1st "Bi-Bachelorette"

Stella Stegmann was “afraid of being judged”

Stella Stegmann is the first bisexual "Bachelorette" to look for a man or woman and was therefore worried that she would be judged for it.

(Bild: RTL / Pascal Bünning)

RTL has been sending the "Bachelorette" on the search for love for more than ten years. But a few things are different in the new season, which starts on Monday (26.8.). 

Firstly, it will no longer be shown on free TV as before, but only on the RTL+ streaming portal. And secondly, the male candidates will have some very special competition in the battle for the final rose this year: namely female candidates. Because the new "Bachelorette" Stella Stegmann is the first bisexual rose distributor in office.

"Perfect timing for me"
She had been toying with the idea of taking part in the show for some time, the 27-year-old from Munich told the German Press Agency. "Now is also the perfect timing for me because I recently had a very formative relationship - my first relationship with a woman. She was the first woman I ever fell in love with. And so now I'm the first bisexual 'Bachelorette'." "Here's to the first 'bi Bachelorette'", says the trailer that RTL has put online in advance.

Stella Stegmann hopes to find the love of her life on RTL+ - whether male or female.

(Bild: Foto: RTL / Pascal Bünning)

And as such, she sets off in Thailand in search of the perfect woman for herself - or the perfect man. "I was completely open as far as men or women were concerned - 50:50." She didn't want to focus on gender at all, "but on the question of what kind of person is this?"

15 men battle it out against five women
The show has long since been filmed, but of course she is not allowed to say what came out of it. However, the odds between male and female candidates are not quite even, at least in terms of numbers: 15 men are taking part - and only five women.

"Women are definitely a different competition," says one of the candidates in the trailer. "Completely two worlds colliding" and: "It was actually always completely different otherwise."

"I fell in love with both of them," Stella Stegmann revealed before the start of the new season of "The Bachelorette" on RTL+.

(Bild: Foto: RTL / Pascal Bünning)

Her predecessor Sharon Battiste has just announced on Instagram that she and her chosen one from that season in 2022 are a couple again - the only one of all "Bachelorette" winning couples who are currently still together. According to Stegmann, she was afraid that she herself might come away empty-handed.

"Afraid that people would judge me"
"I was afraid that I wouldn't fall in love at all, that there wouldn't be anyone for me to build a future with," she told dpa. However, if the RTL trailer is to be believed, this fear was unfounded. "I fell in love with both of them," says Stegmann in it.

"I was afraid that people might fall in love and that my feelings wouldn't be reciprocated and afraid that someone would leave voluntarily and that would hurt me and also afraid that people would judge me for who I am and that I would question the heteronormative structure. But hope and anticipation prevailed," she told dpa.

20 candidates are hoping for the final rose in the show - and certainly also for attention and new followers on Instagram and co.

Participation not for clicks
"You keep reading comments saying that everyone is doing it for fame and I'm sure everyone is thinking that they want to be in the public eye, but everyone is hoping very, very much that they will find love there," said Stegmann. "And even if you first say, 'I want to take part in the show', the thought is there the whole time: I might find the love of my life there. I'm quite sure that real feelings will arise. These accusations that everything is just done for clicks is complete nonsense."