The folks over at Ten have denied a report published by Daily Mail Australia where it’s been claimed that The Bachelor Australia is on the chopping block due to a decline in ratings.
The publication reports that a “well-placed insider” told them that the show will “inevitably” be cancelled if Brooke Blurton’s forthcoming season of The Bachelorette doesn’t see a spike in ratings.
This year’s season of The Bachelor had its lowest-ever premiere ratings when it aired last month, with just 482,000 metro viewers tuning in for the first episode.
That number dropped even lower the following week, hitting a record low of 360,000, which can also be chalked up to the fact that it coincided with the start of the Tokyo Olympics on Seven.
They insisted that Jimmy Nicholson isn’t necessarily to blame for the drop in ratings, as The Bachelor has been on the decline for years, apparently.
“It wouldn’t have mattered who they chose [as the Bachelor]; those numbers were always going to be low,” the “well-placed insider” explained.
They added that shaking up the show’s concept by casting a bisexual Bachelorette with male and female contestants was a “last-ditch attempt” at revamping the franchise and garnering more interest (read: viewers). But they said if this doesn’t work, the franchise “is going to lose its entire audience.”
The source also claimed that Ten is on the lookout for an “international dating format” to replace the series next year, if all else fails.
The publication adds that although this intel came from someone they consider a “reliable source,” when they reached out to Ten for a comment, a spokesperson denied that The Bachelor is being axed.
So make of that what you will.
Meanwhile, The Bachelor Australia continues on Ten this Wednesday at 7:30pm.
