
The Bachelor franchise has, for months, teased a musical spin-off a la American Idol called The Bachelor Presents: Listen to Your Heart, where contestants compete for love and also a shot at a music career. Within the first 20 minutes of Monday night’s two-hour premiere, half-a-dozen references to A Star Is Born were made, a few kisses were shared, and fake drama ensued. In situations where chemistry was obviously lacking, Ed Sheeran-type “nice guys” broke out guitars to serenade women with love songs they claimed to have written at some point in the 12 hours they’d known each other. The fabricated fantasy of The Bachelor is well-documented, but The Bachelor Presents: Listen to Your Heart takes it to the next level: to get into the show, the viewer must suspend all reality and really believe that a select group of predominantly white men and women are falling in love in less than a day because they are hot, sensitive artists, and some of them share an appreciation of John Mayer. Or viewers could lean into the absurdity. I strongly recommend the latter.