Kelly Ripa's History Of Bashing Bachelor Nation Is A Long One

Summary

• Kelly Ripa openly criticizes The Bachelor franchise and its leads on her talk show, questioning their motives and choices.
• Kelly's interviews with Bachelor and Bachelorette stars are filled with blunt questions and uncomfortable moments due to her strong disapproval.
• Former Bachelor contestant Ashley Iaconetti and Ben Higgins have criticized Kelly for her skepticism towards the show and its contestants.

Daytime talk show host Kelly Ripa despises The Bachelor franchise and has voiced her opinion about the dating competition show on several occasions. In fact, Kelly isn't afraid to tell The Bachelor and The Bachelorette leads that come on her talk show what a huge mistake they made.

For example, things between Kelly and The Bachelorette Season 21's Jenn Tran got awkward from the very start on Live With Kelly and Mark. Kelly had no issues drilling Jenn about why on earth she wanted to be the next Bachelorette as she was so good-looking. Kelly and Mark even recommended that Jenn find love some place else, like "medical school," "the office," or "church." A back and forth banter ensued, but it was just another example of Kelly bad-mouthing The Bachelor franchise.

Kelly has constantly criticized the show's leads and has made it clear that she's not a fan of a bunch of women vying for the attention of one man. Kelly has become widely known for her rude remarks and letting the world know she definitely does not tune in.

Kelly Ripa Has A History Of Bashing The Bachelor Franchise Leads

Kelly Ripa has invited several The Bachelor and The Bachelorette leads to her daytime talk show. However, one thing Kelly often asks them is why these attractive individuals need to go on a reality show to find love among 25 strangers. One unpleasant interview took place between Kelly and Season 23 The Bachelor Colton Underwood.

When Kelly and Ryan Seacreast invited Colton to Live With Kelly and Ryan in 2019, Kelly was in dismay as to why Colton, who she described as "capable, normal, and handsome," would want to become The Bachelor. Continuing to be dumbfounded by this, she asked Colton, "Why must you go on a show where it seems like everybody is robbed of everything except alcohol?"

"I would say out of all the Bachelor's I've hugged, that was not so terrible."

Colton defended his reasons behind wanting to be the next Bachelor by asking both Kelly and Ryan that dating apps are far worse when it comes to finding a connection with someone. Kelly then insisted that Colton still did not need the show to find love.

Prior to having Colton on the show, Kelly invited Season 22's The Bachelor Arie Luyendyk Jr. and Lauren Burnham.

The racecar driver's decision to break up with Becca Kufrin, whom he proposed to on the show, for Lauren, shocked viewers. As Kelly and Ryan were introducing their guests, it was clear that Kelly was not going to be a fan of talking to either of them.

During their joint interview, Kelly wasn't afraid to hit Arie with a few digs regarding his decision to end his engagement to Becca and choose his runner-up.

"What's wrong with you? What are you thinking? How did this happen? Are you as shady as I think you are now?"

With Lauren by his side, Kelly so boldly asked, "What's wrong with you?" In addition, she told Lauren that Arie being in love with two women was "a red flag." Despite Kelly clearly showcasing her dislike for Arie, he and Lauren are still married and raising three children.

From Us Weekly's article, Kelly also made these statements on her talk show:

• When interviewing Hannah Brown, Kelly shared, "You guys, you know how I feel about this show, it disgusts me."
• Stating that all The Bachelor's look alike, the host said, "If you lined them up, again forgive me, if you line them all up in a line I would not be able to identify any of them."

Nick Viall also joined Live with Kelly and Mark when he became the lead for Season 21. However, instead of questioning why Nick was too good to be on the series, Us Weekly reported that Kelly bashed the women that were chosen for Nick.

"I was reading some of this stuff, some of these facts about the selection of girls you have to choose from. So, one girl is 25 years old and still has a nanny. You need to run away! You need to run, OK?" Kelly said.

In addition, Kelly felt that it was necessary to give Nick some dating advice, which was to stay away from The Bachelor. Hence, it was his third time on the series but his first as a lead.

"I think that you need to try and find love outside of TV. We used to meet, like, at the clubs or at work ... Go to the bars!"

Kelly's hatred for The Bachelor franchise goes back quite some time. When Andi Dorfman was made Season 10's The Bacherlotte in 2014, she made an appearance on Live With Kelly and Michael. Kelly asked Andi, "I'm looking at you, and you're gorgeous. You seem perfectly normal, why are you doing this to yourself?" Stating that she gets to choose between 25 single bachelors, Kelly quips, "They're not good enough for you." Kelly also threw out a few jabs about the show, like what she said below while interviewing Andi:

"On that first night when everybody is sobbing, and you've met this guy for 12 minutes, and you're convinced that he's the one. You're on this journey together. Is it the alcohol, or what is it?"

Former Bachelor Stars Called Out Kelly Ripa

After Kelly Ripa and The Bachelorette Jenn Tran's awkward interview in July, former The Bachelor contestant Ashley Iaconetti criticized Kelly and her years-long hatred for the franchise. As Us Weekly shared, on her Almost Famous podcast, Ashley said, "Every time we have a lead go on the show to promote it, she always seems to be so skeptical of - a little bit of the lead, and their decision to be the lead - and also just the process."

Ashley's co-host and former The Bachelor Ben Higgins sided with the host, and poked fun at Kelly, stating, "I don't know if they, like, denied her the Bachelorette role at some point."

After years of openly hating the franchise, it doesn't seem like Kelly will ever stop sharing her negative opinions. Let's just see how future The Bachelor and The Bachelortte leads take her criticism when they're in the hot seat.