The painful outcomes surrounding the fantasy suite have a long history in The Bachelor franchise, and it’s time to get rid of them. A staple on both The Bachelor and The Bachelorette, the fantasy suite is the night when the cameras disappear, and each of the final three contestants has the opportunity to stay overnight in a luxuriously appointed room with the man or woman they are falling for. It is a highly anticipated night wrought with mixed emotions for the bachelor or bachelorette and the contestant. Fantasy suite night has played a pivotal role in determining the final outcome of many seasons of The Bachelor and The Bachelorette.
Many viewers assume that once the mics are off and the camera operators leave, passions are ignited behind closed doors, though most previous contestants have been silent on that front. Some stories have leaked about what actually happens in The Bachelor fantasy suite, and they seem to vary a great deal. However, in The Bachelor season 26, episode 10, bachelor Clayton Echard made it clear he was in love with all three finalists and that he had slept with two of them. Fans watched as Clayton admitted to his first-choice lady, Susie Evans, that he’d been intimate with both Rachel Recchia and Gabby Windey. But Susie said she could not get past those things, and in a heartbreaking and dramatic scene, she left. Then in episode 11, he shattered both Rachel and Gabby’s hearts in an explosive and unprecedented rose ceremony by confessing his intimate encounters and his love for three ladies.
The fantasy suites have had a long history of causing issues when it comes down to the final three on The Bachelor. There have been many contestants and leads who have struggled with the fantasy suite week, knowing the person they are falling for is going to potentially be intimate with numerous men or women. On Juan Pablo Galavis’ season of The Bachelor, Andi Dorfman was disheartened by her fantasy suite date, claiming he did nothing to try to get to know her better. When Andi became the Bachelorette, her fantasy suite date with Nick Viall fared no better, when, at their moment of intimacy, he wanted to play a game of “Would You Rather,” as she revealed in her book It’s Not Okay: Turning Heartbreak Into Happily Never After. Nick confronted Andi on "After The Final Rose" in front of the winner, Josh Murray, asking why she had sex with him if she wasn’t in love with him. This was an indiscretion Andi did not appreciate.
Hannah Brown’s season of The Bachelorette echoed Clayton’s season when frontrunner Luke Parker made it clear he would eliminate himself from the competition if Hannah were to have sex with anyone during the fantasy suite dates. Madison Prewett confessed the same reservations to her love interest, Peter Weber, when he was on The Bachelor season 24. When Peter admitted to having been intimate with both Hannah Ann Sluss and Victoria Fuller, she left. Bachelor Sean Lowe chose not to take advantage of spending the night alone with his final three, claiming he was a “born-again virgin." This worked out for him as he is still happily married to his winner, Catherine Giudici Lowe, proving the fantasy suites do not necessarily make or break the relationship.
The fantasy suites certainly have their advantages, allowing couples to speak freely and not worry about being edited. They get the chance to choose how they’d like to spend this precious alone time together. It’s also an opportunity to explore the more intimate side of the relationship. While there are definitely positives to it, past seasons of The Bachelor and The Bachelorette have demonstrated that fantasy suite night can have negative repercussions on the relationship, even permanently severing them, and it may be time to get rid of them entirely.
