This has never happened before on the “Bachelorette”: In the fight for the favor of the rose distributor, the male candidates now have female competition.
For more than ten years, RTL has been sending the “Bachelorette” in search of love. But the new season, which starts on Monday (26 August), is a bit different. Firstly, it will no longer be shown on free TV – as it was before – but only on the streaming portal RTL+. And secondly, the male candidates in the fight for the final rose will face very special competition this year: namely female competition.
The new “Bachelorette” Stella Stegmann is the first bisexual rose distributor in office. She has been toying with the idea of taking part in the show for a long time, says the 27-year-old from Munich in an interview with the German Press Agency. “Now is also the perfect timing for me because I recently had a very formative relationship – my first relationship with a woman. She was the first woman I ever fell in love with. And so I am now the first bisexual “Bachelorette”.”
Men or women? – 50:50
And as such, she sets off to Thailand to look for the perfect woman for her – or the perfect man. “I was completely open about men or women – 50:50.” She didn’t want to focus on gender at all, “but on the question, what kind of person is that?” The show has long since been filmed, but of course she is not allowed to say what the outcome was.
Her predecessor, Sharon Battiste, has just announced on Instagram after a short break that she and her chosen partner in 2022 in that season are a couple again – the only one of all “Bachelorette” winning couples who are currently still together. Stegmann said she was afraid that she herself might come away empty-handed.
“Fear that I won’t fall in love at all”
“I was afraid that I wouldn’t fall in love, that there wouldn’t be anyone there for me with whom I would want to build a future,” she told the dpa. “I was afraid that maybe I would fall in love and the feelings wouldn’t be reciprocated, and I was afraid that someone would leave voluntarily and that would hurt me, and I was also afraid that people would judge me for who I am and that I would question the heteronormative structure. But hope and anticipation prevailed.”
20 candidates are hoping for the last rose in the show – and certainly also for attention and new followers on Instagram and Co.
“I’m sure that real feelings arise there”
“You keep reading comments that everyone is doing it for fame, and I’m sure everyone has the thought that they want to be in the public eye, but each and every individual has a very, very strong hope that they will find love there,” says Stegmann. “And even if you initially say that you want to take part in the show, the thought is there the whole time: I might find the love of my life there. I’m quite sure that real feelings will develop there. These accusations that everything is just done for clicks are complete nonsense.”
Source: Stern
I am an author and journalist who has worked in the entertainment industry for over a decade. I currently work as a news editor at a major news website, and my focus is on covering the latest trends in entertainment. I also write occasional pieces for other outlets, and have authored two books about the entertainment industry.
