The 18th season of The Bachelor is currently being shown on ABC.  This year’s bachelor, Juan Pablo Galavis, was a fan favorite last season on The Bachelorette.

Each year, the show rotates having a male or female star that was sent home during the previous season.

The new season premiered Monday, January 6, with 27 ladies hoping to find true love.

Is signing up for a reality TV show really a way to find true love today?  One may become infatuated with or attracted to someone this quick, but he or she will not “be in love.”

Falling in love should not be about winning a competition or beating out other women.  It’s about finding that special someone you are willing to spend the rest of your life with.  You cannot force true love.

Notre Dame’s campus minister Daniel Kriegl believes the decisions are not organic; they are forced and rushed.

“How do you know you’re in love with the person when you’re in paradise?  I do not think you can be seeing five different women and truly know them,” Kriegl said.

How much of this reality TV show is actually “real?”  In the finale episode of every season, the bachelor or bachelorette will pick between the final two contestants.  According to E! Online, most of the couples end up breaking up about a month after the episode is aired.

Over the past 17 seasons of The Bachelor, only two couples remain together.  That does not mean the girl chosen on the finale is the real “winner.”  In season 13, the original girl chosen was informed later on that the bachelor was still in love with a former contestant.  They broke up, and he went after the other woman.  They are still together today.

There have been nine seasons of The Bachelorette, with three couples still together today.

The candidates on the show claim they are looking for true love.  My question for them is how do they know they even love the bachelor or bachelorette?  Contestants get caught up in the competition, and it becomes more important for them to win than finding a partner.

Many believe several contestants only sign up for the show in order to get their name out in “the business.”  Some could be hoping to become famous, and think the reality show will be a great start for their career.

Even though the show makes great TV, filled with entertainment and drama, it is not a traditional or realistic way to find true love.