'Bachelor' Blunder or Hidden Agenda? Viewers Demand Answers to the Blurred Canadian Flag

Spoiler alert: This article contains spoilers for the Season 28 premiere of The Bachelor.

During the Season 28 premiere of The Bachelor, our dashing leading man Joey Graziadei meets 32 fabulous ladies, all vying to sweep him off his feet and earn the coveted title of his fiancée! Among these contestants is Maria Georgas, a 29-year-old executive assistant from Kleinburg, Ontario, Canada.

As she steps out of the limo, Maria proudly waves a tiny Canadian flag. In a delightful twist, she hands it over to Joey, who tucks it into his suit jacket pocket. But hold on — The Bachelor mysteriously blurs out the flag.

What's the deal with this unexpected edit? Fans are buzzing with curiosity and a hint of disappointment, so let's dive into the juicy details behind this blurred Canadian flag fiasco!

After eagle-eyed viewers spotted the blurred flag, many of them flocked to X (formerly known as Twitter) to call out The Bachelor producers for this conspicuously obvious and somewhat impolite blunder.

"Is the Canadian flag controversial or something? What is up with the blur?" one person asked.

A second X user wrote, "Soooo... am I the only one who didn't know that the Canadian flag is so offensive that it has to be blurred on American television?"

"I never figured the next Canadian-United States war would begin with the Bachelor blurring out the Canadian flag, but here we are," a third Bachelor fan joked.

A fourth added, "WHY DID THE BACHELOR CENSOR THE CANADIAN FLAG? THAT'S MAPLE LEAFPHOBIC."

"So many Canadian ladies on this show, and they can't even show the flag?" another person questioned.

Someone else agreed, tweeting, "We can cast multiple contestants from Canada, but we have to blur the Canadian flag??? Make it make sense."

A fan threw in a cheeky suggestion, speculating that the blur was due to a budget crunch, claiming that the Bachelor producers "spent their entire budget" on beloved singer Billie Eilish's hit song "When The Party's Over," which played at the beginning of the episode.

But, plot twist! Turns out, the Canadian flag is trademarked. According to the Canadian Government, "The National Flag of Canada is protected by the Trade-marks Act against unauthorized use for commercial purposes. Other official symbols, such as the Canada Coat of Arms, are also protected."

Catch new episodes of The Bachelor on Mondays at 8 p.m. EST on ABC. Stream the next day on Hulu.