Rosie Waterland on The Bachelor Richie: 'We have a problem, people.'

Ahem.

I know you’re excited about Richie as the new Bachelor.

But before you run out and get your TEAM RICHIE t-shirts printed up, before you start enrolling in abseiling classes to feel closer to him, before you dump your partner and enrol for next season in the hope of rubbing up against his nice-boy face, stop.

And just have a think about this:

How are you going to feel when he is dating 20 different women?

How will you feel when he is pashing several women at once?

How will you feel when suddenly his bumbling nice boy image is breaking hearts every week?

Is it possible that we can still love Richie unconditionally?

NOT LIKELY.

It’s a theory put forward this week on The Binge, Mamamia’s TV podcast, by none other than Kween of the recaps, Rosie Waterland. She says JUST MAYBE we love Richie too much. And just maybe, we’re all in for a fall.

“People LOVE Richie,” she says. “He was so funny and so loveable… But it impossible to fully like a guy who dates 20 women at once.”

“I think we’re going to end up not liking him as much. I know that Channel Ten picked Sam Wood because he was lovely, and then picked Richie because he’s lovely and that’s because they were panicked because of what happened with Bachie Blake… But that season was really exciting and really fun, and him being a bit of an arsehole made it good to watch.”

She’s got a good point. It’s kinda hard to fully like a guy whose dating multiple women at once. (Props to Sam Wood who managed it, but only just.) But the brutal truth of this? The BRUTAL TRUTH of casting the nice guy?

It might be a snoozefest.

Unlike the US Bachelor, which is all about the heartbreak and the betrayal (and the fantasy suite, cough, where’s our fantasy suite dammit), the Australian Bachelor has gone gun-shy after Bachie Blake shat all over the show. The real-estate-agent turned Sam-Frost-destroyer was blamed for ruining the romantic facade of the show.

So Channel Ten naturally have gone with two nice-guys in a row.  They’ve shirked the International Bachelor Prototype to play it safe and go with the wholesome guys.

But, Rosie’s right.. cast your mind back.  Despite all Blake’s faults, was that not THE BEST SEASON EVER?

It was EPIC. Blake being a bit of a knob end made it AMAZING television.  (Sorry about your heart, Sam, but that all got worked out in the end). When you cast outside the nice-person box, you get the Laurinas and the crazy Ambers and the Blakes of the world. And that makes for some entertaining shizzle on the rose ceremony nizzle does it not?

I’m sorry, Channel Ten. We know you think you’re making legit romance. But at the end of the day, don’t you know it’s now all about the recaps?

Also, the other thorn in the rose is that our boy Richie has undergone media, acting and dialogue training to combat his nerves.  What does that mean?

Our bumbling Richie will now be a smooth operator.

Sigh.

Don’t worry. We’ll still be watching. We need to talk about it on The Binge, Mamamia’s TV podcast. It’s the show with all the news, spoilers, deep dives and what everyone’s talking about. From free-to-air, to Netflix, and Stan, if it can be seen on a screen, Rosie Waterland and co will talk about it. The full show this week is on itunes, or HERE:

Are arsehole Bachelors better to watch?