The Bachelorette Season 11: A look back at Kaitlyn Bristowe

And the Bachelorette Season 11 lead is, er are…Britt and Kaitlyn!

During Season 19’s “After the Final Rose” ceremony, after Chris and Whitney’s new cow was led off the stage (seriously, this show), Chris Harrison announced who would lead The Bachelorette Season 11. Business as usual, right? What was unusual is that the show had decided to cast two women, Kaitlyn Bristowe and Britt Nilsson, as the new leads, claiming that fans were so split that the Powers that Be could not make the choice between them.

The Bachelor has made a few moves that have raised eyebrows over the years, but this move drew some of the greatest criticism from Bachelor Nation. Though the show did try this first with men in the days of Byron and Jay, many fans had not seen that and thought they were trying it for the first time with women, which some saw as a sexist move undermining the original gender equalizing motive of The Bachelorette.

The two potential Bachelorettes were Kaitlyn Bristowe and Britt Nilsson, two opposing personalities from Chris Soules’ season of The Bachelor. On The Bachelorette Season 11 premiere, the contestants stepped out of the limo to greet both women, which had its fair share of awkward moments. Later that night, the men voted on who they wanted to be that season’s Bachelorette.

I must admit, it did add an interesting layer as the leads themselves were suddenly put in the position of trying to impress the contestants. Things did get a little hard to watch as Britt was sent home in tears (and still had to do all the press for the show afterward!).  However, one man, Christian musician Brady Toops, left the season to pursue her.

And then there was one. And so began Kaitlyn’s season of The Bachelorette!