Every Monday night, nearly five million people tune into ABC for two hours in excitement, drama, and heartbreak. This is not just any regular tv show, football game or the occasional episode of Game of Thrones: this is The Bachelor. This broadcasted social experiment follows one man as he dates multiple women at once. Each woman fights for the bachelor’s attention each in hope of receiving a rose to carry them to the next episode. This cycle is repeated with the Bachelorette, which stars a runner up from the previous season of the Bachelor. This collection of Bachelor and Bachelorette episodes, as well as their fans, make up Bachelor Nation.

The world of Bachelor Nation extends past the show itself\; podcasts, books, and even spin-off shows have stemmed from the Bachelor and Bachelorette episodes. Contests that were booted from the Bachelor or Bachelorette show have a “second chance at love” by partaking in Bachelor in Paradise: the epitome of Bachelor Nation. Contestants from previous seasons head to Mexico with the chance of creating relationships with contestants from a range of years of the Bachelor and Bachelorette. Once a contestant has been on the Bachelor or Bachelorette, they become welcomed into the elite work of bachelor alums, in which they coexist among contestants from all seasons. They become Instagram influencers, launching their careers of living in Los Angeles and spending their time siping Alfred’s coffee and getting paid thousands of dollars for posting a brand photo. Essentially, Bachelor Nation has become an excuse for any contestant to make a living out of their few weeks on a Bachelor or Bachelorette season.

In this season of the Bachelor, we are currently watching Peter the pilot slowly lose respect from the women on the show. Although only four episodes in, Peter has already shown interest in the single-handed worst contestant, Alayah, on the show. Great.

Regardless of the contestant, commonly heard phrases on the show such as “I can be here for Peter” are really just BS. These women didn’t know who the Bachelor would be when they tried out for the show, and by the end of the season still don’t. According to Insider.com, on average, by the time one lucky woman gets proposed to at the end of the season they spend maybe 12 hours with the bachelor. They only film for six weeks, and each girl spends the majority of the time with the other girls waiting for the infamous date card to arrive with their name on it rather than with the bachelor himself.

As this season of The Bachelor is just beginning, Bachelor Nations continues rallies to around each episode\; creating Fantasy brackets, predicting rose winners and spending hours watching polygamy on national television.