‘The Bachelor’ Fans Petition to Keep Shanae Ankney Away From the ABC Franchise
As The Bachelor with Clayton Echard approaches the season’s midway point, several fans have tired of one contestant’s consistently awful behavior. The Bachelor contestant Shanae Ankney stepped into the villain role after Clayton sent Cassidy Timbrooks home after discovering her texts with another man. Once she left, Shanae quickly became the woman of the season to ruffle the most feathers. Now, fans want ABC and Bachelor producers to ban her from future appearances within the franchise.
[Warning: This article contains spoilers for Clayton Echard’s season of The Bachelor.]
‘The Bachelor’ villain Shanae Ankney targeted fellow contestant Elizabeth Corrigan early on in the season
Shanae quickly set her eyes on Elizabeth Corrigan early on in this season of The Bachelor and made the other women angry with her treatment of Elizabeth. She claimed Elizabeth bullied her, but audiences saw something entirely different.
Shanae said Elizabeth ignored her when she tried to speak to her. However, Elizabeth tried to explain that her ADHD often causes her to miss what people say if many people talk to her at once. Shanae continued to badger her about the situation. She then walked off and told the rest of the women about Elizabeth’s ADHD diagnosis. This was something Elizabeth herself hadn’t done yet.
Later, Shanae told the cameras mockingly, “I’m not sure anyone has heard, but she [Elizabeth] has ADHD, and it’s really bad. I don’t want to ever upset her again because I feel really terrible. She has ADHD.” She then proceeded to laugh at her comments.
Fans call on ‘The Bachelor’ producers for ‘accountability’
While every season of the series includes a villain, Shanae seems to have pushed viewers over the edge with her bad behavior. One fan of The Bachelor started a petition to keep Shanae out of the franchise for good. The petition reads:
“With Season 26 of The Bachelor approaching the mid-season mark, we have created this petition for a single purpose: to hold a certain contestant accountable for her poor behavior toward other contestants of various minority groups, Shanae Ankney. She purposefully targetted a neurodiverse individual, manipulated the whole cast of the season to ‘win’ the competition, and had moments of violence or stating they wanted to perpetuate said violence.”
Right now, approximately 100 people have signed the petition. However, other viewers know that The Bachelor doesn’t always necessarily avoid casting trouble-makers on Bachelor in Paradise. In the past, producers often give these particular cast members redemption arcs.
Other fans feel like Shanae Ankney simply filled a role for the show
Many fans detest Shanae and her actions on the show. However, others think creating a petition is one step too far.
“A petition? Come on. The bachelor always has a villain. You are giving someone that wants attention, more attention,” one Redditor wrote.
Another fan felt like the petition brought more attention to Shanae, “If you don’t want someone on the show, don’t talk about them. The more you post about them, the more relevant they are and the more likely it is that you see them again and again. A petition is the opposite of what you should be doing.”
In January, Shanae deleted her entire Instagram account after fans called her out on her “lack of awareness.” She has since reactivated it. With Shanae no longer on the show, the next time fans will hear from her will be during the Women Tell All.
