When The Bachelorette kicked off back in 2003 as a spinoff of ABC's hit dating show The Bachelor, it's almost impossible to believe that its first star Trista Sutter (née Rehn) could have foreseen just how massive the franchise would get alongside the flagship series. It's been 17 years since it started off, and the O.G. front-woman is still together with the first Bachelorette winner, Ryan Sutter, and they have two kids together. And guess what? Trista is now perfectly fine with the kids diving into her claim-to-fame franchise.
To be clear, Trista Sutter feels okay with giving the thumbs up for her son Maxwell, 12, and daughter Blakesly, 11, to witness the visual proof of how their parents first kindled their romance on The Bachelorette's debut season, specifically through ABC's currently airing spinoff The Bachelor: The Greatest Seasons – Ever! Here's how she explained that decision to Entertainment Tonight:
They are actually at an age where I'm OK with them watching. I think it's part of their history, and the best part of our particular season of the Greatest Seasons Ever is that it's like a highlight reel. So they don't have to see everything!
Ay, that's the ticket right there. Trista Sutter is fine and dandy with Maxwell and Blakesly peeping out the super-condensed Greatest Seasons format for her Bachelorette season specifically because it's not the exhaustive TV journey that viewers went on when the season aired in full. Sure, it's not like The Bachelor's G.O.A.T. spinoff was going to chop out ALL the drama, because what is this franchise without heaping doses of relationship havoc? In any case, Trista deemed the "highlight reel" to be suitable for pre-teen viewing.
While there might be a little more hesitation from Trista and Ryan Sutter to show their kids their full season of The Bachelorette, or the first full season of The Bachelor (in which Trista was not successful in winning over Alex Michel's heart), they can always take reverse-comfort in knowing all those episodes will always be there for Maxwell and Blakesly to watch when they get older. Although it's entirely possible that having them check out the Greatest Seasons spinoff installment will eliminate any future desire on their part to check out the whole shebang. If that's the case, I applaud the parents' canniness.
During the interview, Trista talked about why she's at a point where she's more willing to embrace looking back at her relationship's origins on The Bachelorette. In her words:
We met, we got engaged, we got married, had a family... for me, that's why I want to watch, because I want to see our love story unfold again. And it's easier for me to get past me kissing other guys.
One would think that watching "Mom" kiss other guys besides "Dad" would be the thing that made Trista and Ryan's kids go running away from their TVs, but maybe that's just me awkwardly envisioning my parents cavorting with others before they got together. In any case, it speaks to the true and unbroken romance that Trista and Ryan formed that they actually had kids who would be around to watch their love story unfold. The same can definitely not be said for most other Bachelor Nation couplings.
At this point, it's not exactly clear when the next season of The Bachelorette with Clare Crawley will fully come together, all things considered, but ABC has a plan for how the production will play out, barring any difficulties. Plus, the next candidate for The Bachelor is already in place, with Matt James taking over as the star, marking the first time a Black male will serve as the titular suitor. (And we've got ideas for that season.)
The Bachelor: The Greatest Seasons – Ever! airs Monday nights on ABC at 8:00 p.m. ET. While waiting for the next episode, be sure to check out our Summer 2020 TV premiere schedule and our Fall 2020 TV guide to stay up to date with all the big and small shows debuting later this year.
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