After more than two decades have passed Bachelor’s degree Premiered, the franchise still never fails to deliver plenty of headlines.

He started the year with 5.22 million fans tuning in to watch Golden Bachelor The stars Jerry Turner and Teresa Nest Exchange promises Live on ABC on January 4, with over 50 Bachelor’s and Bachelorette Alumni attendance. After three months, they stopped, but they weren’t the only ones.

Also in January, news broke about Season 13 Bachelorette husband Rachel Lindsay and Brian Abasolo I have filed for divorce After four years of marriage. Things between the couple quickly became messy, with Brian seeking a significant amount of spousal support and Rachel claiming she found out he had taken legal action via text messages.

However, it wasn’t all wilting roses in 2024. Season 28 of The Bachelor Joey Graziadei He won the hearts of Bachelor Nation and his now fiancée Kelsey Anderson. The proof was in the numbers, as Joey’s season was one of the most watched in years (outside of Jerry’s season) and both Joey and Kelsey gained a huge following on Instagram (Joey is just shy of a million and Kelsey hovers around 827,000) just as the show seems to Reality wasn’t cultivating influencers like it used to.

And the golden bachelorette Joan Vasos She also got engaged in 2024, Accept the ring from Chuck Chapel During the November final. It’s still early days for the duo, but all signs point to a long-term engagement (compared to Teresa and Jerry) and plans to make it work.

Keep scrolling for more of the year’s biggest Bachelor moments — plus what they could mean for the future of the franchise:

Jerry and Teresa’s wedding, divorce and revelations
Jerry and Teresa Announce Break them up on Good morning America in April. At the time, distance was often cited as the reason for their divorce as they struggled to agree on a place to live despite their plans to move to Charleston. Fans later learned in December that Jerry He was diagnosed With incurable cancer shortly after the wedding, which he told PEOPLE “had a huge impact on my decisions and I think it probably had Teresa’s as well.” Teresa She denied it He broke up with Jerry because he was sick, but admitted that his decision not to leave Indiana affected their marriage.

Takeaway: After investing in the high-profile series, some fans were quick to write it off due to Jerry and Teresa’s stormy divorce. While their love story came to a premature end, learning of Jerry’s health battle, which began weeks after the marriage and just months after they met on the show, changed things for them. we.

Joey and Kelsey’s love story
While the runner-up Daisy Kent Seemingly the front runner for Joey’s heart, there’s no denying now that we all fell for some classic editing tricks when Joey and Kelsey got engaged during the March finale and they’re still going strong.

Takeaway: Love isn’t quite dead in Bachelor Nation! In addition to giving fans something solid to root for, Joey and Kelsey successfully pass their mission Dancing with the stars With the Mirror Trophy and their relationship intact though the dance competition often coincides with Bachelor Nation couples calling it quits. Kelsey’s open communication with fans — aka asking them to stop trying to make it seem like something weird was going on between Joey and his married partner, Jenna Johnson — Definitely helped too.

Takeaway Bonus: It’s time to take a hard look at the numbers in 2025. Jerry and Joey proved that the franchise is still popular — or at least it could be — but the ratings for Jen Tran’s season of The Bachelorette and Joan’s season of The Golden Bachelorette were not. Not quite comparable. Historically, seasons with male leads attract more fans, so all signs from this year prove that the series isn’t going anywhere.

Rachel and Brian’s messy breakup
Bryan filed for divorce on January 2, citing their separation date as December 31, 2023. It was later revealed that the couple had been sleeping in separate rooms for several months and were undergoing counseling. For her part, Rachel chose to remain silent, at least at first. During an appearance on The View in December, she noted that she saw “signs” that things might not be working out between them even before the marriage. “But as women, we are fixers and we think we can figure it out. They challenge us!” she said. “But eventually I saw it more. I would say within two years, and we were married for four and a half years.”

Takeaway: All is not as it seems…unless it is? During their relationship, Rachel said several times that the lack of joint Instagram posts was not a sign of a problem. Brian said the opposite in his July interview. “We didn’t spend enough time with each other. I mean, in my estimation, we saw what the other person in the relationship was doing, especially on Instagram, even though we lived in the same house.”

Takeaway Bonus: Get another job? We didn’t say that, the judge said! Brian — who claimed his annual income was $16,000 after he was forced to transition into Rachel’s profession — scored a major legal win over the summer when a judge ordered Rachel to pay more than $13,200 a month to a chiropractor as temporary spousal support. The court also ruled that the support must end in March 2026, and advised Brian to pursue further work and not rely on Rachel. the Legal battle The fury is set to last until 2025.

Jane’s journey
Jin Tran He made history as the series’ first ever Asian champion, but wasn’t necessarily given a fair chance by some fans who were rooting for Daisy or Joey’s other favorite. Maria George To get the gig. The season got tense again when the winner won, Devin Straderbroke up with her shortly after production wrapped despite accepting a proposal from Jenn (never forget she was the one who proposed to him!) Things started looking up for Jenn when she landed a last-minute spot on DWTS (and a spot on weList of reality stars this year) And a new love interest in a dance partner Sasha Farber.

Takeaway: Let people show their true colors. It was heartbreaking to see Gene cry over a less than remorseful Devin After the final rose – Especially watching the duo recite their proposal live in front of a studio audience. Feeling like he was being painted as Bachelor Nation’s bad boy, Devin then chose to post hundreds of his and Jenn’s private text messages to prove… well, we still don’t know what he was trying to convince we From, Tbh. Eventually, he looked worse, and Jen made her way to 600,000 followers on Instagram, and several more weeks of TV time on DWTS And a Romantic transformation With Sasha.

There is no “BiP”
Outside of 2020 (due to COVID-19), 2024 was the first year that Mexico’s beaches were closed since Bachelor in Paradise They debuted in 2014. While many crossover duets are still forming – remember when Christina Mandrell and Brayden Powers Did you get engaged during the aforementioned golden wedding? – This break is allowed we Let’s get excited when the spin-off will return in 2025 as ABC has already confirmed that the show will be back.

Takeaway: We miss her! Yes, Season 6 of Love Island USA was one of the best seasons of summer TV in history, but that doesn’t mean we can’t invest in it Beepalso. Back and forth Susie Evans and Justin Glaze The romance was going to carry the season on its own. Plus, we still have several solo stars from Joey’s season who we’re begging to bring back to our television screens.

Joan and Chuck get engaged

twice Us Weekly Cover star Joan accepted a shiny piece of Neil Lane from Chock during the November finale, giving hope that the golden franchise can create happy endings after all. As the duo spends the holidays as a blended family and looks to split their time between the shared location in New York City, Joan’s home in Maryland and Chuck’s home base in Kansas, they could be the modern-day fairy tale the show needs to create chatter for any golden seasons in 2025.

Takeaway: He could Golden Bachelorette Reviving the idea that female heroines are more successful than men? Just like the OG Bachelorette Trista Sutter In 2003, Joan may have been the first Golden Bachelorette to get married. At the series’ peak, there was a series of heroines who seemed to have cracked the code in season eleven Caitlin Bristowe, Season 12 JoJo FletcherSeason 13 Rachel and Season 14 Becca Kufrin They all have long-term relationships outside of the show. Yes, we know that only JoJo is still with her latest winner of the rose (Salutations Jordan Rodgers!), but it was one of the most successful lines in franchise history.

Restraining orders
we It cannot be ignored that three different legal cases were discovered against the contestants over two seasons in 2024. have provided A restraining order was issued against him in 2017, “Golden Bachelorette”Q Jill Ramirez He was accused Of stalking your ex and Golden Bachelorette runner up Guy GansertMy ex-wife was once Legal action was taken against him, and later voluntarily denied her request for a protective order.

Conclusion: All three situations are different, but it certainly seems like the current setup of background checks needs to be re-evaluated to protect potential clients.

Grant Ellis has been named the new Bachelor
ABC named Grant, one of Jenn’s contestants, the lead of Season 29 shortly after he was eliminated in week six. Although there’s no denying that Grant had the look to lead the season, some fans were confused by the franchise’s announcement when they did. This isn’t the first time this has happened with the season 26 star Clayton Echard It seemed to have been plucked out of nowhere in the middle of it Michelle Youngseason. While season 27 Zach Shallcross It was announced in a more traditional way (AFR), viewers considered it boring even before watching a second of the season. If you ask weBoth Clayton and Zach had very enjoyable seasons – not to mention Zach and the winner Katie is older We’re still together — but there’s no denying that Season 28 lead Joey has been the most popular lead in a long time.

Takeaway: Clearly the jury is still out, however Based on the trailer, Can Grant’s season break the curse of random Bachelor casting and continue the momentum Joey brought?! Stay tuned to our Bachelor Nation 2025 recap to find out.