Season 16’s Bachelor, Ben Flajnik, more so than any Bachelor we’ve seen before, never struck us as the “TV proposal” kind of guy. And I know he didn’t see himself that way either. When he was a contestant on Ashley Hebert’s season of The Bachelorette, he even said he entered into the entire process a skeptic, which is why we loved watching him on Ashley’s season — watching his walls start to come down and watching the surprise slowly but surely wash over his face as he fell and fell hard for Ashley.
It was pure Bachelor TV magic at its finest.
And when Ben did decide to get down on one knee, we could tell he meant it. His proposal was heartfelt, emotional, slightly awkward in a cute way and just, well, perfect — except for the fact that Ashley didn’t say, “YES.” (Yeah, we realize that’s a BIG “exception,” but stay with us here…)
Now, we couldn’t help but compare that proposal to the one he gave Bachelor Season 16 winner Courtney Robertson on this season’s season finale. And, granted, maybe it’s because he’s been trained by ABC producers all season long to be more of a “lead actor” on the show, as opposed to just a goofy, love-struck contestant, but his proposal to Courtney just seemed…..well, kinda forced, “acted” and lacking of real emotion.
It was as if he was simply delivering lines that were written for him. I mean, the fake vows he wrote for Courtney during their fake wedding ceremony on Courtney’s hometown date actually seemed MORE genuine, which seems really odd to us. And Courtney’s response to the proposal was equally awkward. In classic Courtney form, when Ben says, “I’ve been waiting a long time to tell you ‘I love you,'” she quips, “Yeah you have!” (As if she’s forgotten that the lead CANNOT tell a contestant that under contract.)
The only real emotion I saw during the three hours of Bachelor viewing this week was when Ben and Courtney watched the playback of their “bad-acting” proposal during the After the Final Rose show. Which, we suspect, were more about all of the hurt of the press.
I do think these two “love” each other, but I just don’t think it’s the lasting kind of love. For example, when Courtney said during the finale that the thought of losing him “terrifies” her….that’s just not a good sign. It’s a sign of insecurity and co-dependance, as opposed to a sign of true and lasting love….at least, in our opinion.
What do you think?? Which proposal do you think was more heartfelt? If you were in the ladies’ shoes, which proposal would you have wanted to say “YES” to?? Which proposal….popped?!?!
Ack – we’ll get a clip to embed of the Ben – Courtney proposal soon, but for now it looks like we can only watch it on ABC.com.
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