If it seems like local contestants on "The Bachelor" shows — including "The Bachelorette" and "The Golden Bachelor" — are a hotter topic than ever, it's not just because we're increasingly obsessed with our own reality stars.
In recent years, there's been a significant uptick in the number of Minnesotans cast on "The Bachelor" suite of ABC-TV shows, and increasingly, they're making it to the final rounds, bringing the leads to meet their families during hometown dates.
In fact, compared with the number of contestants from other states, Minnesotans overperform when it comes to that "finalist" stage, a Star Tribune analysis shows.
Why? Minnesota's own Michelle Young — a finalist-turned-Bachelorette — has a few ideas.
Most contestants from Minnesota are "very much family-oriented," Young said by phone. The early part of the season rewards the most dramatic, loud characters, she said. "But when it comes down to it, toward the end of 'The Bachelor' or 'The Bachelorette,' it really is that person trying to find their person.
"And when you're ready to settle down, you typically are looking for a family-oriented person."
Young is one of five Minnesotans who have made it to the final rounds of the shows since 2017. In 2018, Becca Kufrin won the ring, accepting a proposal from Arie Luyendyk Jr., before he changed his mind, instead choosing — and later marrying — his runner-up. Both Kufrin and Young went on to star in their own seasons of "The Bachelorette." Speculation has swirled over whether Leslie Fhima, the runner-up on last year's "The Golden Bachelor," will become the first "Golden Bachelorette."
During the season finale on March 25, Daisy Kent, hailing from Becker, Minn., knew she wouldn't receive a proposal from Joey Graziadei and left in second place, but on her own terms.
"The Bachelor" debuted in 2002, spawning 48 seasons of the franchise's main two reality programs. Last year, ABC-TV introduced "The Golden Bachelor," a ratings hit and cultural phenomenon. A grand total of 21 men and women from Minnesota have vied for love and fame over that time, but more than half of them have been cast since 2017, most of them women.
Twenty-one contestants over more than 20 years of television isn't much to write home about, but almost a quarter of them ended up as finalists or winners — placing Minnesota sixth in the country. Wisconsinites also have done well but have had fewer contestants overall.
But for women on "The Bachelor" and "The Golden Bachelor" who have been finalists in the "modern era," which we've defined as Nick Viall's 2017 season and beyond, Minnesota women are locked in a four-way tie between women from California, Virginia and all of Canada.
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When Young first went on "The Bachelor," for the season starring Matt James, producers and fellow contestants underestimated her — and that ended up giving her an edge. "You have all these people coming in from New York, Los Angeles, these massive cities … who tend to have bigger personalities," she said. Meanwhile, she was seen as the sweet Midwestern girl.
Don't get her wrong: She is goofy, outgoing and sometimes loud. "But right away, the producers looked at me, they're like, 'Oh, she's not gonna go far, because she's so quiet.' When I was really sitting back and watching: 'OK, who can I trust?'
"Everyone has this view of Minnesota," she continued. Whether or not you have those characteristics, you get labeled that way. "You get to be the underdog who for sure has surprised people."