What You Didn't See On TV During Matt James' Bachelor Season
Matt James rocked Bachelor Nation before he ever appeared on screen. Many knew him as the funny, attractive best friend of Bachelor Nation favorite Tyler Cameron, but Matt quickly emerged as a leading man. It's not hard to understand why — Matt is accomplished, compassionate, and seems to be an easy guy to get along with. No wonder he had a total of 38 women on his season of The Bachelor!
But if fans know anything to be true, it's that the producers of The Bachelor create a dramatic narrative. Additionally, a lot gets cut from the show, and unfortunately, Matt's season was no exception. While we spent half of an entire episode watching Heather Martin quarantine so she could meet Matt, only to be sent home five minutes later, we could've been watching a hilarious group date. And while we could've seen more of Matt's silly side, we watched as Serena C. and Katie Thurston yelled at each other.
There's plenty that we missed out on from Matt's season of The Bachelor, and as his journey is coming to a close, it's time to witness what could've been. Here is what you didn't see on TV during Matt James' Bachelor season.
The Bachelor's Heather Martin was cut from the "Women Tell All" episode
Matt James' season of The Bachelor wasn't kind to Heather Martin. Heather, who was on Colton Underwood's season of The Bachelor, tried to win over Matt's heart just days before hometown dates. The timing wasn't great, and she was sent home the same night she arrived. And if you didn't think Heather's experience on the show could worse, she was literally cut out of the "Women Tell All" episode.
One of the moments you didn't see on Matt's season was Heather at the gossip-filled episode where the contestants spilled their secrets. According to People, some beady-eyed fans noticed Heather sitting in the back row of chairs next to Kit Keenan — but she was cut out of the episode that aired. Understandably, viewers took to Twitter to call out the show. "@BachelorABC why are you acting like we can't see Heather sitting back there next to Kit?!?! Why was she invited and then WHY was she cut?!"
If you go back and watch the episode, you can see Heather's foot in the wide shot of the contestants. But she didn't make the cut.
Two former Bachelorettes visited Matt James, but we didn't see the footage air
Some of the former leads in the Bachelor franchise are beloved, so it makes zero sense that Tayshia Adams and JoJo Fletcher's day with Matt James was cut from his season.
As noted by Us Weekly, both former bachelorettes quarantined (the coronavirus pandemic made the Bachelor property a bubble), and the two then enjoyed a cute date with Matt. But the footage was entirely cut from the show, which is just the saddest news ever. "You film so much stuff for this show and inevitably certain things have to get cut just based on how the show plays out," JoJo said. "So, Tayshia and I got the call and they're like, 'Hey, we're so sorry, but with editing and everything that's going on we're gonna have to scratch that date, it just doesn't make sense.' It's totally fine, we had so much fun doing it."
According to JoJo, she and Tayshia sat down with Matt to ask him how his journey on The Bachelor was going and how he felt about the process. We wish more than anything that it had aired.
This pivotal conversation between Matt James and Chelsea Vaughn wasn't aired on The Bachelor
Matt James' season of The Bachelor was historic — it was the first season where a Black man was chosen as the lead, and the contestants were one of the most diverse groups of women in the franchise's history. One such lady was Chelsea Vaughn, who captured Matt's attention on night one. Chelsea didn't make it to the end, but the two shared a really important conversation that didn't make it to air.
Chelsea and Matt discussed the political nature of Black hair and why she made the decision to shave her head. Chelsea spoke about the conversation and what she said to Matt while appearing on the podcast, Bachelor Happy Hour. "I'm from a little suburb in Georgia, and he's from somewhere similar in North Carolina," Chelsea revealed. "We both grew up in places that were predominately white... He also said that he used to have an afro and he shaved it off and that people said he was more approachable afterwards. Even Black men have the same issues when it comes to hair." An important conversation that should've been included, in our opinion.
Bachelor viewers missed the "What's in the Box?" date that looks hilarious
Bachelor Nation was saddened to discover that there were three dates that didn't air during Matt James' season. During the "Women Tell All" episode, snippets of the dates were aired, giving viewers a glimpse at what could've been.
One such date was called, "What's in the Box," and poor Abigail Heringer — a Bachelor Nation favorite — squealed at the task. "Ring shopping can be intimidating and a bit scary. I dare you to pick a ring out of one of these ring boxes," Abigail said as she read the date card. Each box contained an engagement ring... and creepy, crawly bugs. The women had to blindly go into each box with their hands and try to come out with the ring, and it looked awful.
One box contained "killer Amazon cockroaches," and Jessenia Cruz went in there with determination and pulled out the ring. Another box contained "fire crickets," and Abigail saying she was "going to cry" over the experience. And yet another box said that it contained "flesh eating worms." This date sounds more fun than watching Heather Martin quarantine for two weeks — sorry Heather.
Bachelor fans didn't get to see Queen Victoria try to chug a beer on this group date
Victoria Larson, also dubbed the "queen," left Bachelor Nation conflicted. Some people loved her — she was the "Corinne" of her season. Others found her annoying and toxic, but either way, it would've been great to watch her and the other ladies on an unaired group date try to eat pancakes and chug beer.
So what was the date? Chris Harrison explained that the show had "a bunch of amazing women eat a stack of pancakes and try and chug a keg of beer." He said that he wasn't entirely sure why it was a good idea for a date, and it turns out that it really wasn't.
Some contestants forced down the pancakes, but Victoria started throwing her pancakes on the floor in an attempt to avoid eating them. The next station was the beer drinking station, and in true "queen" form, Victoria started spilling her beer on the floor so she didn't have to drink it. "There are literally no rules," she shared. It makes sense why Victoria was less than thrilled — after all, she is a health coach.
The Bachelor's Kit Keenan got lost in the woods in this hilarious unaired date
Yet another great date that didn't air on Matt James' season of The Bachelor. During a hide-and-seek group date, contestants had to find Matt James out in the woods and as a reward, get to lounge in the hot tub. But things didn't go over for city dweller Kit Keenan, who spent "hours" in the forest looking for Matt. "Yeah this is the most romantic date ever," Kit said sarcastically while out among the trees. "How will I even know if somebody else finds him?"
Bri Springs ended up finding the leading man first, but that didn't prompt the producers to tell Kit that the search was technically over. "I have no concept of time," she revealed. Unbeknown to her, other contestants had found Matt and Bri in the hot tub and joined them. "I can't wait to see how pissed she's going to be," one contestant said about Kit, still wandering in the woods ages after the date was over. "I definitely felt very out of my element on that date," she said at the "Women Tell All" episode. But it seemed all in good fun.
This group date ended up on the cutting floor of The Bachelor
This was part of a group date that didn't air, and for good reason: part of the wrestling group date was an egg eating competition, and some of the contestants didn't have the heart for it. "Get those eggs and start chugging!" the date's leader said, but some of the girls were not too sure. Katie Thurston could be heard in the background saying that she was close to throwing up. Matt James started things off by downing a raw egg himself, but if anything, his example turned some of the women off even more.
MJ Synder said that she considered claiming to be vegan in the situation just to get out of it, admitting that eggs were her biggest fear. One contestant could be heard saying, "Pretend it's tequila," while others were downing the raw eggs. But one contestant just couldn't handle it: Katie Thurston. She almost threw up before the egg even got near her, and was unable keep it down. Kit Keenan had the ultimate move, she threw the raw egg over her shoulder and didn't look back.
The Bachelor's Sarah Trott didn't make it back for the "Women Tell All" episode
The "Women Tell All" episode of The Bachelor gets answers to unresolved drama and revisits some of the season's standout contestants. But one person who didn't make it back to the episode — who we really wish had — was Sarah Trott. Sarah and Matt James hit it off really quickly, but Sarah quickly started to unravel due to the show's pressures and her familial situation.
Sarah revealed to Matt that her father was battling ALS, and that it was becoming increasingly difficult for her to be away from him. The decision Sarah made to leave the show on her own accord was hard for Matt, but he seemed to understand. But after Sarah's exit, it was reported that she'd been dating DJ Bijou both before and during her time on The Bachelor.
According to Us Weekly, Sarah completely denied the allegation and stated that she "unequivocally did not have a boyfriend" while on the show. But Sarah didn't make it back to the "Women Tell All" episode, an unaired opportunity that would've been good to see.
Bachelor viewers missed the opportunity to watch these two contestants have it out
The Bachelor franchise loves a good feud — just ask any fan of the show. Of course, it can be argued that the producers of the show create drama in the editing room, but some feud footage from Matt James' season may have gone unseen. Specifically, Victoria Larson and Marylynn Sienna — who were roommates — really got into it. Their on-screen bickering led to arguing which led to Marylynn's departure, and a lot of it left Victoria looking like she'd orchestrated the drama to get Marylynn sent home. But unaired footage may support Victoria's claims that Marylynn was extremely difficult to share a room with.
The footage, posted on Instagram, shows Victoria spotting her packed bags just sitting outside of her hotel room — the one she shared with Marylynn. Unfortunately, there was no getting down to the bottom of this situation; since Marylynn wasn't present at the "Women Tell All" episode, there was no opportunity to ask her about the validity of the feud and the tension between her and Victoria. Who knows what really happened?
This contestant's backstory was brushed aside during Matt James' season of The Bachelor
A lot of drama got in the way of some serious conversations on Matt James' season of The Bachelor. One such conversation that didn't get the air time that it deserved was Bri Springs' story. According to Refinery29, Bri revealed to Matt that she had to make the decision to leave the show or quit her job. Bri ultimately chose to leave her job and pursue a relationship with Matt, but that wasn't the only part of her backstory that was important.
Bri had an amazing career — while the details are private, it's speculated that she held a communications management position at Facebook. Chris Harrison revealed that Bri almost didn't come on the show because of her "amazing job," but it was something that she was ultimately willing to risk.
Other parts of Bri's backstory that didn't make it to air included her upbringing: her mom was just 13 years old when she gave birth to Bri, and Bri's grandmother stepped in to help raise her. Bri ended up being sent home during the fantasy suite week, coming in third, but hopefully Bachelor Nation sees her again.