Season 8 of The Bachelorette stars, for the first time ever, a single mom: Emily Maynard. Indeed, she has a 6-year old daughter named Ricki. When Emily was 19, she was engaged to NASCAR racer Ricky Hendrick. However, before they ever got married, Hendrick died in a plane crash. A few days later, Emily found out that she was pregnant with Hendrick's child, that she named after him.
Later, Emily actually won season 8 of The Bachelor, when Brad Womack gave her the final rose. They ended their engagement before getting married however, and Emily was publicly heartbroken. Speculations of unfaithfulness on both sides have been flying around, although official details about the breakup remain vague.
Now, when Emily got her second (third?) chance at love by being selected as the Bachelorette, many people were rooting for her. Personally, I can't help but wonder how many women have had the chance she had. Heartbreakingly, Hendrick passed away before their wedding. However, unlike most women in this horrendous situation, part of Hendrick lives on, because Emily has his daughter. Instead of being completely alone, she has the child of the (supposed) love of her life. How many brokenhearted fiances have the incredible comfort of finding out that they are mothers, right after finding out that they are would-be widows? For this reason, I find it hard to sympathize with Emily's vain quest for Prince Charming. Out of respect for the deceased man who was her fiance, for his parents, and for his daughter, she could have stayed out of the spotlight. Yes, it is incredibly unfortunate that Hendrick passed away. However, isn't incredibly selfish for Emily to try to replace him -- on national television no less? How many soul mates can one person have?
Not to mention that reality television shows are the last place to find lasting love. The great majority of "matches" made on The Bachelor and The Bachelorette barely make it to the end of the season. Without going into an in-depth analysis, it should be pretty obvious a) that it's pretty unlikely that one's soul mate happens to be a contestant on the show at the exact right time and b) that it's hard to create a long-lasting relationship when the Bachelor(ette) is inevitably cheating on the chosen contestant by getting to "know" the other contestants. Also, contestants, winners, Bachelors and Bachelorettes are recycled for every new season -- like in Emily's case, for example. Her engagement with the actual Bachelor didn't work out the first time? No problem, let's try another batch, but this time, she gets to pick.
Hey, if this doesn't work out either, she could always try again on season 17 of The Bachelor.
