‘The Bachelor’ and ‘The Bachelorette’ Season 1: Where Are They Now?
The Bachelor franchise began nearly two decades ago.
Alex Michel was a 31-year-old Stanford Business School graduate when ABC named him the first-ever Bachelor. His five-week journey to find love premiered in March 2002 with 25 women hoping to win his heart. Among those OG contestants? Amanda Marsh, Trista Sutter (née Rehn), Shannon Oliver and LaNease Adams.
While Alex ultimately picked Amanda, a 23-year-old from Kansas, he opted not to propose during the April 2002 finale. The duo announced their decision to split in early 2003.
“I know people have tried to get ahold of him, and we would have loved to have had him here today, but he’s kind of gone on to live his life,” Chris Harrison said of Alex in 2013. “But, we do owe him a debt of gratitude; he kicked this whole thing off … I don’t blame him [for disappearing]; he’s paid his dues.”
Runner-up Trista, meanwhile, went on to become the first Bachelorette. The Miami Heat dancer, who was 29 years old at the time, launched the Bachelor spinoff in January 2003. Six episodes later, Trista found love with Ryan Sutter, a 28-year-old firefighter from Vail, Colorado.
The couple made history in December 2003 when they tied the knot in front of ABC cameras.
“Nowadays they shoot the show for, I believe, three months. So it’s like 12 weeks,” Trista recalled to Us Weekly exclusively in April 2020. “My show was shot in six weeks. So Ryan and I met, got engaged, got married a year later, after knowing each other for six weeks. So that’s how it used to be.”
ABC aired a condensed version of seasons 1 of The Bachelor and The Bachelorette in July 2020 as part of The Bachelor: The Greatest Seasons — Ever!. Trista previously admitted to Us that they barely knew what “reality television was back” in 2003.
“I am sorry for my orange hair! I’m sorry I baby talk. It’s like my mating ritual, I don’t know,” she quipped to Us in April 2020. “Be nice because that was a long time ago.”
Listen to Here For the Right Reasons to get inside scoop about the Bachelor franchise and exclusive interviews from contestants!
Scroll through for an update on some of the notable names from the OG seasons of The Bachelor and Bachelorette:
Alex lives in Washington, D.C., and works as a media industry executive. His current relationship status is unknown.
Matt Baron/BEI/Shutterstock
The first-ever winner of The Bachelor works as a dermatology nurse practitioner. She went on to marry her childhood friend Jay Caldwell and welcomed daughter Chloe.
Amanda made a reference to The Bachelor in April 2020 via Instagram.
“I have always been interested in the medical field and after accepting the first and final 🌹 (yes I am #thebachelor OG), I was drawn towards helping others feel good about themselves ...starting with the skin they’re in!” she quipped. “Additionally, I was only 23 when diagnosed with skin cancer, making patient education, promotion and conducting of skin cancer screenings🔎 are a large part of my practice.”
Matt Baron/BEI/Shutterstock; Courtesy Amanda Marsh/Instagram
Shannon, the second runner-up on season 1 of The Bachelor, and husband Justin Robinson share two sons. The family of four lives in Texas.
ABC; Courtesy Shannon Oliver/Facebook
LaNease made history when she scored the first kiss during season 1 of The Bachelor. In addition to pursuing an acting career, she founded Fountain of Youth Bath, an organic mineral aromatherapy line.
ABC; Courtesy LaNease Adams/Instagram
The OG Bachelorette couple share two kids — Maxwell Alston and Blakesley Grace — and live in Colorado.
“We’re great,” Trista told Us in April 2020. “[Quarantine is] hard because we’re together all the time. But it’s also great because we’re together all the time. … My kids are in middle school. And it’s hard because they want to be with their friends, but they also are creative beings and having quality time with their parents is important to them too.”
BEI/Shutterstock; Courtesy Trista Sutter/Instagram
The Bachelorette season 1 runner-up worked as a special correspondent for Extra before taking a step back from the spotlight. According to LinkedIn, he is the Vice President of Stryker, a medical technology company in Phoenix, Arizona.
Matt Baron/BEI/Shutterstock
While Bob finished 5th on season 1 of The Bachelorette, ABC brought him back to headline season 4 of The Bachelor later that year. Things didn’t work out between Bob and winner Estella Gardinier, but he found love after the show with All My Children actress Rebecca Budig.
After six years of marriage, Bob and Rebecca split in 2010. He tied the knot again in November 2016 to Jessica Canyon. The couple, who live in Seattle, share son Grayson.
“I’m living in Seattle with my wife and new son Grayson, who is taking up all my time these days, which I love!” Bob told Us exclusively in 2018. “I still do a ton of hosting for different live events and I go back and forth to New York twice a month to be on the Today show. I love it – they’ve very supportive of me and I love how much they make so fun of me. Life is going very well. Thanks to the show, I’ve had such amazing opportunities come my way.”
ABC/CRAIG SJODIN; Courtesy Bob Guiney/Instagram
After coming in 4th place on Trista’s season, Greg made headlines when he was caught with drugs at John F. Kennedy airport in February 2003.
"Learn the lesson from me. Have a prescription," he told the AP at the time, claiming he was bringing two codeine tablets onboard to help him sleep. "And don't have a piece of aluminum foil next to something that doesn't have any label on it."
Greg lives in New York City and works as the director of sales for protective equipment company Earnest Supply LLC.
Matt Baron/BEI/Shutterstock; Courtesy Greg Todtman/LinkedIn (inset)
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