Billy Eichner wants to be the first gay star of The Bachelor
Billy Eichner has attracted praise for his idea about The Bachelor (Emma McIntyre/Getty)
Billy Eichner has put himself forward to be the first ever gay man to star on The Bachelor.
When the comedian and actor appeared on The Bachelor on Monday (January 14) as a guest, he told the show’s current star Colton Underwood: “Maybe you’re the first gay bachelor and we don’t even know!”
“A gay man as The Bachelor would open up a lot of hearts and minds in this country.”
— Billy Eichner
After the episode aired, Eichner tweeted: “I actually do think it would be cool to do a gay season of The Bachelor… and hey @BachelorABC I’m single.”
On Wednesday, the American Horror Story star followed this up by tweeting: “It may sound silly—and I’m not a huge reality show guy honestly—but a gay man as The Bachelor would open up a lot of hearts and minds in this country. I’m just sayin’…”
Lots of people would love Billy Eichner to star on The Bachelor
A huge number of fans voiced their approval of this idea.
Many of them expressed their delight in very similar ways, writing that they didn’t like the show, but would love to watch Eichner as its frontman.
“I actually do think it would be cool to do a gay season of The Bachelor… and hey @BachelorABC I’m single.” (billyeichner/twitter)
One wrote: “I’ve never watched The Bachelor, and have no interest in it, but if this became a reality, I would absolutely watch.”
Another said: “I genuinely don’t like The Bachelor/Bachelorette but literally I’d sit down in front of my TV with a bowl of popcorn and watch Every. Single. Episode. As if it were @RuPaulsDragRace or @AHSFX ❤️❤️.”
A different user tweeted: “I don’t watch that show but I would watch THAT show! Then a lesbian bachelorette .”
“I would actually watch this Bachelor, and I’ve never watched an episode of straight @BachelorABC,” said another fan.
Many fans could imagine Billy Eichner as the star of The Bachelor. (Phillip Faraone/Getty)
And one said: “I’ve never seen a single episode but I would watch if @billyeichner was the bachelor ✌ .”
Others simply praised the concept, such as one tweeter who wrote: “I do think it would be awesome for perception, for romance & entertainment so fingers crossed they figure it out or come up with a different concept on a network like ABC.
“You should work with them on that Billy. You were great on the show .”
Billy Eichner’s wonderful comebacks to fans’ responses about The Bachelor
However, not every comment was well-received by the comedian.
Eichner firmly knocked back suggestions that he feature in a reboot of gay dating show Finding Prince Charming.
He wrote to one person, “I will only do THE BACHELOR. No knockoffs for Billy!” before telling another Finding Prince Charming fan: “With all due respect, that doesn’t count. ”
Eichner also responded in a wonderfully savage way to a person who wondered if having only gay men on the show might “make the whole competition break down.”
The actor told her: “Sweetie we figured out electricity and artificial intelligence I think we can figure out to make a gay Bachelor work.”
