Falling in love is supposed to be one of the most joyful and sensational moments of a person’s life; however, reality TV shows such as The Bachelor have turned love into a contest. Women line up for the chance to “fall in love” and get married, but they are only setting themselves up for heartbreak.

In the show, a bachelor meets and dates around 25-30 women at a time with the hopes of finding his bride. First of all, dating more than one woman at a time is cheating. Plain and simple. So, as a result, self doubt floods the heads of the contestants, leaving them wondering what the bachelor’s relationship with the other women is like. The Bachelor is essentially a show that encourages men to cheat on their girlfriends, and the contestants are expected to be okay with it.

Also, one season of the show lasts for only 12 weeks. How can a person be ready to commit to marriage in such a short time? Perhaps it is possible to fall in love in this small time period, but I don’t believe that a long, healthy marriage can be produced from The Bachelor. Even if the bachelor happens to pick you, how would you know that he picked you for the right reasons? How can you be sure that he picked you because he loves you, not because you just happened to be the best in that particular group of women? You can’t be ready to commit to a life-long marriage with a relationship formed from a five-minute conversation before the rose ceremony (a ceremony where the bachelor sends home the women with whom he doesn’t have a strong connection). The recent bachelor, Ben Higgins, proposed to Lauren Bushnell after sending home 27 other women.  All eyes are the on the newly engaged couple as fans of the show wait to see if their love will last.

In addition to the cheating and uncertainty, The Bachelor causes women to do crazy things to grab the bachelor’s attention. Most women act fake and transform themselves into the kind of person they think the bachelor desires. Some women act excessively bubbly and happy to show the bachelor how easy marriage would be with them. Meanwhile, others take the relationship way too seriously, pretending that their love is destiny. I don’t believe you can fall in love when the only personalities you’re surrounded by are fake and are inspired by the competition. A fake personality can’t last forever, so that “love” will not survive if the person you marry is someone you never truly knew.

Although The Bachelor is a great show for anyone looking for cliché drama, it’s less than desirable if you are expecting an epic love story to unfold. If you’ve seen one season of The Bachelor, you’ve seen them all. So, unless you like to waste your time watching fake girls battle over one man with the false concept of love, don’t spend your time watching The Bachelor.