This Bachelorette season has introduced us to some rather large characters. Dudes with actual personalities, daring style choices, made up words, Photoshopped celeb pics, long hair and whole lot of guy-liner worn with style and ease.
But over the last few weeks cracks have begun to show in even the most confident of contestants. This season of The Bachelorette is proof that there’s just something about isolating 21 suitors and inserting a single lady in the mix that shines a light on insecurity.
Take The Bachelorette contestant Timm, for example. He’s so larger-than-life and likeable that he’s essentially assumed the role of basically narrating the entire season. He’s bold, witty and unashamedly bogan. Yet last night’s episode saw him crumble into a pile of nerves whilst on a single date with Angie. It was plain awkward watching him struggle to make conversation. Later, he confessed his feelings had grown so strong that he completely freaked out on their date, not knowing what to say or do.
Yes, even goofy Timm suffers from that thing us common-folk do: crush so hard you become overwhelmingly aware of your every word, facial expression, and bodily movement. His insecurity rolled back round even harder at the cocktail party, when he all but dived between Angie and Ryan after they’d spent less than five minutes talking to each other.
Lest we forget the unfaltering confidence of The Bachelorette sweetheart, Ciarran, who within his first few minutes of being on-screen called himself “a sexual Willy Wonka.” The man literally stripped naked for a group date and seemingly had not a care in the world about being fully nude on national tele and in front of Angie.
Despite all this BDE, he was the contestant most visibly peeved about intruder Ryan. He stormed off in a huff after Ryan seized one-on-one time with Angie at a cocktail party. Apparently, it was an unfair move because he’d had a single date with her that same day. I can’t help but wonder: was this jealousy dressed up as distaste?
Carlin, on the other hand, is the inspiration for every contestant’s insecurity: his perfectly zjooshed hair, tan and smile are threatening with a capital T. Jamie’s jealousy saw him attempting to drag Carlin’s name through the dirt by telling Angie he was only on the show to further his acting career. And that’s when the humorous, light-hearted Angie fell victim to pesky, old insecurity. The blood drained from her face when she “found out” about Carlin’s supposed ulterior motives. She became instantly worried that Carlin was a fake.
What it is about The Bachelorette that feeds on insecurity? Perhaps it’s just one of those things you can’t describe until you’ve experienced it yourself. Whatever the case, it appears this environment makes people fall pretty hard and fast. A hardcore recipe for insecurity when you’ve got about 21 others vying for the heart of your big, phat, massive crush.