Television series

The Bachelor

Name: The Bachelor
Genre: Romance
Released: 2003
Cast: Jeremy Milnes, Hugo Speer, Mark Wright

Romance
Social drama
Light-hearted

Britain's early stab at the Bachelor format, filmed poolside somewhere improbably sunny while twenty-five hopefuls jostle for one man's attention. It's cheaper, campier and less polished than its American cousin, more gossip-column than glossy drama. Good for noughties nostalgia, gleeful cringe and flirtation reduced to its most transactional basics. Comfort viewing for anyone who finds sincerity and awkwardness equally watchable.

Should you watch it?

Watch it if you enjoy reality dating shows for their sly, cringe-making set-ups and the pleasure of watching strangers scheme over one man in gorgeous locations.

Skip it if you find the premise of women competing for one man distasteful, or want a show that doesn't ask you to sit through six series of the same formula.

What it asks of you: Roughly an hour an episode across fifty-one of them: a long haul, but light and fizzy, needing only half your attention while the villa bickering plays out.

Not sure? Find tonight's pick in a minute.

If you liked this

Love Island2019

It took this exact villa-and-suitors formula and turned it into a genuine cultural phenomenon, with sharper editing, funnier voiceovers and contestants fully aware of the cameras' gaze.

But The endless spin-offs, reunion specials and press coverage can feel exhausting if you just want the simple original format.

Take Me Out2010

Paddy McGuinness turns speed-dating into a gleeful game show full of buzzers, cheesy one-liners and instant rejection, stripping the flirting of any villa politics entirely.

But The 'no likey, no lighty' gimmick wears thin fast if you want depth rather than daftness.

Keats and His Nightingale: A Blind Date1985

Cilla Black's original matchmaking classic is the ancestor of nearly every dating show that followed, warm, cheeky and gloriously low-tech next to modern villa productions.

But The pace is slow and the humour dated if you're used to slicker, faster modern editing.

Keats and His Nightingale: A Blind Date poster

Not sure tonight? Get a pick in a minute, starting from The Bachelor

The wildcard

Something you would not have found on your own.

UnREAL2015

It takes the exact format this show trades in and turns the camera around, showing the editing, coercion and manipulation that turn real people into romantic archetypes for an audience.

A scripted drama written by former reality producers, following the ruthless staff manufacturing drama on a Bachelor-style show — it's the machinery you're watching exposed from the inside.

But It's bleak, cynical and often uncomfortable; it will make you feel a bit guilty for enjoying shows like this one.

The Bachelorette2003

Same DNA with the genders flipped: one woman, dozens of suitors, roses and heartbreak playing out across a much bigger American budget and franchise machine.

But Its sprawling seasons and tangled franchise history take real commitment if you want to follow along properly.

Love Is Blind2020

Couples date and even get engaged without ever seeing each other, a clever experiment asking whether attraction can survive once reality's harsh light switches on.

But The premise's gimmick can feel manipulative, and questions about contestant aftercare have followed the show since it began.

Too Hot to Handle2020

Takes the same villa premise and bolts on a chastity twist, forcing contestants to bond emotionally instead of physically, with plenty of chaotic comic fallout.

But The moralising virtual assistant narrator and enforced abstinence rules can grate hard after a few episodes.

First Dates2013

Real strangers, one restaurant, no competition and no villa politics — a gentler, more tender look at dating that trades drama for genuine vulnerability and warmth.

But If you want the melodrama and rivalry of villa shows, this quieter format might feel far too calm.

Married at First Sight2014

Strangers marry before they've even dated, a wild escalation of the dating-show format examined through experts, ceremonies, dinner parties and spectacular emotional fallout.

But The 'experiment' framing sometimes feels like a thin excuse for pure, unfiltered spectacle and conflict.

Perfect Match2023

A glossy crossover stunt-casting alumni from several other dating shows against each other, pure comfort junk food for genre completists who love this stuff.

But You'll need some familiarity with other shows' contestants to catch the full meta joke and drama.

The Dating Game1965

This is where the whole genre started — the same courtship-as-competition structure The Bachelor uses, decades earlier, with none of the villa glamour or edited melodrama.

The literal template for every dating show that followed, including this one — a bachelor or bachelorette quizzes hidden suitors through a screen, armed with nothing but wit and innuendo.

But It's black-and-white, studio-bound and utterly tame by today's standards; the stakes feel almost quaint now.

The Tinder Swindler2022

Both trade on the same hunger — the belief that the right stranger, met through a format, might be the one — but here the performance of romance is a weapon, not entertainment.

A true-crime documentary about a con man who used dating apps to seduce and defraud women out of millions, told through their own testimony and receipts.

But It's genuinely upsetting rather than fun; there's no wink to camera, just real financial and emotional devastation.

People

Cast

The Bachelor

Where to watch

Not streaming anywhere we can see.

Checked 18 October 2026.

Age rating

We do not know what this is rated.

Ratings come from the people who assign them in each country, and they do not mean the same thing in any two. We show the one given where you are.

Released: 2003
Genre: Romance
Network: 5
Status: Ended
Runtime: 61 min
Episodes: 51 over 6 seasons