Austin Ott's 'Bachelorette' Exit Has Larger Implications for the Franchise

Reality TV dating series have developed from a niche market to a global phenomenon. Shows like Love Island, Love Is Blind, and Too Hot To Handle have followed on the heels of the longest running of these reality dating series, The Bachelor, and its popular spin-off series, The Bachelorette. The Bachelor began airing in 2002, and its sister spin-off followed quickly on its heels in 2003. Being the longest-running dating series comes with the perk of experience when it comes to the production, which viewers can see week to week on Season 21 of The Bachelorette. With the Taylor Swift-inspired season running like clockwork, it is somewhat surprising to note that the well-oiled Bachelor machine might have suddenly hit a snag.

Austin Ott's self-elimination in the fifth week may appear as a simple change of heart, but it has far greater implications for the series. Ott taking away Jenn Tran's power to save him or send him home with the customary rose ceremony means what little agency the series gives to the leading lady can be subverted. The production has prioritized creating dramatic moments, rather than focusing on the cast forming lasting connections with this season's Bachelorette. Ott has shifted the power away from both Jenn and the producers by choosing to depart the series. After going through the rigorous casting process and putting his life on pause to be there, Ott's choice implies that the production has been focusing on the wrong things this season.

The Bachelorette

A single bachelorette dates multiple men over several weeks, narrowing them down to hopefully find her true love.

Release Date January 8, 2003

Creator Mike Fleiss

Cast Chris Harrison , Jesse Palmer

Seasons 21

Creator(s) Mike Fleiss

Production Company Next Entertainment, Telepictures Productions, Greenlight Films

Austin Ott's Departure Proves Production Doesn't Care About the Cast

Austin Ott seemed to have genuine intentions when it came to building a relationship with Jenn. He was eager to prove himself on group dates, but the fact that he did not have an opportunity for a one-on-one date with Jenn in the five weeks he spent on the series speaks to a larger problem. How can the producers honestly maintain that the main objective for the season is for the contestants to be able to build a romantic connection with the Bachelorette if they are not given an opportunity to get to know her?

The only time Ott was able to earn any one-on-one conversations with Jenn was during a group date when he won a race at a racetrack. Other than that, the group dates Ott participated in were not conducive for Jenn to form meaningful connections with the majority of the men on the series. Jenn has had so few opportunities to truly connect with the contestants so far that she has not even received enough assurances to feel confident about any of them. After Ott's self-elimination, Jenn was left wondering if she would ever be enough for any of the contestants, and projecting that there is a possibility she will leave this experience alone since she doubts any of the men will choose her.

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Producer-Driven Drama Seems To Be Dominating the Dating Series

Image via ABC

Drama and reality TV go hand-in-hand. You can't put 25 men in a room together to compete for the interest of a single woman and not know that there will be moments when tempers flare, when miscommunications occur, and when pot-stirrers stick their noses into other peoples' business. But this is the drama that viewers on a reality TV dating series expect.

This season a lot of time has been dedicated to performative drama that has been stoked by the production. One example that is a glaring stand-out is the sudden appearance of Jenn's ex-boyfriend in Week 5, who claimed he wanted to join The Bachelorette experience and win her back. While Jenn ultimately decided she wanted to move on, her ex was given the time to address the men in the group to speak about how he saw changes in Jenn, reassuring them that she knew her future was with one of them.

But why would this apparent stunt be given so much time, when the men who had been committed to the experience of trying to get to know someone on a dating series for the last five weeks were already vocally frustrated with how little time they were able to spend with the woman they wanted to date? The contestants were even having conversations among themselves about how to strategize together so that people who had so far spent little time with Jenn would get an opportunity. So it appears that the production is prioritizing certain connections over others, rather than letting the contestants spend time with her in any situation other than contrived group date settings.

The Group Date That Was the Last Straw for Austin Ott

The group date that followed the drama producers injected into the series by introducing Jenn's ex-boyfriend did nothing to help Ott's cause. Ott has been vocal in the group about feeling side-lined when it comes to getting opportunities to speak with Jenn. So much so, that fellow contestant Thomas Nguyen confronted Devin Strader about monopolizing her time, and even spilled the beans to Jenn that the men felt she should be spending more time with Austin. On the group date at a New Zealand sheep farm, Devin ignored his fellow contestants' opinions and continued to dominate Jenn's time.

While the rest of the group put their efforts into the challenges that Farmer Richard had set for them, including scooping manure and a failed attempt to perform the functions of sheepdogs by chasing the herd into a new pen, Devin was often off to the side, scoring opportunities to pull Jenn's focus. Despite Farmer Richard's reservations about how intelligent the men are collectively after they failed to open the gate for the sheep to move into the pen the group date challenge had been designed around, he was granted the power to choose which among them had performed their duties well enough to earn a one-on-one date. Shocking the other contestants — who had followed the instructions and performed the farm work to the best of their ability — the farmer chose to reward Devin with the one-on-one date, ignoring the fact that he had barely participated in the day's activities. This seems to have been the last straw for Ott, who shortly after opted to eliminate himself rather than risk being eliminated at the next rose ceremony.

Austin Ott's Self-Elimination Suggests a Reality Dating Power Shift

Image via ABC

By leaving early, Austin Ott has taken the power away from Jenn to decide who stays and who exits through the obligatory rose ceremony where she pins the contestants she hopes to stay with a rose on their lapel. Ott's exit, where he admitted to Jenn that he felt like he was "playing catch up" and therefore wasn't the guy for her, suggests that he had lost interest in fighting for her, even though he knew that is what was expected from him when he signed up for the series, at least contractually.

Whether Ott's exit was his own idea, or simply another stunt that allowed Jenn to have her mid-season low point that left her feeling not worthy enough for the remaining contestants, his exit certainly seems to have shifted the power dynamic on the series. He and the other men had attempted to correct the course that was set for them by working together to ensure those who had not yet had an opportunity to form a bond would get a fair chance, but this effort backfired when Jenn felt they were making decisions on her behalf. Ott's exit wasn't a simple change of heart midway through his season, but rather the result of not prioritizing opportunities for the contestants to actually bond with the Bachelorette.

New episodes of The Bachelorette air Mondays on ABC in the U.S. and are available to stream the next day on Hulu.

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