There are lots of things to wonder about every season on The Bachelor and this season is no different. Usually, though, the questions that arise are about whether or not someone is on the show for the right reasons, if two people are right for each other, and maybe whether or not someone is actually mentally unstable and just shouldn't be involved at all. But, there is one persistent query that keeps coming up as leads and contestants travel the world while they look for love: Why don't guys ever offer women their coat when it's clear that they're freezing?!
I will immediately cop to the fact that I have never watched a season of The Bachelor or The Bachelorette and wondered why, during some late night date when a woman is in a slinky evening gown and clearly not covered up enough for the chilly air, the guy she's with doesn't offer her his jacket. This might mean that I'm horrible, but I prefer to think it just means that too much other crazy stuff is going on during the show for such a simple thing to penetrate my brain.
At any rate, there is someone who's been wondering about the lack of this easy act of chivalry (which was on display when Madison talked to Peter after the most recent rose ceremony in an airplane hangar), so now we know why fans will never see it on any Bachelor show. Entertainment Weekly grilled a producer of The Bachelor about why we've never seen a man give a woman his jacket, and here's what they had to say:
The Bachelor nearly always offers his jacket to every shivering woman sitting in front of him. But [we] tell him not to, because it looks so damn silly.
Uhhhhhhh...EXCUSE ME?! So, the party line over at The Bachelor is to let women be colder than necessary, just because it looks silly on camera? Alright, just give me a second...As it turns out the producer had more to say, some of which sorta makes up for this shocking lack of empathy. Apparently, while this producer freely admits that they don't want to see any scenes of "a small woman draped in an enormous blazer" during the show, they do keep a generous supply of pashminas (which are super fancy giant scarves) available as they traipse around the world, so that any woman who catches a chill can cover up a bit.
The only problem with this, of course, is that I've also never seen anyone on The Bachelor or The Bachelorette cover herself in a pashmina, meaning that when that proffered blazer that smells like the handsome man in front of her is forced back onto his shoulders, all the cold ladies just do without. Nice, producers. Really nice.
On the upside, at least we know that the guys in the Bachelor franchise are aware of how to treat a lady in some small way. Honestly, for some of these dudes, if we don't see them offer a woman their jacket, we're not going to see them be actual gentlemen at all. But, maybe it's for the best that the show won't let us get complacent and think, "Oh, he can't be too much of a jerk. He gave her his blazer!" Let the real bastards fall where they may.
We can all watch Peter continue to not keep Madison, Victoria (let her freeze) and Hannah Ann warm when The Bachelor continues, Mondays at 8 p.m. EST on ABC. For more on what you can see on the small screen right now, check out our 2020 premiere guide!
