Entertainment

These Are The Shadiest 'Bachelor' Contestants Ever

by Nicole Pomarico

Over the past million seasons of The Bachelor, The Bachelorette, and their various spinoffs, the show has introduced us to a lot of interesting people. Some are (relatively) normal men and women looking for love, while some are clearly there as villains, whether it was their original intent or not. But somewhere in the middle, there are usually a few contestants who can only be described as shady. Not quite villains, but definitely not there for "the right reasons." And since the show premiered over a decade ago, there have been a lot of shady contestants in Bachelor history. Like, too many.

I mean, there's no way that people go on The Bachelor expecting everyone to be totally genuine. It's reality TV, so it's more surprising when someone actually is genuine. But there have been a lot of people who have pushed it to the limit, leaving me sitting there, staring at my TV, wondering why they even bothered with the extensive process that happens before the first cocktail party is even filmed if they're just going to be sketchy the entire time.

Here are the absolute shadiest contestants to have ever stepped in front of the Bachelor cameras — in no particular order. And now that many of their seasons may be long behind him, we'll probably never figure these guys out.

1. Leah Block

After trying (and failing) to make Lauren Bushnell look bad in front of Ben Higgins on The Bachelor, she didn't do any favors for her reputation on Bachelor in Paradise. But don't worry — after acting sketchy and being rude to her fellow female contestants, she was quickly sent packing.

2. Evan Bass

What is with this dude? I can forgive him his drama with Chad Johnson since Chad was so out of line getting violent with him, but the way he's been acting with Carly Waddell on Bachelor in Paradise is shady AF. Who tries to convince a girl who's said multiple times she's not interested in him to hook up with him after he needs medical attention?! Fortunately for him, Carly seemed to be coming around or the situation would have been even weirder.

3. Daniel Maguire

I can't decide if I love Daniel or if I hate him, but either way, I'm really confused by some of the things he does. It comes off as sleazy when he's willing to take whatever attention he can get on Bachelor in Paradise, even if it's negative, and the emphasis he puts on spending time with Haley and Emily Ferguson at the same time sketches me out. What about spending your time with someone you have actual feelings for, bro?

4. Joe Bailey

On Bachelor in Paradise Season 2, Joe acted totally into Juelia Kinney... until Samantha Steffen, the true object of his affections, showed up. Leading someone on like that isn't cool, and ultimately, he ended up single. Karma!

5. Ian Thomson

After failing to capture Kaitlyn Bristowe's interest on The Bachelorette, Ian threw a massive fit about how above the show he was and how he should be the next Bachelor since women should be lining up to date him. Yeah, that never happened, so how did that work out for him?

6. Jordan Rodgers

All season long on The Bachelorette, I seriously questioned Jordan's intentions. Was he really there for JoJo, or was he on the show for the fame? And what was up with all the allegations his ex girlfriend, Brittany Farrar, was making against him? Jordan and JoJo Fletcher seems to be living happily ever after these days, so maybe he's not as sketchy in real life as he appeared on the show? Time will tell!

7. Kelsey Poe

If her "amazing story" on The Bachelor wasn't enough to convince you that Kelsey is shady, the way she acted toward the other women definitely was. Not only did she throw everyone else under the bus every chance she got, but she was also convinced they were all out to get her, too — not true.

8. Robby Hayes

All season long on The Bachelorette, Robby's true intentions were up for debate. He signed up for the show super close to the time he broke up with his ex-girlfriend, which has always seemed super suspicious to me. I'm still not sure about him... or convinced that he was actually on the show because he wanted to fall in love with JoJo.

9. Ryan McDill

Plenty of Bachelor contestants drink a little too much during that first cocktail party, but Ryan took it overboard on Kaitlyn Bristowe's season. And by the time he was pulling out rape jokes, his chances with her were already down the drain.

10. Bentley Williams

Is there anything shadier than a contestant who is openly not interested in the Bachelorette (in this case, Ashley Hebert) but strings her along anyway?

11. Kalon McMahon

Kalon actually called Emily Maynard's daughter "baggage" on The Bachelorette. I was just kidding about Bentley a minute ago — this is shadier. Fortunately, she put him in his place... multiple times.

12. Justin Rego

While on Ali Fedotowsky's season of The Bachelorette, it came out that Justin allegedly had a girlfriend back at home. When Ali found out about the rumor, she literally had to chase him to get him to talk to her about it. And even then, their confrontation wasn't very satisfying. After the show, Justin still claimed that he didn't have a girlfriend going into the show.

13. Clint Arlis

In an interview during The Bachelorette, Clint admitted that he wasn't on the show so much for Kaitlyn Bristowe as he was to bro out with JJ Lane, which is so not the point! And he was also open about the fact that he wasn't all that into her, too. Why waste your time?!

14. JJ Lane

How could I talk about how shady Clint is without bringing JJ into it? He very quickly ratted Clint out for not truly being interested in Kaitlyn, even though he wasn't exactly a model contestant himself. The good news? He redeemed himself a bit on Bachelor in Paradise last season.

15. Wes Hayden

Not only did Wes go on Jillian Harris' season of The Bachelorette with a girlfriend, but he also did it for the sole purpose of plugging his music. He might actually win the Shadiest Contestant award, if I had to choose just one person on this list.

Obviously, sketchy Bachelor and Bachelorette contestants cause a lot of problems, but what fun would the show be without them? The franchise has survived these guys, and I can't wait to see more shady people in the future. You can't deny it: They're always entertaining!

Images: Rick Rowell/ABC, ABC (4)