Entertainment

Kenny Deserves So Much Better Than 'The Bachelorette' Is Giving Him

by Nicole Pomarico
Paul Hebert/ABC

Ever since Kenny was first introduced on The Bachelorette, I've had a soft spot for him. He seems to love his 10-year-old daughter so much, and he's definitely a grown man who knows exactly what he wants — kind of a necessary quality when it comes to a dating process that's as out of the ordinary as this one is. But instead of seeing Rachel fall in love with those qualities when Kenny's on screen, he's locked in a fight with Lee. Right now, Kenny deserves so much better on The Bachelorette.

Monday's episode is a perfect example of this. Every scene involving Lee or Kenny involved the two of them arguing, and even Rachel made a couple of comments about it when she overheard them. But it wasn't Kenny instigating — it was 100 percent Lee, who was dead set on being as antagonistic as possible, even mentioning that he enjoys getting a rise out of people. A direct quote from Lee is, "Kenny's a big old meathead and I wanted to break him down." Not only is that kind of behavior beyond unkind, but it's not what this show is for. From the beginning, Kenny has seemed serious about finding out if he has a future with Rachel, and Lee keeps getting in his way for his own amusement.

Former Bachelor contestant Caila Quinn noticed, too, and it seems she's just as annoyed by it.

She's not the only one, either. Fans have picked up on how unnecessary this storyline is, too, especially since Lee has caught flack post-show for having allegedly tweeted some problematic comments about women and black people. (His Twitter has since been made private. When Bustle reached out, ABC and Warner Bros. declined to comment. A rep for Lee could not be reached.)

By the end of the episode, it was getting a little frustrating that Rachel wasn't able to see exactly what was going on between them... and if she did, she didn't admit it in front of the cameras, not even during her private conversation with Kenny about it.

It's also incredibly frustrating to have watched Monday's episode and know that next week, we have a two-on-one date between these men to suffer through, which means even more precious Bachelorette minutes wasted by giving Lee the negative attention he craves. Kenny's such an awesome guy, and this is the edit he's being given? I'd rather see him have the chance to show off knock Rachel off her feet... aka what he's supposed to and clearly wants to be doing.

Don't let Lee "break you down," Kenny. I'm rooting for you Kenny, and, so far, I have a feeling the way he's stood up for himself would make his daughter proud