The Bachelor has been on TV for a long time — 22 years to be exact — and while loyal viewers know a lot about the show and what to expect, there are still a few secrets that remain about ABC’s reality dating franchise’s inner workings. Chief among those is one big question — why don’t the contestants ever eat the food when they’re out on dates? Host Jesse Palmer might have just solved that mystery, as he revealed to The Bachelorette’s Jenn Tran that it’s all his fault that became a rule.
On the July 29 episode of The Bachelorette, before Jenn Tran set out on her dates in New Zealand, she sat down for a meal with Jesse Palmer. Possibly inspired by the mountains of food that were being brought to their table, the host decided to drop a bit of Bachelor lore on Jenn. Before Jesse was the host of The Bachelor franchise, back in the year 2004, he was the lead of Season 5, and he told Jenn he’s actually to blame for contestants being told not to eat the food. The host said:
Have you ever wondered why you’re not supposed to eat whenever you’re on a one-on-one date? You wanna know why? [points to himself] On my season I was scarfing the food down on every single date, trying to have this serious hard-core conversation, and I’m just literally talking through the food … And I think after that they had to stop doing it. So I essentially ruined it for everybody.
Jesse Palmer’s confession came with a couple of clips from his season that showed him trying to talk through mouthfuls of food, and my goodness did the producers make the right decision. I cannot believe nobody went and ripped that corn on the cob right out of his hand. Can you imagine — with all the trauma dumping that happens on the one-on-one dates — trying to tell your life story while your date acts like they haven’t seen food in a week? I know Jesse was a football player, but I’m wondering if he was being deprived of food when he wasn’t on camera. Seriously, I died laughing at those clips.
I’ve read different theories over the years about why the date food goes untouched, and former Bachelorette Tayshia Adams previously said it’s because it’s hard to get soundbites over all the noise that comes with eating. I mean, how are producers supposed to get clips to franken-bite together if they’re having to edit around chewing? Former Bachelor Sean Lowe said as much in his book For the Right Reasons. He also pointed out that by the time the couple arrives on the date, the food has been sitting out for a while.
So now we seemingly have confirmation that they’re not supposed to eat the food because producers don’t want the contestants eating while they talk, and it’s actually pretty funny that it all started with the man who would become the host. Thanks, Jesse.
If you want to tune in to watch Jenn Tran and her remaining men not eat their meals, new episodes of The Bachelorette air at 8 p.m. ET Mondays on ABC and can be streamed the next day with a Hulu subscription.