It Takes a Lot to Be a Perfect 'Bachelor' — These Are the Leads Who Came up Short

Even though The Bachelor fan base is an ever-growing entity, not every season is a winner. Sometimes, that's because of the contestants. Other times, it's the lead people can't stand. There are some guys who just sort of missed the mark. So we've compiled a list of the worst Bachelor leads so far.

Arie Luyendyk Jr. returned to The Bachelor franchise after several years away. To some, he was a stranger. To others, he had the potential to be a genuine guy. But in the end, he made an enemy out of tons of Bachelor fans.

Arie chose Becca Kufrin, whom he proposed to in the finale. But afterward, during the second part of the Season 22 finale, Arie revealed to Becca that he had feelings for someone else from the season and he broke off the engagement. It was a blindside for Becca and viewers alike.

During Season 18 of The Bachelor, Juan Pablo Galavis broke a ton of hearts. As the show's lead, that's expected. However, he did so in a way that felt almost dirty to some fans.

He allegedly whispered in Clare Crawley's ear, "I love f--king you, but I don't know you." And another contestant from his season, Andi Dorfman, later said that he didn't utilize their Fantasy Suite time to get to know her better. Juan Pablo was just all-around awful as a Bachelor lead.

Nick Viall was given another chance at love when he finally became a Bachelor lead in Season 21. He had competed on two seasons of The Bachelorette before and then went on Bachelor in Paradise. This was his time to shine.

Unfortunately, Nick's season of The Bachelor wasn't exactly full of fireworks. He got engaged at the end but later broke it off, and there honestly wasn't much excitement overall.

As far as Bachelor seasons go, Jake Pavelka's was pretty standard. It's the drama afterward that makes him stand out as a not-so-great lead. Season 14 was mostly drama free, but in the months between when filming ended and the cast reunited for the reunion, there were allegations that Jake's final pick, Vienna Girardi, cheated on him.

They got into an explosive argument on television which saw him literally shout at her to stop talking.

Brad Womack starred in Season 11 of The Bachelor on a search for love. Unfortunately, he didn't find it and he ended the season single. Producers brought him back for a mostly uneventful Season 15, during which he did fall for one of his contestants.

They broke up after filming ended, however. Brad isn't as bad of a Bachelor lead as someone like Arie or Juan Pablo, but he was definitely a snoozefest.

Jason Mesnick revealed during his Season 13 After the Final Rose special that he didn't want to stay with his first-place pick, Melissa Rycroft. Instead, he said on the show, in front of millions of viewers at home, he wanted to be with his runner-up, Molly Malaney.

It was a heartbreaking switcheroo for Melissa. And although the heart wants what the heart wants, it wasn't a good look for Jason.

To be fair, Clayton Echard isn't a bad Bachelor lead in the same way as some other guys before him. But Season 26 was considered one that many fans didn't look forward to ahead of its premiere.

Clayton wasn't memorable from Season 18 of The Bachelorette and to some fans, he seemed like a random pick from producers.

It takes a lot to be the perfect Bachelor lead. And we certainly don't fault some of these men for their choices in their respective Bachelor seasons. But it's also hard not to call them out for the negative impact they all left on the franchise.

Watch The Bachelor on Mondays at 8 p.m. EST on ABC.