By Ryan Wallis, news correspondent
Kaitlyn Bristowe, best known as a contestant on season 19 of ABC’s “The Bachelor” and the star of season 11 of “The Bachelorette,” brought her advice and wit to Northeastern’s Blackman Auditorium Oct. 19.
Unlike many former “The Bachelor” franchise contestants, Bristowe has a reputation for being genuine and telling things as they are. This fact was not lost on Alex Merkle-Raymond, a third-year environmental and marine studies major.
“I’m hoping that they ask good questions because I feel like Kaitlyn is one of the more honest and upfront Bachelorettes,” Merkle-Raymond said before the show. “I feel like if she gets asked a lot of honest questions, she can and will answer them.”
Bristowe revealed that she had always wanted to have her own radio show, and after “The Bachelorette,” her desire to connect with others inspired her to start her own podcast, “Off the Vine.” In her own words, she’s “killing it” so far.
“I always thought I would be on the radio, not TV,” Bristowe said. “It’s the time to be in podcasting. I feel like it’s a thing that’s really blowing up, and the idea that I could connect with so many people while being in my sweatpants with a glass of wine from any kind of atmosphere sounded glorious to me, so I ran with it.”
Bristowe’s dream podcast guest is Ellen DeGeneres, calling the comedian her “hero.”
Throughout the evening, Bristowe showcased her sense of humor through her interesting takes on the inner-workings of the reality show.
“The point of the show is ratings,” she said when asked why so few of “The Bachelor” couples stay together. “It’s a bonus if you find love.”
When asked if the show is scripted, she said, “It’s not scripted, it’s just heavily, heavily, edited,” even jokingly referring to the producers of the show as “monsters.”
For the most part, she said she was given agency on who was sent home and who stayed, but in one circumstance, the producers requested she keep one contestant whom she knew she wasn’t going to pick because he was “good TV.”
The most surprising aspect of the show for Bristowe was the limited amount of time she was able to spend with each of the contestants. One-on-one dates are made to look like they take an entire day, when in reality, “it’s maybe half an hour” she said.
Bristowe’s goal when speaking at colleges — she was recently at East Carolina University and University of Minnesota — is to connect with young students and “spread positivity.” So, when the opportunity came for her to talk at Northeastern, the timing could not have been more perfect. Bristowe said she considers Boston one of her favorite cities because she loves the people, and she planned to be in Cape Cod two days later for the wedding of “The Bachelor” season 19 winner Whitney Bischoff.
“I don’t know if I’m allowed to say that,” Bristowe said. “[Whitney]’s like, ‘Can you keep that hush hush,’ and I’m like ‘Yeah sure, I’ll just go to the university and tell everybody.’”
Bristowe revealed that while the show was airing, she had to deal with a lot of cyberbullying from female viewers.
“What is it with women being so mean to other women?” she said. “Like if a guy is watching, they wouldn’t be like ‘Oh ugh, look at her hair’ and tweet her.”
Bristowe’s advice for people dealing with bullying is to know that hateful comments stem from the insecurities of the people saying them, and have nothing to do with those they are directed toward. She recommends complimenting others because doing so has made her feel more confident about herself.
When the conversation steered toward Bristowe’s season of “The Bachelorette”, she said she always hoped Shawn Booth was going to be the winner, but continually questioned if he could be “that good.” The producers would always cut off her time with Booth, she said, because they could tell she was way too into it. One of her happiest surprises, though, was that after living together for more than two years, she can confirm “he is that good.”
The biggest bombshell of the night came at the very last question when a student asked why she kept Nick Viall, widely considered to be the villain of her season, all the way into her final two.
“I’ll tell you a little secret,” Bristowe said. “I knew [the winner] was going to be Shawn. I wanted Ben [Higgins] to be in my final two, but [the producers] wanted him to be The Bachelor,” referring to the fact that the third-place finisher on “The Bachelorette” generally becomes the following season’s suitor on “The Bachelor.”
The crowd released a collective “ohhh” as this answer seemed to provide clarity for most everyone.
At the end of the show, Bristowe brought out her fiance Booth from backstage to thunderous applause. She took a quick Snapchat video of the crowd before exiting the stage.
“She was very down to earth and funny,” Alyssa Schifano, a second-year design major, said after the show. “She’s similar in person as she portrays herself on social media.”
That statement was echoed by Rebecca Cann, a fifth-year marketing and supply chain major.
“She was really funny, really charismatic,” she said. “Which is not surprising because she’s very consistent and genuine.”
