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'Bachelor in Paradise' is under fire for queerbaiting viewers

"It leaves LGBTI people feeling excluded and like the butt of the joke again."

Johnny Lieu

on April 17, 2018

Viewers are not happy with Australia's version of Bachelor In Paradise, calling out the show for queerbaiting.

Given the general lack of LGBTQ romances onscreen, queerbaiting —wherein television producers hint at non-heteronormative relationships for buzz and shock value, but fail to depict actual relationships — is a concern among audiences .

In the case of Bachelor In Paradise, the first and only bisexual contestant on the show, Megan Marx, is shown in a early promo seemingly kissing another woman, Elora Murger, after Marx talks about how "absolutely gorgeous" she is.

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Alas, it turned out on Tuesday night that Marx was kissing a male contestant, Thomas Perras, who happens to have long, brown hair like Murger.

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And you bet people weren't cool with the shameless promotion.

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Since first appearing in the fourth season of Australia's version of The Bachelor, Marx has been open about her sexuality and lamented that people didn't take it seriously.

"Being bisexual or sexually fluid, people automatically think it is a publicity stunt," she told the Daily Telegraph last May.

"Look at some of the most famous people in the world, people like Kristen Stewart or Cara Delevingne or Amber Heard. They’ve all struggled with this where they have a relationship with a woman and people question it."

Network Ten, which airs Bachelor In Paradise, is yet to respond to the criticism.