The Bachelor’s most recent episode included a couple’s therapy group date that left most of the women in tears and included a shock elimination, and Bachelor viewers were not having it.
Fans reacted to the emotionally draining date by begging the franchise to end their recent trend of promoting dates that appear to encourage ‘trauma dumping’ from the contestants.
Bachelor fans were furious after Genevieve Parisi was sent home for not participating in the therapy date
Clayton Echard’s women opened up about everything from complicated family dynamics to personal insecurities to relationships with other women in the house on the date. However, one woman was noticeably hesitant during her one-on-one time.
After Genevieve Parisi couldn’t open up about her feelings and experiences in couple’s therapy, Clayton eliminated her immediately from the show.
The Bachelor fans took to Twitter to share their thoughts about how the group date went down.
“Very uncomfortable with the forced televised therapy session or go home narrative,” one fan wrote.
“Clayton when Genevieve wouldn’t trauma dump on national tv,” another fan captioned a photo of a Toy Story meme.
“Can we stop forcing these woman to air out childhood trauma on national television with a man they like just met,” another commenter wrote.
One user even jumped in to say that she, a licensed therapist, felt that the date “is unethical, harmful, and contributes to so many misconceptions and stigmas about therapy.”
The Bachelor franchise faced backlash for previous ‘trauma dumping’ group dates
This isn’t the first time this season that The Bachelor has faced backlash from fans over the pressure contestants face to share their trauma early on.
Bachelor viewers also called out a Baywatch group date immediately after many of the women opened up about body image issues as they talked about previous relationships.
The confessional group date also made an appearance on Katie Thurston’s season of The Bachelorette where the men opened up about their past mistakes in relationships.
This group date also led to the elimination of a contestant when Thomas Jacobs was sent home after being branded the villain of the house.
In addition to the group dates, many of the contestants open up about their pasts while on one-on-one dates in an attempt to bond with the lead.
Viewers even speculated that contestants such as Kelley Flanagan were eliminated because of their refusal to air out their past too quickly.
Group dates are coming to a close on this season of The Bachelor, so fans will have to wait until next season to see if producers get rid of the notorious therapy dates.
The Bachelor airs on Mondays at 8/7c on ABC.