公開日:2022/03/15 / 最終更新日:2022/03/15

Channel 10 has begun airing double episodes of in an effort to finish Jimmy Nicholson’s ratings-starved season quicker.

The show, which has suffered the worst ratings in the franchise’s eight-year history, aired two episodes back to back in the 7.30pm time slot on Thursday.

There will be another double episode on Wednesday, August 18.  

While it’s common for networks to truncate seasons that aren’t performing, a 10 spokesperson told  these double episodes have ‘always been planned’.  

Viewers flocked to Twitter to complain about the ‘boring’ ordeal of sitting through two full-length episodes, with one asking: ‘Haven’t we suffered enough?’

Another tweeted: ‘I was so excited for this double episode, thinking there was going to be so much extra drama. I am wallowing in despair that it’s just two normal episodes stuck together.’  

‘I have to say, no offence but this double episode is killing me,’ another agreed.

The Bachelor had its lowest-ever premiere ratings last month, with just 482,000 metro viewers tuning in for pilot Jimmy’s first episode.

This number collapsed to a new record low of 360,000 a week later, following the start of the Tokyo Olympics on Seven.  

Channel 10 was forced earlier this week to deny claims The Bachelor was being axed.

A well-placed insider told Daily Mail Australia on Monday the program’s future hangs in the balance as viewers tune out in favour of other reality dating shows.

The series will ‘inevitably’ be cancelled, they said, if Brooke Blurton’s upcoming season of The Bachelorette doesn’t see a significant boost in ratings.

‘It wouldn’t have mattered who they chose [as the Bachelor]; those numbers were always going to be low,’ the insider explained, noting the steady decline in ratings over the years.

They added that having a bisexual Bachelorette – Brooke – with male and female contestants was a ‘last-ditch attempt’ at revitalising the franchise, but if this doesn’t work, the series ‘is going to lose its entire audience’.

The source also claimed Channel 10 executives were scouting for an ‘international dating format’ to replace the series next year.

Despite this information coming for a reliable source, a 10 spokesperson denied The Bachelor was being axed when contacted for comment by Daily Mail Australia.