, even when it meant sending home one of her clear frontrunners in Peter Kraus. She was a breath of fresh air for the franchise as a headstrong lawyer, and her outspoken nature made for a great season.
Though her relationship with Peter took up most of the airtime on the season, she got engaged to - and later tied the knot with - Bryan Abasolo. The duo now live in Miami, and Lindsay has transitioned to a career as in television hosting.
A more low-key season of the series, Herbert was one of the more relatable leads the show has had over the seasons. She was anxious about her relationships but remained fun and full of energy, even in more awkward moments of the season, like the terrible group date where the men viciously roasted Herbert and made jabs at her appearance.
Despite some low moments, audiences felt connected to Herbert, and her love story with JP Rosenbaum was one of the most authentic the series has ever had. The two are married and are still together nearly a decade later and two children.
One of the earlier seasons of the series, Ali famously chose her career over love on Jake Pavelka's season of The Bachelor, all but securing her spot as the leading lady on the following season of The Bachelorette. Fedotowsky was entertaining and always fun to watch, particularly when she left contestant Kasey Kahl on a glacier after a 2-on-1 date where he'd gotten a tattoo for her. She was also well known for chasing off Rated "R" Justin Rego after finding out he had a girlfriend off the show.
Though she didn't find lasting love on The Bachelorette, Fedotowsky later got married and now has two children.
The hilarious, fun-loving lead was the first Canadian to star on the show. She was undeniably genuine during her season and handled the slut-shaming backlash due to her relationship with Nick Viall with class. Though controversy surrounded her season, Bristowe was great fun to watch, and her lack of filter made her feel more approachable than past leads.
The season was bolstered by what felt like a deep connection between Bristowe and her ex-fiance Shawn Booth. The duo dated for three years off the show, which could be considered successful by The Bachelorette standards.
Like Rachel Lindsay, Andi Dorfman was a successful lawyer who infamously eliminated herself from Juan Pablo's The Bachelor season after being unable to put up with his callous behavior. She was a strong woman with a high-powered career who didn't have time for unnecessary drama.
Her season was known for sparking the major rivalry between Bachelor staple Nick Viall and would-be-winner Josh Murray, which if nothing else made for great television. Dorfman would go on to get engaged to Murray, and later end the relationship and write a scathing tell-all book entitled It's Not Okay about his behavior.
A favorite from Ben Higgins season, audiences were excited to see JoJo get her chance at love, and sparks immediately flew between her and Jordan Rogers, the younger brother of famed Green Bay Packers Quarterback Aaron Rogers.
JoJo's extremely likable persona and a season filled with twists - capped off with the infamous villain Chad Johnson - made for compelling television. A cherry on top, Jordan and JoJo are still together and have their own Airbnb renovation show Cash Pad on CNBC as well as a competition series Battle Of The Fittest Couple on Paramount Network.
Another Bachelorette whose relationship stood the test of time, Desiree Hartsock's season was well known for the early departure of one of her frontrunners, Brooks Forester. Audiences feared the fun-loving bridal stylist from Colorado wouldn't end up finding her happy-ever-after, but Desiree went on to accept a proposal from Chris Siegfried.
The couple is happily married over seven years later and have two sons, and had a brief stint on Marriage Bootcamp: Reality Stars.
Emily Maynard became popular for her feisty, hold-no-bars attitude and resilience. The mother-of-one, and previous Bachelor winner, famously told off a contestant who called her young daughter 'baggage,' and often sent men home before rose ceremonies on their dates if she didn't see a future with them.
Maynard accepted an engagement from Jef Holm, who she chose over would-be Bachelor Arie Luyendyk Jr. The engagement didn't last, however, and she and Holm split only a few months after filming.
Perhaps one of the most beloved bachelorettes in the show's history, the Miss Alabama beauty pageant titleholder, was unapologetically awkward, endearing, and head-strong during her season. Brown had some iconic moments, from moving the rose pedestal away from pesky contestant Luke Parker to standing her ground against Jed.
Though Brown didn't end up with any of the men after then-fiancee Jed Wyatt's girlfriend scandal broke, she followed up her run on The Bachelorette with a winning stint on Dancing With The Stars, which cemented her fun, loveable persona in the eyes of America.
Kufrin was well-liked as The Bachelorette from the get-go after then-fiancee Arie Luyendyk Jr. broke up with her with the cameras rolling to go be with his runner-up. Fans were rooting for the sweet girl from Minnesota to find her happy-ever-after the second time around, and she did just that when she met Garrett Yrigoyen. Though her season fell into numerous typical Bachelorette tropes, Kufrin was undeniably easy to watch in her lead role.
There was some controversy over Garrett's questionable Instagram activity that got him into hot water, but the couple is still together and living happily post-Bachelorette.
