When you’re stuck in a house with 22 women, competing for the love and affection of one guy, things can get a little… tense.
The 2016 season of The Bachelor has delivered plenty of drama and stories about bitter rivalries and in-house feuds than you can poke a stick at.
But here’s the forgotten part of The Bachelor (and, yes, The Bachelorette) that we should all be remembering right about now: you’re more likely to find a best friend than a boyfriend on the show.
As this season’s contestants are eliminated one by one, and get custody back of their phones and start posting to Instagram, true alliances are being revealed.
The latest in a long line of BFF pairings? Olena and the woman she was closest to in the Bachelor mansion, intruder Stephanie.
Take one look at Stephanie’s latest Instagram feed and it’s obvious the duo’s friendship has continued off-screen. You’ll see plenty of tributes to her new “BFF”, whom she nicknames “Bubbles.”
Of course, Olena and Stephanie aren’t the only ones to emerge from the series with a new beloved friend.
The close relationship between Bachelor evictees Megan Marx and Tiffany Scanlon has made countless headlines over the past month, with the women sharing countless photos of their adventures.
Even the duos that don't seem particularly close on the program can develop into friends off-screen.
Despite getting off a frosty start on the show (remember that totally awkward 1950s-themed photoshoot?), Sasha jumped to the defence of 2016 'villain' Keira Maguire following her departure from the show.
"In real life she is a sweetheart," she told The Herald Sun.
"I am good friends with her. She is a great person and I know a different side of her from what the public can see."
Keira isn't the only person from the show Sasha counts as a close friend; Instagram snaps show she is besties with Laura Williams.
There's a long history of Bachie besties stemming from the previous seasons of the show.
Remember Sam Frost and Lisa Hyde?
Or Sasha Mielczarek and plumber Dave Billsborrow?
Heather Maltman and Sarah Mackay?
Just goes to show that when romance fails to blossom, sometimes friendship blooms instead.
Click through the gallery below for all our favourite Bachelor Besties.
Bachelor Besties
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Top Comments
It's amazing how quickly the not-winners vanish from my mind. Dave Billsborrow, Lisa Hyde and Sarah Mackay don't ring any bells at all with me and the pictures didn't help. It's like I've never seen them before in my life.
But anyway, it seems pretty obvious to me that you'd have a better chance of finding a friend than a boyfriend on the show. There's 20+ women and one guy, who you only get to spend any significant time with if he and the producers deem you worthy. The rest of the time, you're stuck in a mansion and cut off from most sources of entertainment. What else is there to do but talk and hence form bonds with the other women?