We've all heard of one million different reality dating shows, and I'm sure most of us think the people who go on the shows are completely insane (I mean really, you know a guy/girl for 6 weeks and get engaged??? Sorry, no.) But, I'm also positive all of us secretly LOVE watching them.
The particular dating show that immediately comes to mind would be "The Bachelor" and "The Bachelorette." I religiously followed Colton's season (and was team Cassie the entire time, just sayin'), and I am now very invested in the Hannah B. show (I am currently team ANYONE but Luke P.). I have also recently discovered the show called "Love Island," and if you haven't ever heard of it, look it up. I promise it will change your life for the better.
All of these different types of shows follow boys and girls through their journey to find ~true love~ and ~happiness~. Now, as I've written about before, I am a Capricorn, which means I am extremely skeptical about the relationships these people form and do not fully understand how someone could find love through something as forced as a dating show. But, just because I do not think it would work for me does not mean I do not thoroughly enjoy watching the shows and acting like I've known everyone on them my entire life.
I love these kinds of shows for many different reasons. The first reason is that watching shows like this with your friends really bonds you in an indescribable way. Every night when the Bachelor or the Bachelorette is on, we get snacks, maybe a bottle of wine, and settle in for a drama-filled evening. We scream at the TV when someone is out of line, start to love (and hate) the same people on the show, and debrief everything that happened afterward.
Another reason I love watching these types of shows is that there is a shred of relatability in some of the characters on these shows. Every season there comes a character who reminds you of yourself or who you would like to be, and it is so fun to see that on a TV show, especially one that seems so out of reach and unrelatable.
In conclusion, I know it is not just me who feels this way about these types of shows. None of us want to like them, but we all love them and the people on them as well.
Except for Luke P. We don't like him.