Trista Sutter On Why ‘Bachelorette’ Is More Successful Than ‘Bachelor’

Trista Sutter was the runner-up on the very first season of The Bachelor back in 2002 before going on to star in first season The Bachelorette. Trista married her husband, Ryan, following  their engagement during the season finale of The Bachelorette. While chatting with Us Weekly, Trista explained why the couples from The Bachelorette tend to be more successful than the ones who get together on The Bachelor.

“I am on a text chain with the rest of the Bachelorettes and we’ve often talked about this — women do it better,” she joked. “But I do feel like there is something behind casting. And, you know, like Brad Womack, how he didn’t ask DeAnna [Pappas] or Jenni [Croft] to be his wife at the end of his show? I think it’s because you know, they weren’t the right people. The same thing happened with like, Jen Schefft. And I think that sometimes people get caught up in the lust factor.”

In Bachelor Nation history, six Bachelorette couples have stayed together while Sean Lowe is the only Bachelor lead who actually married the women he proposed to on the show. Several other Bachelor leads, including Jason Mesnick, Arie Luyendyk Jr.and Peter Weber, ended up in relationships with other women from their seasons after filming wrapped.

Trista also reflected on her experience as a contestant on Alex Michel's Bachelor season. “I got caught up with Alex in the fact that he was a great guy on paper for me like he had gone to Stanford and Harvard and I was looking for someone well-traveled and a family guy and I felt like he checked all those boxes,” she recalled. “I mean, we had good chemistry, but looking back I just don’t know that it would have worked out. I think we’re two very different people and after his family reacted, like, they called me some names. … Yeah, it wouldn’t have. I don’t think it would have been the most healthy relationship.”

As for why her own season of The Bachelorette worked out—Trista and Ryan are still married—she credits going into the season with an open mind and heart. “I decided going in that I needed to give myself wholeheartedly to the experience in order for it to work,” she said. “I still believe that for anybody who’s the lead, if a person is not willing to be vulnerable and willing to express themselves and be truly themselves without fear of criticism or skepticism or whatever, I don’t think it’ll work out. That’s just my experience.”

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