Warning: This article contains spoilers for The Bachelor.
The Bachelor has been airing on ABC since 2002 with 26 seasons, and its popularity led to the development of The Bachelorette and Bachelor in Paradise. The 26th season came to a close recently, gave fans one of the wildest villains ever, and ultimately culminated in one of the most dramatic finales Bachelor Nation has ever seen.
In the show's 26 seasons, there have been several moments that have caused controversy and discussion in the fan base. A lot of times, this happens when certain contestants get eliminated. The Bachelor has no shortage of leads who take a little too long to make up their minds or backtrack their decisions later, but controversial eliminations occur for a variety of reasons.
Rozlyn Papa (Season 14)
Four years before the 2014 Bachelor in Paradise fall from grace in which crew member Ryan Putz jumped off the balcony to avoid getting caught hooking up with a contestant, there was Rozlyn Papa on Jake Pavelka's season of The Bachelor in 2010.
In one of the greatest Bachelor controversies, Chris Harrison himself confronted Rozlyn Papa about an alleged inappropriate relationship with a staffer on the show and told her she needed to leave. Even though it was not an official rose ceremony elimination by a Bachelor per se, it is an infamous moment from the show that had everybody talking.
Katie Gehart (Season 5)
Before Jesse Palmer was made the The Bachelor, helping Clayton Echard through the process in the most recent season, he was the Bachelor himself during season 5 and made a slip up during a rose ceremony that many still .
Night one is difficult for many Bachelors, and it's understandable that they don't know everyone's names yet. However, Jesse called out Katie's name when he meant to say "Karen." Once the situation was corrected, Katie was allowed to stay, but it was really just a dragged-out elimination once she was sent home in week 3. Many fans still recall the awkwardness.
Molly Malaney (Season 13)
Here is one of the examples of the Bachelor taking a little more time to figure out what he really wants. In season 13, Jason Mesnick let Molly Malaney go during the final rose ceremony, and she told him, "I think you're making a huge mistake."
By the time of "After the Final Rose," he agreed with her. He publicly ended his engagement with Melissa Rycroft and asked Molly for a second chance - a sadly popular move in the franchise. While this was extremely dramatic at the time, and fans had all kinds of opinions, it seems to be for the best as Molly and Jason are still happily married after 11 years.
Elizabeth Corrigan (Season 26)
During the most recent season of The Bachelor that just came to an end, Elizabeth Corrigan found herself on the receiving end of drama from the season's infamous villain, Shanae Ankney. Clayton knew the two were feuding and chose to send Elizabeth home.
While this type of drama happens all the time, this particular story was controversial and led to lots of discussion on the internet because Shanae harassed Elizabeth about her ADHD. Clayton claims he did not know this was going on, but other contestants vocalized that he knew a little more about the drama and mistreatment than he was letting on.
Jenni Croft and DeAnna Pappas (Season 11)
In a shocking season finale, the only two-time Bachelor, Brett Womack, ended his first season by breaking up with both remaining women. Even though he spoke to them separately, it was still a double elimination like the show has never seen.
Before the rose ceremony, Brett had been saying he could see either woman as his wife, but ultimately, he contradicted himself by choosing neither of them. It seems Brett was too focused on how each one had qualities that the other didn't instead of seeing them as individuals. At the end of the day, he broke two hearts and misled two women, and he still got another chance four years later.
Becca Kufrin (Season 22)
Much like Jason Mesnick, Arie Luyendyk Jr. had trouble making up his mind and changed his decision publicly, weeks and weeks late. After proposing to Becca at the end of his season and being engaged for almost two months, he changed his mind.
The breakup aired in the finale and is one of the most controversial moves in Bachelor history. Arie kept in touch with "runner-up" Lauren and broke up with Becca, saying he wanted to get Lauren back. Like Jason, Arie and Lauren are happily married with three children, and Becca went on to both The Bachelorette and Bachelor in Paradise and is now happy with Thomas Jacobs.
Hannah Ann Sluss (Season 24)
Sadly, Hannah Ann experienced similar treatment to Becca Kufrin during the finale of Season 24 with Bachelor Pete Weber. Pilot Pete is known for leading a season full of indecision and bad calls, so it's unsurprising that the finale followed suit.
During fantasy suite week, contestant Madi Prewett removed herself due to concerns of Peter being intimate with others. He was clearly hurt and seemed drawn to Madi, but he pushed through and proposed to Hannah Ann, only to break off the engagement in Arie fashion to get Madi back. Fans will how much his mother protested. Ultimately, he and Madi didn't work out.
Sarah Welch (Season 7)
Sarah Welch is a unique type of controversial elimination because it does not have as much to do with the decision and the behavior of the Bachelor as it does with her reaction and how she spoke after the fact.
When Bachelor Charlie O'Connell let her go, she could not accept what had happened and really acted out towards the cameras, saying that Charlie had wasted his roses. She went on to rant about how being pretty is a curse, and she equated the mistreatment she felt as a pretty woman to "huge prejudice" and even referred to it as "racist."
Hannah Goodwin and Tayshia Adams (Season 23)
Hannah and Tayshia were the first example of a double break-up that can happen when The Bachelor season ends in an unexpected way. Bachelor Colton Underwood ended both relationships to take off after Cassie.
Before Colton came out and got engaged to Jordan C. Brown, his season frontrunner was Cassie Randolph. When she wanted to leave, he took after her, and both Hannah and Tayshia were heartbroken when their journeys ended early. Hannah took it especially hard as she had many reasons to believe she was his frontrunner.
Gabby Windey and Rachel Recchia (Season 26)
Before it was announced that Gabby Windey and Rachel Recchia are the next Bachelorettes who will undergo the journey together, they had to endure what Gabby described as a "group break up" in the most recent season of The Bachelor.
Recent Bachelor Clayton Echard took an unconventional, reckless, and speedy approach once he decided he only wanted Susie Evans, who had just self-eliminated. Though Gabby and Rachel had just stayed through immense drama and met his family, he broke up with both of them swiftly in the same room - a move that both women and fans at home still cannot believe and that gave rise to many memes from the finale.