‘The Bachelor’ Week 5: Why The Band UB40 Sounds so Familiar
The Bachelor Week 5 featured an appearance from the band UB40. Gabi Elnicki got the royal treatment when Zach took her on a shopping spree in London. Later the pair had dinner together and attended a private concert. Here’s why UB40 sounds so familiar.
[WARNING: This article contains spoilers for The Bachelor 2023 Week 5.]
Zach and Gabi went on a romantic 1-on-1 during week 5
Gabi Elnicki was the envy of all the other contestants during The Bachelor Week 5. She and Zach made their own scent at Floris, a perfumery in London. Later they sipped the Queen’s favorite cocktail and met Corgis from the royal bloodline.
To top it all off, Gabi was treated to a shopping spree. All of the women were stunned when Gabi returned home with bags of merchandise. Later in the evening, Gabi was delivered a beautiful dress to wear to dinner. The Bachelor then met Gabi for dinner and a private concert from UB40. The band played “Can’t Help Falling in Love” as the couple danced.
UB40 thought they were performing for ‘The Bachelor’ finale
The Bachelor fans may be wondering where they’ve seen UB40 before. They are an English reggae and pop band formed in Birmingham in the late 1970s. The Bachelor usually recruits lesser-known country music artists for the show’s 1-on-1 dates, so seeing UB40 was a bit of a surprise.
In their heyday, the band released two hit singles, “Red Red Wine” and “Can’t Help Falling in Love,” that ended up at number one on Billboard Hot 100. UB40 has released millions of records worldwide and has four nominations for the Grammy Award for Best Reggae Album.
According to UB40 guitarist and vocalist Robin Campbell, the band’s appearance on the show wasn’t quite what they expected. “We were told it was the night of the finals we were appearing on — which it actually wasn’t. Maybe they told us that to encourage us to do it, I don’t know,” Campbell said while speaking to Vulture.
“We were under the impression that was the final date of the couple, the Bachelor had made his choice amongst the group of girls, and it was the final night. And that the couple had come to London to celebrate the finale of the show.”
Robin Campbell said appearing on the show was a ‘good experience’
Despite the confusion, Campbell stated that the experience on The Bachelor was still pretty positive for UB40. “There’s been media attention and quite a few things in the American press. Existing fans have been talking about how we did the show — with some surprise, I might add,” the musician told Vulture.
“It was an easy experience and wasn’t a difficult thing to do at all. I’m glad it worked out well. We thought people that would be surprised because it’s not the kind of thing that we normally do. Obviously, the numbers that watch the program are incredible. It’s been a good experience all around.”
New episodes of The Bachelor Season 27 air Mondays at 8 p.m. ET on ABC.
