The 10 Most Shocking Bachelor Nation Moments of All Time

It wouldn’t be a season of The Bachelor or The Bachelorette without a little drama and a lot of heartbreak!

Whether it’s scandalous group date behavior on The Bachelor, an off-air affair or a last-minute Bachelorette switch-up, the men and women of Bachelor Nation have kept fans guessing for countless seasons of scandal and drama.

Here are 10 of the moments that made us gasp, cry and turn up the volume on our TVs.

Arie Luyendyk Jr. Dumps Becca Kufrin for Lauren Burnham

After promising Becca Kufrin his love for the rest of eternity, Bachelor Arie Luyendyk Jr. had a shocking change of heart that turned Bachelor Nation against him.

Soon after proposing to Kufrin in his season finale episode, Luyendyk Jr. realized he was actually in love with runner-up Lauren Burnham — a fact he let Kufrin in on during a breakup that was broadcast on national television.

What started as a heartbreaking time for Kufrin has turned into a positive one, however, as Kufrin went on to fall for Thomas Jacobs on Bachelor in Paradise, and the two tied the knot shortly after their son was born in September 2023. Burnham and Luyendyk Jr. also wed in 2019 and announced in March 2025 that they were expecting their fourth child together.

Corinne Olympios and DeMario Jackson’s Sexual Misconduct Scandal

Any list of Bachelor Nation scandals has to include the one that shut down the Season 3 production of Bachelor in Paradise in June 2017. 

A producer filed a sexual misconduct complaint involving Corinne Olympios and DeMario Jackson after witnessing a drunken sexual encounter during one of the first days of filming. While no evidence of wrongdoing was found during an independent investigation, the scandal did cause a change in the franchise’s free-flowing alcohol policy.

Olympios and Jackson have moved on and are still close in the aftermath, however. “DeMario is a super close friend of mine. I love him to death,” the 26-year-old told Us Weekly. “We always have the best time hanging out. He’s just great.”

Rozlyn Papa Has an Affair With a Producer

Bachelor contestant Rozlyn Papa shocked fans when she allegedly had an affair with one of the show’s producers, Ryan Callahan, during Jacke Pavelka’s season in 2009.

The Bachelor hunk told Ellen DeGeneres that he had been developing feelings for Papa before finding out about the intimate relationship. 

Some female contestants “came up to me and had seen things going on,” he told the TV host. Papa was sent home and Callahan fired.

Kaitlyn Bristowe Spoils Her Season With Shawn Booth

Whoops! Bachelorette Kaitlyn Bristowe was in hot water in June 2015 when she accidentally posted a Snapchat of her and season winner Shawn Booth in bed to her story a month before the final rose ceremony.

“We were sending Snaps to one of the producers,” Booth explained to Jimmy Kimmel in July of that year. “[And then] I pick up my phone to go on Twitter and there’s hundreds of pictures of my stupid face laying in bed with her. I start having a panic attack. I couldn’t even breathe.”

Jason Mesnick Dumps Melissa Rycroft, Picks Molly Malaney

America gave a collective gasp when Jason Mesnick broke up with his season’s winner, Melissa Rycraft, on After the Final Rose, to get together with runner-up Molly Malaney.

The Bachelor star faced a lot of backlash for his decision, but in the end, he and Malaney got married in February 2010 and had daughter Riley in 2013, so he was clearly following his heart.

Ben Higgins Tells JoJo Fletcher and Lauren Bushnell He Loves Them

He just couldn’t make up his mind! Ben Higgins shocked everyone with a Bachelor first when he told both of his final contestants he loved them during the Season 20 finale.

Higgins eventually proposed to Bushnell, but the couple split in May 2017, with Bushnell telling Us Weekly that Higgins’ declaration of love caused tension in their relationship.

“I did carry some resentment toward him, not with JoJo,” she said months before their split. “I had such a hard time trying to understand and put myself in his shoes and finally I was like, ‘I will never understand. I will never be the Bachelor.”

Peter Kraus Breaks Down, Rachel Lindsay Says She Loves Him

We’re still crying over this emotional finale! When Bachelorette contestant Peter Kraus told Rachel Lindsay he wasn’t ready to get married after their short time on Season 13, he broke down in tears, as did most of America. Lindsay did part ways with the Wisconsin native, getting engaged to Bryan Abasolo instead, but told Kraus before she left that she loved him.

Fans had hoped that Kraus would return as this season’s Bachelor, but the fitness coach was not interested in the position. “I was so distraught at that time that it was something that I could never see myself doing,” he told Us Weekly at the time.

Lindsay and Abasolo did go on to tie the knot in August 2019, but filed for divorce in January 2024.

DeMario Jackson’s Ex Interrupts Group Date

Called out! DeMario Jackson’s former fling proved he wasn’t there for the right reasons during Rachel Lindsay’s season of The Bachelorette, interrupting a basketball group date to show the ABC leading lady text messages the two had shared before he went on the show while they were still involved.

Jackson denied that anything was still going on between him and his old flame at the time, but Lindsay still sent him home.

Corinne Olympios Strips Down on Group Date

Corinne Olympios wasn’t shy about flaunting her figure during Nick Viall’s season of The Bachelor. 

During a group date, the cheese pasta enthusiast took off her top and got Viall to get a grip on her assets while posing for a photo shoot together. 

When the other contestants found out about Olympios’ forward antics, they were not pleased to say the least, and the Miami-based business owner continued her season villain arc.

Nick Viall Confesses He Slept With Liz Sandoz at Jade and Tanner Tolbert’s Wedding

When Liz Sandoz exited the limo and greeted Nick Viall on The Bachelor season 21, it wasn’t the first time they had met.

Sandoz, who is best friends with Bachelor in Paradise couple Jade and Tanner Tolbert, revealed on a group date that she and the Bachelor had slept together at the couple’s wedding in February 2016. 

Viall said he did not remember Sandoz at first, but soon sent her home after she dished about their affair to the other contestants.