Wednesday night’s episode ofThe Bachelorette was… interesting.

We had a strange single date during which Ali Oetjen and a man named Robert drove through big bits of paper with their “past emotional issues” written on them.

And a group date which saw several men taken back to Gladiator times to fight over the bachelorette using brute strength and toxic masculinity.

Oh, and a choreographed dance routine was performed by a different man in a stretched white singlet whose dream is to dance alongside Channing Tatum inMagic Mike…

Two men who we never really knew also went home.Bye.

But by the time the credits rolled and the opening sequence of the next show started, I realised there was something missing from the last 60-odd minutes of TV I’d just watched.

Sure, I was 100 per cent scrolling through my phone the entire timeThe Bachelorettewas on, but I was doing so with one eye trained on the TV, waiting for moment I’d been promised.

Only, it never came.

You see,The Bachelorettepromised you and I something in last night’s episode, and it didn’t deliver.

We were promised DRAMA.

Specifically, Ali’s past relationship withBachelor in Paradisestar Grant Kemp drama.

At the end of last Thursday’s episode, we were shown a promo video showing some serious sh*t going down.

THIS WAS THE PROMO WE WERE SHOWN. Post continues after video.

The footage showed current front runner Charlie telling Ali how another man, Nathan, was talking about how she allegedly cheating on Grant on the stairs of his LA apartment earlier this year.

Chaos would ensue. Words would be said. Fingers would be pointed. It was going to be glorious.

We were promised a juicy, over the top, highly dramatised segment of reality TV on Wednesday night, only to have it pushed to Thursday night’s episode.

Network Ten baited us AGAIN and man, I give up.

Yes, this is reality TV we’re talking about, and yes, it’s not unusual for networks to twist non-dramatic moments into deliciously dramatic packages to get us to keep watching week after week.

Sure, we also know Ali’s 2018Bacheloretteseason is struggling and they need a way to make us watch – it debuted to the lowest ratings in the franchise’s history, with only 631,000 metro viewers tuning in last week.

But as someone who has watched every season ofThe BachelorandThe Bachelorettesince 2015, I expect to get what I was promised in the promos.

Most recently, Nick Cummin’s season ofThe Bachelorannoyed fans with misleading promos alluding to car crashes that never happened (not including the ending…) and ‘big secrets’ that weren’t all that big (or really secrets for that matter). But at least those promos matched up with the episodes. They didn’t keep us waiting for that fake car crash.

Dramatically speaking, ifThe Bachelorettecontinues with this baiting tactic throughout the rest of the season, it could have a lasting impact on the franchise by eroding the brand previously built up by the wholesome love stories of Sam Frost and Georgia Love.

On a less serious note, making us wait for our drama is just annoying.

We just want we were promised, and we want it now.

Cheers.

Are you watching 2018’s Bachelorette Australia? What do you think of the series so far?