Yahoo Movies Jesse Palmer Defends The Bachelor 's 'Authenticity' Against Love Is Blind , Other Dating Shows: It 'Was First'
Craig Sjodin/ABC via Getty Jesse Palmer
The Bachelor is in a league of its own, according to current host and former star Jesse Palmer.
In speaking to E! News about how the matchmaking reality show stacks up against trendy newcomers such as Love Is Blind, Love Island and Too Hot To Handle, Palmer said: "The Bachelor was first."
"I think a big part of The Bachelor is about authenticity and really trying to get back to what the core of the show has always been about and what it's supposed to be about," Palmer, 44, continued. "It's finding love, it's the romance, it's the journey, it's the love story, and finding out how that develops."
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To be fair, The Bachelor has tried new twists, such as featuring two Bachelorettes in Gabby Windey and Rachel Recchia last season last year. "I think it's OK for a show to be cyclical sometimes and to try different things," Palmer admitted.
However, the show is reverting back to tradition for Zach Shallcross' season, airing now.
"Instead of trying to completely redefine and recreate itself," Palmer said, "it's just getting back to what it's supposed to be."
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If the days of Andrew Firestone and Bob Guiney are yearned for, don't miss this season. "For Bachelor fans who have been watching for a long time, my hope is that watching this season is going to feel really nostalgic to them," he added.
Palmer previously teased how Shallcross' season would be a "throwback" to what longtime viewers once knew.
"I would say that Zach's season is a bit of a throwback season, in the sense that this is really about the love story; it's not so much about the drama," he said on the Bachelor Happy Hour podcast earlier this month. "And I know in some past seasons, drama takes over. With every season of The Bachelor or The Bachelorette, there is going to be drama. It's just something that you can't avoid."
Craig Sjodin/ABC via Getty Jesse Palmer
Palmer has since weighed in on Shallcross' no drama approach, sharing all the details behind the lead's decision to send Tahzjuan Hawkins home on Monday night's episode.
As part of the episode, franchise alum Hawkins made a guest appearance to help Shallcross, 26, navigate through the first group date of the season, which featured rapper Latto. Hawkins, who first appeared on Colton Underwood's season of The Bachelor and later on Bachelor in Paradise, expressed an interest in vying for Shallcross. But Shallcross chose to send her home "rather quickly," Palmer recalled.
Craig Sjodin/ABC Jesse Palmer
"I think [other people] in Zach's position, they may have played it a little bit and sort of gone around the room asking different women what their opinion would be if, in fact, he did decide to bring another woman into the mansion," Palmer said on the PEOPLE Every Day podcast on Tuesday. "And Zach sort of made the decision himself."
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The Bachelor airs Mondays at 8 p.m. on ABC.
