The rules of Bachelor Nation, much like the beauty rules of Elle Woods, are simple and finite. But, every so often, they have to be amended to fit the world around the show. In the promo for episode 7 of Bachelor In Paradise, Chris Harrison mentions something about shaking up Bachelor In Paradise in order to make room for… something. But what rule will Bachelor In Paradise ultimately change? Well, the most likely change would mark a big moment for the show and the franchise in general.
Technically the change could be anything, but the best bet is that this amendment to the Bachelor constitution has a lot to do with Demi Burnett and her girlfriend, Kristian Haggerty. At the beginning of this season of Bachelor In Paradise, Demi told former Bachelorette Hannah Brown that she was bisexual and dating a woman, Kristian, back at home. Now, Kristian is in Paradise because Demi wanted her there to make sure all those feelings were real and after their one on one date, it turns out, they are. Now, if Demi and Kristian are going to do this in Paradise, there’s one big thing working against them — the rules for how roses get handed out. Basically, the current set-up has men giving roses to women and vice versa. But that's pretty heteronormative and restrictive, especially considering that the cast now includes two women who do not identify as straight.
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Because Bachelor Nation has never dealt with a same-sex couple in this regard, Chris Harrison is almost certainly changing the gender divide in the upcoming rose ceremonies in order to let Kristian and Demi give roses to each other. Of course, the specifics of how that rule change will work, if that is what Chris is referring to, are still unclear.
The Bachelor franchise isn’t exactly known for being all that progressive or diverse, but changing the men vs. women rose ceremony pattern would be a good stop on the way to getting up to speed with 2019. Demi and Kristian deserve a chance to explore their love together on national television the same as any of the other couples on Bachelor In Paradise, and if this rule is changed to suit them, it would give Bachelor Nation a swift kick towards greater representation (and this century).
Of course, this whole “rule change” thing could be something else, like cancelling the requisite cocktail parties before every rose ceremony or casting Neil Lane out of Bachelor Nation and telling anyone who wants to propose that they must find their own pearls and pull them out of the sea in order to put a ring on it. But let's be realistic. It's going to be the rose ceremony thing.