The Bachelor season rankings: All Bachelor seasons ranked

13. Aaron Buerge: Season 2

It’s often hard to believe that The Bachelor has had 24 seasons and started nearly 18 years ago. Many of us haven’t seen those early seasons and have no idea who was a part of the franchise’s early days. We’ve revised the show’s very first Bachelor, Alex Michel, but it was the second Bachelor who really got things kickstarted and made things feel more optimistic.

There was a lot to like about Aaron Buerge, who had a likable personality, was successful in his own right, and actually caught the attention of viewers all over the world. I’m not sure if it was the fact that Michel was such a snore and “too proper” or that Buerge really was what the franchise should have started with, but things certainly felt more exciting in season 2.

The term “most dramatic season/rose ceremony ever” has been coined by host Chris Harrison, and I’d like to think it was Buerge’s season that really started that phrase. In an unexpected turn of events, Buerge sent his frontrunner, Gwen, home right before the final two.

Given that there hadn’t been any Colton Underwoods, Peter Webers, or Clare Crawleys, this was a very O-M-G moment for viewers. So much so that 26 million viewers tuned into the season 2 finale to see how Buerge would end his journey.

In the end, Buerge ended up proposing to Helene Eksterowicz who was an elementary school psychologist at the time. Unfortunately, they broke up just weeks after the finale aired.

In 2009, Buerge married  Angye McIntosh, and the pair remain together to this day.