‘The Bachelor’ debate: Is open Chris Soules – Arie Luyendyk Jr. competition a good thing?

Yesterday, we wrote about how Chris Soules and Arie Luyendyk Jr. are engaging in a much more open competition to be “The Bachelor” than probably anything that we’ve ever seen tied to the show before. Typically, these sort of discussions are held more behind closed doors, and we also feel like there is also more of a clear favorite in the mind of producers.

This time around, we feel like the team is more concerned with everything from the ratings of Andi Dorfman’s season to likability to also the potential for drama. While Chris Soules may seem on paper to be an easy choice, there’s also little likelihood that anything shocking is going to happen during his season.

After looking into all of this and seeing some very-opinionated responses on the whole ordeal via the internet, the one question that we find ourselves wondering right now is pretty simple: Is all of this really a good thing for the show at all? If we were ABC right now, one of the things that we would be somewhat worried about are the fans that don’t see their guy picked suddenly wanting to up and quit watching out of bitterness. There are a certain percentage of these people who will cool off over time (remember, the show doesn’t premiere until January), but there are also some who will hold a grudge for a while. Remember that despite the vocal people online who threaten to watch up, being loud does not make you a majority. These are typically the few and far between.

If we were ranking this by which choices for “The Bachelor” were the safest, we would say that Chris is an easy pick, and follow that up shortly with Arie and then Marquel Martin. He’s still who we want to see in the role, as unlikely as that may be.

Do you think ABC is running a risk right now in allowing fans to be so aware of a competition, or is this more of a good thing to drum up publicity? Share below, and click here to snag some further TV updates via our newsletter.

Photo: ABC