OG Bachelor Winner Amanda Marsh Caldwell Watches ‘The Bachelorette’ for the 1st Time in 15 Years

usmagazine.com:

The original final rose recipient, Amanda Marsh Caldwell, watched The Bachelorette for the first time in 15 years to recap Charity Lawson’s journey on Us Weekly’s “Here for the Right Reasons” podcast.“It was really fun to kind of reminisce because there’s so much you forget just with time.

And then, yeah, it is a little bit different. I noticed there’s not as much, like, mood porn music. I mean, that’s all I could think of when my show was airing and anytime they re-air any little clip of it, I’m like, ‘Oh, my God, this just sounds like B-film or something.’ I didn’t really notice it on this season at all,” Amanda told Us, adding that she couldn’t believe how over-the-top the current Bachelor Mansion was decorated. “It was very distracting, so many colors and patterns. [And] wow, she didn’t waste time lip-smacking! … It took a long time before I even kissed [Alex] on the cheek — let [alone] at a rose ceremony, let alone with all those other people there.

Not saying it’s wrong, [but it’s] different. I just was kind of like, ‘Oh, my gosh, everyone’s aggressive!’”Longtime members of Bachelor Nation will recall Alex Michel picking Amanda over Trista Sutter on the initial season of The Bachelor in 2002.

The twosome dated for nearly a year before they called it quits, realizing they weren’t compatible in the real world.“I don’t know that [contestants] really think about all of that,” Amanda told Us. “Because it is really deceiving.