Every season of The Bachelor and The Bachelorette is different — different leads, different contestants, different dates, different dramas — but one thing that remains the same is the jump hug. Until now. Katie has seemingly done away with the jump hug on The Bachelorette, and as someone who gets nervous just thinking about someone trying to pick me up, I would personally like to thank her for getting this off my television.
A historically sacred greeting between a Bachelorette and her suitors, the jump hug occurs when a Bachelorette (or a Bachelor) greets a suitor with so much enthusiasm, that they jump and/or are hauled up by whatever muscly man has the good fortune of greeting her first. It's been a staple of The Bachelorette for literal years. Tayshia Adams did it, Hannah B. did it, Rachel Lindsay did it, Jojo Fletcher did it. Becca Kufrin did it so much that her then-fiancé Garrett Yrigoyen ended up giving Ryan Seacrest a big jump hug on national television.
Anyways, it's always weirded me out. And I'm not the only one. Many fans over the years have pointed out how strange the jump hug is — and how rare it is in the wild.
In some ways, the jump hug's persistent presence on The Bachelorette is just a reminder that the show isn't real — it's reality TV. Which is why I was shocked when I watched the men gather with Katie for another group date in the most recent episode of The Bachelorette only to find Katie's feet firmly on the ground. Connor C., the lucky man who made it to her first, just leaned in for a normal person hug — short and sweet — and the others followed suit.
Had Katie been denying the jump hug all season long? I went back and saw that Katie's preference for normal hugs has actually been a natural progression throughout the season. She's literally gone from embracing the big jump hug, to a smaller lift, and, eventually, to the standard embrace we normies use.
Group Date Number 1: The Jump Hug
Just look at Katie's very first group date, in which Thomas and Karl (lol) raced towards her to get the elusive jump hug. Thomas made it there first, and was allowed to swing her around before dropping her back on the ground.
Group Date Number 2: A Gentle Lift
On Katie's second group date, Aaron got went in for a nice lift in lieu of the jump hug. Though, that might have more to do with the fact that Katie was wearing a denim minidress which absolutely did not have the stretch needed to keep a jump hug PG-13. Still, you'll notice that Katie is slowly moving lower in her embraces, which will eventually lead us to...
Group Date Number 3: Normal! Hugs!
Last week, on the third group date, was when Katie officially shifted over into the realm of just plain hugging. No jumping, no lifts, just a nice hug hello. Even Aaron, pictured above, let Katie remain standing.
And, lest you think Katie is just forgoing the jump hug on group dates and saving it for the one-on-ones, I went back and looked at those too, and...
It's just Katie and Greg sharing a totally normal hug. (Michael A. also chose not to do the jump hug on his one-on-one last week.)
I'm not sure if Katie's aversion to the jump hug is just because she's not into it and asked the guys not to do it (very possible), or if it's just because the number of body builders and professional athletes on her season is on the lower side. Either way, I'm loving it. As a person who was taught at an early age that you simply do not pick someone up without their consent (I was very tall for my age, OK?), this is saving me one or two cringes a week.
Now, this doesn't necessarily mean the jump hug is dead, but at the very least, it means that it is no longer a requirement on The Bachelorette, which is a small victory for those of us who lie awake in fear that strange men will grab them and raise them up in the air against their will.
Keep those feet on the ground for as long as you like, Katie!
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Image: ABC/Craig Sjodin