The Bachelor: 10 Runner-Ups That Totally Should Have Won

One of the most dramatic reality shows, The Bachelor has had 24 seasons and all the drama over breakups and makeups anyone would wish to see. Over the span of eighteen years, there have been more losers than winners in the show. As the audience connects with the contesters they tend to pick favorites from the very beginning.

Unfortunately, only one lady can be chosen in the end as the “right one” and usually it is the hardest for the unlucky runner-up who leaves the show heartbroken and all in tears. Quite often the lady who finishes in second place feels to the audience like she deserves to be the one.

10 Chantal O’Brien

Chantal O’Brien was the runner-up in season 15 of The Bachelor. Unfortunately, she lost to Emily Maynard and as soon as the bachelor chose his lady O’Brien was crushed.

She did not handle the entire situation very well and there were without a doubt, many tears. Luckily she found love again and got married to Jeff Razore, today the couple has two children and they lead a very private life.

9 Becca Tilley

Becca Tilley was the runner-up in season 19 of the show and ever since the last episode she has had a crazy social life. Although they made a very successful-seeming couple, it turned out that Chris Soules was not the bachelor for Tilley.

For a long period after the season ended she was connected with Dean Unglert and Eric Bigger both contestants on the 13th season of The Bachelorette and she went back onto the franchise to try to date Ben Higgins in The Bachelor’s 20th season. It seems like Tilley was really determined to end up with a bachelor.

8 Sadie Murray

Sadie Murray was the runner-up in season 9 of the show which would be remembered as the one where everyone went to Rome because they actually did. Murray came so close to winning the heart of Lorenzo Borghese but at the last moment, he chose Jennifer Wilson.

Murray is one of those people who can turn every event to work in her favor so with the help of The Bachelor fame she built her career and today she is a success story. Who knows what she could have done if she would win.

7 Krisily Kennedy

Krisily Kennedy was the runner-up in season 7 of the show and she was one of the few who was a television personality long before The Bachelor. She knew how to handed herself well in front of the cameras and almost made it to be the future Mrs. Charlie O’Connell.

After the season was over she continued with her involvement in television and she definitely made the most out of it. Despite O’Connell’s decision, many fans were truly rooting for her.

6 Trista Rehn

Trista Rehn was the first runner-up on the show since she was a contestant in season 1. She was devastated but only for a very short period of time since soon enough ABC decided for her to be the first bachelorette.

She met Ryan Sutter with whom she got married and today they have two beautiful children. It was important to Rehn to find love on her own terms and The Bachelor was not the right cut for her.

5 Kelly Jo Kuharski

Kelly Jo Kuharski was the runner-up in season 4 of the show as she lost her bachelor to Estella Gardinier. At the time Kuharski was absolutely devastated and as her world was shattered she would have wished for nothing more than the final yes.

Maybe it was a bittersweet moment when Bob Guiney and Estella Gardinier broke off their relationship and everyone went their separate way.

4 Tara Huckeby

Tara Huckeby was the runner-up in season 5 of the show and she has had one of the most dramatic exits so far. As soon as she was approaching the venue where the final decision would be made she asked the driver to stop the limo since she felt incredibly sick.

She arrived late and Palmer made her feel even worse since she rejected her with the words “Tara, I’ve fallen in love with someone else.” Huckeby definitely deserved to be the winner but not everyone can get their happy ending.

3 Kirsten Buschbacher

Kirsten Buschbacher was the runner-up in season 3 of the show and she was as classy and beautiful as one expects a finalist to be. She fell in love and she was waiting for her happy ending with Andrew Firestone that sadly never happened.

She was left heartbroken and sad just to find out that she wasn’t chosen due to Firestone’s doubts about her ex-boyfriend. Buschbacher and Firestone looked like a picture-perfect couple, it’s a shame this was not their reality.

2 Brooke Smith

Brook Smith was the runner-up in season 2 of the show and it seems that if the entire thing were behind closed doors, Smith would have had a better chance of winning.

Ever since she got dumped on The Bachelor, Smith graduated, got married to Scott, had two children, built a successful career for herself as a news anchor of a daytime show, and moved on with her life. Maybe the loss was for the best.

1 Hannah Godwin

Hannah Godwin was the runner-up in season 23 of the show where she was dumpled in the most unexpected way possible. Colton Underwood the bachelor of season 23 decided that he doesn’t want to be with either Hannah Godwin or Cassie Randolph, so he cut them out at the same time.

This has never happened before on The Bachelor and it was heartbreaking as well as humiliating. Hannah Godwin was one of the all-time favorites on the show.