After everyone fell in love with Grant Ellis during Jenn Tran's party Bachelorette party season, it was no surprise when he was cast in the lead role of The Bachelor season 29, but the producers may be setting him up for failure because it will be difficult for him to live up to the expectations they are creating for him. Grant, a 31-year-old day trader from Newark, New Jersey, knew exactly what he wanted when he was a contestant on Jenn's season: to be a husband and father. Although he and Jenn had a strong connection, she said goodbye to him shortly before their hometown dates.
Grant was devastated but happy to take on the role of the star of The Bachelor season 29. The producers announced him earlier than usual so that women would have a chance to sign up to be on the season to date him specifically. Everything seems to be going well for Grant, but the show's latest preview is setting a standard of perfection it may not be able to reach. THE Bachelor the producers are setting him up for failure.
Grant Ellis is being called a wish come true
It is unfair to allow him to strive for perfection
THE Bachelor producers seem determined to make Grant the perfect man. In a new Instagram post, The Bachelor shared a sneak peek of the show with the caption, "Your wish is grant(ed), baby. See you on January 27th!" The song "Genie in a Bottle" by Christina Aguilera plays, emphasizing that Grant is the wish fulfilled. In the promo, several of Grant's competitors are shown saying things like, "Your eyes. And your skin." "Where did you find this man?" “All I’m looking for is, like, everything he is,” "Is this real? Is he real?" and "Cinderella can take a backseat because this is next-level kind of love."
While all of these comments are intended to drum up interest in Grant and his season, they are actually problematic because they are creating unrealistic expectations for him. It's wrong to focus on Grant's appearance instead of his personality, and question whether he's real because he seems so perfect. The answer is yes: he is a very real person, which means he is flawed and will inevitably make mistakes along his journey because no one is perfect.
When creating promotions like this, the producers are setting Grant up for failure because fans will criticize him for anything he does that doesn't fit the unrealistic image they have of him. This is very unfair to him. THE Cinderella the reference would cast Grant as Prince Charming, a character who has become the archetype of the perfect man. The problem is that Prince Charming cannot exist in real life because he is one-dimensional. Grant should be allowed to show his full personality because his future partner will need to see both the good and not-so-good sides of him.
Grant Ellis may crumble under pressure
Grant needs to be able to make mistakes
During The Bachelor In season 28, Joey Graziadei went through a similar situation with striving for perfection and expressed how stressful it was for him to have to live up to these high expectations. Although Joey's season ended with a lasting engagement, it was sad to see him go through doubts. However, producers have not learned from this mistake and are once again putting undue pressure on their leadership. Therefore, Grant may crumble under the pressure of being a bachelor.
As the leader of The Bachelor season 29, Grant needs to be able to make mistakes without judgment. It's very challenging to date more than 30 women at the same time, so mistakes are inevitable. However, if producers weren't already promoting Grant's image as a perfect Prince Charming, people wouldn't be so upset if he made a mistake.
The producers also did the same thing to Gerry Turner during The Golden Bachelorwhen they unfairly created for him a persona that he could never live up to. Grant is only human, but the series has already turned him into a fairytale hero. It would be a shame if the producers turned him into a villain, as they have done with so many others in the past..
Grant Ellis' reputation could be ruined
Grant may regret being single
Grant is coming in The Bachelor season 29 with everyone rooting for him. However, this happened in the past and ended in disaster. The Bachelor season 26 star Clayton Echard and The Bachelor Season 27 lead Zach Shallcross were seen as heroes and then villains after they released the intimate details of their Fantasy Suite encounters to the world. Although Zach is now happily engaged to Kaity Biggar, Clayton's relationship with Susie Evans fell apart after the show.
Of course, Clayton and Zach are responsible for their own actions, but the producers also played a part in ruining their reputations. For starters, they could have simply not aired the scenes where the women were humiliated by Clayton and Zach. However, because the scenes were so essential to the plot, if they had to convey them, they could have been kinder. The producers wanted to create drama and didn't care who got hurt in the process.
Now it seems that the Bachelor season 29 producers are doing the same thing with Grant. One of the previews of his season (shared via Bachelor Nation YouTube channel) ends with what appears to be a confused Grant, unable to make a decision between his last two wives. Grant the first states, "I want to be happy. I want to have love. It's something important to me. But I'm afraid of making the wrong decision."
In the next scene, host Jesse Palmer and Grant are at the last rose ceremony, where Jesse asks Grant if he feels like he knows what he wants to do. Grant responds, "The truth is... I don't know." Jesse then tells Grant that they have both women on standby and that he needs to know which one to send first. The promo ends with Grant looking distressed. This promo may have been rigged to get viewers to tune in, but if Grant really had trouble deciding between his final two wives, This could ruin your reputation as a nice guy. Like others before him, he may regret being single.
Despite all this, The Bachelor season 29 has the potential to be one of the best seasons ever because Grant is a wonderful person. The concern is that the producers are setting him up for failure by making him seem perfect and putting too much pressure on him to live up to that expectation. Hopefully, Grant will be able to overcome everything the producers put him through, and he will find his true love and live happily ever after..
Sources: The Bachelor/Instagram, Bachelor Nation/YouTube