You might’ve heard upward of a thousand times throughout this past season of The Bachelor that Colton Underwood is — sorry, was — a proud, messy virgin, a fact contestants and Chris Harrison took great pride in bringing up as much as possible. As with most running gags, the schtick got tiresome after, say, episode three, but Underwood’s sexless lifestyle still remained an integral part of his season’s DNA until his last onscreen appearance, when he kind of confirmed he finally banged a lady. (If so, congrats buddy!) We have Hannah Brown’s hot mess of a Bachelorette season to think about now, but until then, we’ll leave you with this tidbit from ABC’s reality chief: The network really isn’t sorry about how much they played up Underwood’s virginity, because they knew that’s exactly what Bachelor viewers expected.
“Was it too much? Absolutely. But is The Bachelor the poster child for overkill? Absolutely,†Robert Mills told THR. “And I think that’s why we love it. It’s over-the-top and fun. Look, we have to own it. We know it’s true.†He added while the show definitely “overhypes†certain moments — the fence jump was a rare exception — that’s where the “fun†of watching stems from. “It’s such a social show for people to think: Where does this rank? Was it the most dramatic, the second most dramatic, the least dramatic?†Mills said. “And I think that’s where everything with all the virginity talk came from, too.†We can only hope Brown’s pageant season will bring the top drama.