Every Monday morning, I awake with a groan, usually dreading the day ahead of me. Mondays are notoriously known for being the worst day of the week. Personally, I’ve always found Mondays deplorable. However, a few years ago I discovered something that always motivates me to push through all the tedious and exhausting tasks I have to get done on Mondays: “The Bachelor.”

For anyone who watches “The Bachelor,” I’m sure you can relate when I say that I always strive to get everything I need to get done before 8 p.m. on Mondays so that I can sit down with popcorn and all my friends during the two-hour episodes of “The Bachelor.” For anyone who doesn’t watch “The Bachelor,” I can guarantee that you’re already rolling your eyes at me for actually wasting two hours of my life every single week on a show that’s sole focus is the drama that ensues from the obvious emotional disaster that occurs when you put thirty women whom are all dating the same man in one mansion together.

I used to be one of those eye-rollers who never understood the appeal of “The Bachelor.” That is until one day my best friends forced me to watch an episode with them and I was instantly a fan. The truth is, “The Bachelor” is just as ridiculous and petty as everyone thinks. But every Monday, without fail, I set aside two hours for this TV show because I love to hate “The Bachelor.”

Just like any villain in a favorite story, there is something oddly amazing about the relationships people build towards things that they hate. For instance, take Bellatrix Lestrange from “Harry Potter.” She’s an awful character who spends all her time torturing and killing the protagonists of the story. Everyone hates her, but everyone loves to hate her. This weird feeling of loving to hate something is the reason that people pay attention and even cheer when Bellatrix Lestrange is finally killed by Molly Weasley in the last book and movie.

This is the same reason that I come back to watch “The Bachelor” every Monday.

I am completely aware of the flaws with “The Bachelor.” There are moments in the show that are so obviously filmed in a way to make the audience believe something that probably isn’t true. Oftentimes, the engagements that occur because of “The Bachelor” are broken, and the true love people find ends as soon as the cameras are off. And I could point out more than one sexist issue with the show.

But these flaws, among others, are some of the reasons that I love to watch the show so much.

I love being able to relax and get engrossed in the uncomfortable dates. I love being able to gossip about all the people on the show, taking sides on who I think the bachelor should I end up with and who I think won’t get a rose that week. I love being able to look at Twitter and reassure myself that thinking Arie was wrong for what he did to Becca is valid because every other fan agrees with me.

“The Bachelor” has become my guilty pleasure. It’s allowed me to take two hours on my least favorite day of the week to solely focus on drama that doesn’t affect me at all, instead of focusing on all the problems in my own life. Sure, the show doesn’t add any real substance to my life, but sometimes people need something that they love to hate in order to get them through the stress of life.