The Bachelor Proposes.....Again!!!!

And this week, we saw, yet again, another proposal on The Bachelor. How many has that been so far? I guess the better question is, how many have actually lasted? So with these questions in mind, I thought I would take a trip down "Bachelor Memory Lane." Of course, if you're not a fan of the show, you can stop reading right here.

Season 1 -- The Bachelor debuts to much fanfare and huge viewing audiences. Our bachelor, Alex Michael chooses, but doesn't propose, to Amanda Marsh leaving Trista Rehn disappointed at not getting the final rose. She will eventually become the first Bachelorette finding love and marrying Ryan Sutter on national TV. They have since had a baby boy. Success Story #1....and the only true success story this show has produced.

Season 2 -- Aaron Buerge from Springfield, Missouri proposed to Helene Eksterowicz but that engagement was called off a few months later. He had presented her with a $29,000 Harry Winston sparkler which he had paid for himself, refusing ABC's offer to buy the ring. When they split, the ring was auctioned off on Ebay for $28,300. He and Helene definitely left on bad terms so he doesn't go into the history books as one of the more popular bachelors.

Season 3 -- Andrew Firestone, of the famous family with the same last name, proposes to Jen Shefft. She ended up moving from Chicago to California to be with him but, like all former Bachelor relationships, they split up shortly thereafter. Funny enough, he wasn't in the tire business but had many vineyards producing wine. He's now engaged to a model. She was definitely one of the more popular women to be cast on this show.

Season 4 -- Bob Guiney, the biggest laugh of all the Bachelors, ended up giving a "promise ring" to Estelle Gardinier with the words that "he wants to see where we can go from here"....well, we all know how far that went. He ended up marrying Rebecca Budig, an actress from All My Children and also the host of The Bachelor repeats.....so he did end up finding true love as a result of The Bachelor.

Season 5 -- NFL player Jesse Palmer gives Jessica Bowlin the final rose and also a one way ticket to New York to join him there. It probably should have been a round trip ticket as they broke up not even a month after the finale aired. He is now a sportscaster for ESPN and, apparently, his appearance on The Bachelor helped him to get this job because of his popularity on that show. Obviously, he is no longer playing football.

Season 6 -- Byron Velvick, pro bass fisherman, proposed to Mary Delgado. They have been engaged since but wedding plans have been delayed since Delgado's recent arrest in a domestic battery charge against her fiance Velvick. She wasn't one of the original bachelorettes to walk out of the arriving limousines. She was originally on Season 4 starring Bob Guiney and The Bachelor cast her once again to help her find true love. This season had a twist where three other women were added to the mix a few weeks after the season had started. I should post her mug shot here but that wouldn't be too nice of me.

Season 7 -- Actor Charlie O'Connell couldn't decide between the final two woman so asked if he could date them in the real world before making a decision. This was an unusual request but one the show granted. He ended up choosing Sarah Brice on live TV with the once again, dreaded "promise ring". Needless to say, they have since broken up. I would have to say that this was my least favorite bachelor. There really was nothing very appealing about him.

Season 8 -- Travis Stork presents Sarah Stone a $90,000 ring but it is on a necklace and is to be a symbol of "the connection they found here in Paris." They actually broke up before the finale even aired. Once they left the romantic setting of Paris and returned to their respective hometowns of Nashville (where they coincidentally lived minutes away from each other), reality set in and it was over before it even started. They both felt had they met each other in Nashville without the backing of the show, they might have had a connection. But I guess there's no comparison between Paris and Nashville.

Season 9 -- Prince Lorenzo Borghese once again pulls out the dreaded "promise ring", this time a family heirloom, and hands it to Jennifer Wilson to see if their relationship will work in the outside world. Obviously it didn't as he was dating runner up Sadie Murray after breakup with Jennifer. Jennifer was also dating a co-working before the finale aired. This was probably the most talked about season of The Bachelor. I enjoyed it but most viewers did not and were very vocal about it. Many of the scenes were set in Italy and I especially enjoyed seeing places I had visited when I was there a few years ago.

Season 10 -- Officer and a Gentleman Andy Baldwin proposed with a $50,000 ring to Tessa Horst. Since he's been all over the tabloids dating Marla Maples, I'm guessing it didn't work out with Tessa. This was a very, very popular bachelor especially when he showed up wearing his Navy white. He was handsome and charming and, as the title goes, definitely an Officer and a Gentleman. I know he's been deployed since being on the show and he's often in the news doing some good things with Habitat for the Humanities. He was definitely a good catch for whomever ended up with him.

Season 11 -- Brad Womack ends up rejecting both women in the final rose ceremony. Jenni Croft and DeAnna Pappas were sent packing but DeAnna will be getting the last laugh as she has since been cast as the next Bachelorette. He will go down in Bachelor history as being the most "despised" bachelor....the one who didn't have a spine. Leading both girls on to the very end, he decided neither was good enough for him. He also had a twin brother who was on part of the show acting as if he was Brad. Perhaps his brother could have committed as Brad definitely couldn't.

Season 12 -- In the most recent episode, Englishman Matt Grant proposes to Shayne Lamas of the famous Lamas acting family. I really, really enjoyed this season especially because of Shayne. She was funny and charming and, even though she's an actress, appeared to be much more real than any of the other girls. Matt described her as someone he never thought he would end up with but loving everything about her. His pet name for her was "monkey" and, as the show progressed, it became quite an endearing term. As a matter of fact, when he proposed, he said, "Monkey, will you marry me?" Very cute and very real.

I have to say this last episode actually brought tears to my eyes. Will it work? Who knows? But what was obvious to the viewers was the natural connection between the two. I just hope Shayne wasn't doing this to boost her acting career. If she was, then she is clearly a great actress. I thought she was absolutely adorable and it was almost worth watching just to see the clothes she wore as she was quite the fashion horse. Apparently she brought three separate suitcases on the show and they were all filled with shoes. She's definitely a girl after my own heart.

The question remains, why do these relationships all fail? I guess there's an easy answer in that perhaps the contestants are there for the wrong reasons or they're apparently falling in love in a fairytale setting. Once they hit reality and the outside world, all of the perks of falling in love on TV are removed. It's like meeting someone on vacation and everything is perfect until you get back home to your sometimes mundane life. I also think part of the problem, and probably the largest part, is that these two people are separated from each other for sometimes two or three months from the time the taping ends until the finale is aired. This would test even the greatest relationship let alone one that hasn't even had the opportunity to survive.

The fact remains, however, that the viewers are still there to watch this love affair blossom whether it survives or not. As much as I say I won't watch it, I'm always there with my pad and pencil on the first night trying to pick the winner. Shayne was definitely my first choice this season and I'm glad they ended up together. Time will tell if it's forever.