Why Fans Are Listening to The Bachelor Podcasts Instead of Watching the Show

Nick Viall knows the ins and outs of The Bachelor franchise probably better than anyone else. The 42-year-old was a two-time runner up on The Bachelorette, a contestant on Bachelor In Paradise, and, at one point, The Bachelor lead. Now he hosts The Viall Files, a podcast on pop culture and relationships that frequently covers The Bachelor, featuring exclusive interviews with contestants and recaps of the franchise’s many shows. “I’ve kind of done it all,” Viall tells TIME. “I’ve played the role of the villain, the hero, the lead, I’ve gotten a first impression rose, I’ve been on group dates. So I can offer a unique perspective on things.”

The Viall Files is a part of a growing category of podcasts that covers the franchise, which includes The Bachelor and spin-offs like The Bachelorette and Bachelor In Paradise. As the 20th season of The Bachelorette heats up following its June 26 premiere, it’s likely many fans will choose to keep up via audio rather than tuning in every Monday night.

Viall says he often hears from listeners that his podcast has replaced the show for them. “Every week, there’s people saying, ‘I don’t watch anymore, but I still listen to recaps.’”

Why The Bachelor podcasts are taking off

Reality TV podcasts, covering everything from the Housewives to Survivor, allow fans and obsessives to analyze content and break down gossip with each other. Networks also sponsor official ones to give viewers a behind-the-scenes look at the drama. Including Viall’s, there are dozens of Bachelor-specific podcasts, including Click Bait, Chatty Broads (now called Your Mom & Dad), and Game of Roses.

A reality TV experiment where one eligible bachelor dates a plethora of women at once in the hopes of finding love, The Bachelor and its various spin-offs have maintained an ardent fan base, even as its popularity has dipped over the years, amid criticism over its old-fashioned format, lack of diverse casting choices, and dramatic editing decisions—all of which creates plenty of fodder for podcasts. For fans who want to stay in the loop but don’t want to sit in on the weekly program, podcasts add their own entertaining flare and serve as an informative link to the franchise and off-camera antics.

“The recap podcasts are kind of the spice on an otherwise not very well-seasoned fish, which is the franchise,” says Andy Levine, who co-hosts the series Dear Shandy with his wife, Sharleen Joynt, a former contestant on season 18 of The Bachelor and the current host of Bachelor In Paradise Canada.

Launched in 2020, Dear Shandy features deep-dive interviews with various Bachelor couples and analysis from the duo on the events that play out in each episode. Many of their listeners—known as “Shandies”—have stopped watching the show, preferring the couple’s episodes instead. “People feel that they’ve seen the episode by proxy,” Joynt says. (Joynt says they also have a significant category of listeners that tell them they’re watching the program in order to listen to their recaps more intently).

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Reality TV rarely presents the full picture of what’s going on in front of cameras; each episode is edited to fit the show’s length. Podcasts, on the other hand, aren’t limited to strict runtimes. When past contestants like Viall or Joynt are at the mic, listeners get first-hand details about behind-the-scenes moments. And guests from the show are welcome to go in-depth on their experiences, giving curious fans more context than they would get otherwise. On podcasts, audiences can hear former contestant Tino Franco speak for the first time about his cheating scandal with Bachelorette Rachel Recchia or listen to runner-up Gabi Elnicki give her perspective on her heartbreak from Bachelor Zach Cross. The current Bachelorette Charity Lawson teases her journey that will air for the next two months on former Bachelorette Kaitlyn Bristowe’s Off The Vine podcast.

And for consumers, podcasts offer flexibility.

“I can listen any day of the week and let them do the work,” says Rebecca Maddoux a longtime Bachelor Nation citizen who has watched The Bachelor since it premiered in 2002. Maddoux, 40 and based in Texas, says she’s grown fatigued by the show’s production decisions and prefers podcasts. This year, she’ll keep up with the current season of The Bachelorette through Dear Shandy.

Molly Heinevetter, a 29-year-old consultant based in Atlanta, says she’s become frustrated by the show’s tendency to cast younger contestants looking for influencer fame, and shifted to podcasts to keep up with Bachelor Nation. “Whenever I’m in the car I have one of them on,” she says.

Some hosts behind popular Bachelor podcasts have become public figures of sorts within the fandom, despite never appearing on the show. Dave Neal, a comedian and host of Bachelor Rush Hour, a daily podcast of Bachelor-related news and gossip, says he often gets stopped in the street by Bachelor fans, even though he is not an alum. Making Bachelor-related content became Neal’s full-time job after his YouTube videos recapping the show grew to 2 million monthly viewers after starting out with about 1,000. Bachelor Rush Hour, which launched in October 2022, breaks down not only the show, but also what’s happening on other Bachelor podcasts.

“People would rather hear my opinion on content than watch the actual content itself,” says Neal. “If I can play a two-minute clip from an hour long-podcast, people tend to get the information they need.”

Bachelor podcasts have their own hierarchy

Listeners have no shortage of options when seeking out Bachelor-related podcasts. The range goes far, beyond the independent ones created by former contestants or fans. ABC has even joined the fray, launching podcasts from The Bachelor team directly that feature relevant former contestants as hosts—like the newly relaunched Happy Hour podcast hosted by couple Joe Amabile and Serena Pitt, who got engaged on season 7 of Bachelor in Paradise.

These shows inevitably receive higher levels of access, booking contestants in between episodes to discuss their parts on the show. (Contestants are contractually obligated to ask for permission from ABC to do any media appearances within their first year of coming off of the show.) With relatively less access to cast members and advance episodes, independent podcasters like Neal, whose videos breaking down Bachelor-related news garner millions of views, tend to offer more recaps and analysis, rather than interviews.

Former leads Viall and Bristowe, who aren’t shy about the close relationships they’ve built with production, appear to have requests to interview recent contestants approved within the year timeframe. Neal says he has never recieved a response from The Bachelor production when requesting advance episodes and interviews. Instead, he watches a faulty livestream from his home in Los Angeles during the East Coast airing—and has even considered moving to stay in the competitive timeframe of uploading his podcast and livestreams.

“We can be a tool for the show,” says Neal. Regardless, listeners have their pick on how to engage with the podcasts, from Viall who speaks to contestants directly, to Neal who offers a recap of those conversations.

Viall has had an early peek into what happens on The Bachelorette this season and wants viewers (or listeners) to know he has been pleasantly surprised. “I was very entertained by Charity and I’m very optimistic for the season.”