Bachelor 2011 Emily Maynard: Producers Taking Advantage of Tragic Situation?
Season 15 of The Bachelor is one of the less controversial seasons so far (nobody has a boyfriend back home, no one is sleeping with the producer of the show etc.) but that doesn’t mean execs at ABC are going to let the season go by without sparking a little bit of fury in their viewers.
Every year, Chris Harrison goes on the record to say that there’s nothing about The Bachelor that is staged or fixed to spark an increase in viewership. For the most part, I believe that statement – for the most part.
Here’s where I KNOW incidents and dates were staged to make the season more exciting – at the cost of one of the bachelorettes, of course.
ABC producers are 100 percent taking advantage of Emily Maynard’s tragic situation. She was set to get married to her racecar driver fiancé Ricky Hendrick when she was 19. He got on a plane to fly to a race and the plane crashed and he died. It’s been very obvious the entire season that Emily is still coping with the loss of her ex-boyfriend (has anyone else noticed she wears a ring on her wedding finger?) and producers of the show are definitely playing up on the fact that this poor woman has gone through a horrific incident in her life.
Emily’s first one-on-one date was flying in a tiny plane. Obviously, after what she’s gone through, she would be afraid of flying. She doesn’t need to tell producers that – they know that. Flying on a commercial plane is one thing but a tiny private airplane is another. So, that was fine, it seemed rude to put her on a plane on her first date with Brad but, hey, flying is involved in a lot of these one-on-one dates so we’ll give ABC a break on that one.
The preview for the upcoming episode shows Brad and Emily on another date – in a racecar! At this point, it’s becoming downright unacceptable to put this poor woman through anything else. How is she supposed to move on when they keep bringing up things from her past.
ABC producers are out of line to do this and Brad Womack is out of line for letting it happen. At some point, he could tell producers that he’s simply not putting Emily through the heartache of riding in a racecar with another man.
Are you watching this season? Do you think ABC producers (and ultimately Brad as well) are taking advantage of Emily’s situation to spark viewership?
Here’s a video clip of Emily’s story:
*Click here to see a slideshow of photos of Emily and Ricky.
