5 Bachelor viewing party essentials to propel yourself into Pete’s season

Season 24 of The Bachelor takes flight on Monday, Jan. 6. Here are five must-haves for your personal viewing party.

If you’re anything like I am, Jan. 6 would be an absolute nightmare time to get dressed up and show your best self to the world on The Bachelor. What felt like a month of holiday eating and drinking is really catching up to us and we’re only six days into the annual “getting back into shape” resolution. (Let’s be honest, the first, second, third, fourth, and fifth days don’t really count as the new year yet.)

Thankfully, most of us don’t get any of the attention that Peter’s 30 bachelorettes will be getting on the evening of The Bachelor season 24 premiere, so we can look like slobs on the couch for one more night.

Every great viewing party needs some essentials. Whether you’re going to watch The Bachelor with a group of friends, your significant other, or lonely and alone by yourself in your apartment, there are a few ways you can make the evening even more enjoyable.

To make the most of this season’s Bachelor premiere, these essential items will make your Monday evening as enjoyable as it can be.

Booze

The number one most important Bachelor viewing party item is obviously wine (or whatever your preferred poison may be). Lots of it. Remember, this first episode is three hours long. You’re about to spend about 1/4 of your waking hours sitting on the couch watching Pilot Pete’s ascent into heaven, so get yourself one of those 40 oz bottles. Actually, do they sell wine by the barrel? Do that.

A friend (or three)

You’ll need someone to bounce those grade-A jokes off of all night and if your Twitter likes are any indication, your material is best performed live. Having a friend (or multiple) at your Bachelor viewing party is a must. Plus, is it really a viewing party if you’re watching all alone? (Yes, it is. But still.)

Having your Bachelor watching crew together to kick off the season gives you a reason to crush wine and judge strangers with your friends. Who cares if you rush into work 15 minutes late on Tuesday morning, having not showered or gotten ready. Your excuse is valid. Slam back a half-dozen cups of coffee and you’ll be ready to take on the rest of the week. Speaking of coffee…

Caffeine

Did we mention the season premiere of The Bachelor is three hours long. THREE HOURS LONG. In case you forget how long that is, you’re about to sit down and willingly watch The Irishman again, but with only about half the violence.

Caffeine is a must. In fact, you’ll probably need more than just regular caffeine to get you through three hours of introductions. You’ll need something stronger (no, not that). Take some pre-workout. It’s like drinking five coffees at once. Mix a scoop or two of your go-to brand half an hour before The Bachelor starts. Crank out about 50 push ups then sit back and enjoy the ride.

Snacks, y’all!

Surely, you have some holiday leftovers in the fridge. This is the ideal time to get rid of them. Throw those three-day-old hors d’oeuvres in the microwave and tell your friends you slaved away in the kitchen all day. Better yet, make them bring some of their own — potluck style.

There’s no shame in binge-eating through the Bachelor premiere. You have four more months of winter to get that beach body ready. Plus, you can’t quit eating junk food cold turkey. Look at this as a way to ween yourself off of the stuff after the holidays. You’re actively working on that resolution in a safe, controlled manner that will prevent a future relapse. It’s basically science.

A positive attitude!

Really? Yes, really. It’s 2020. While 2019 was the year of positivity, 2020 is all about going over and above. 2020 is about celebrating and encouraging each other. Or something like that. Whatever you do, just try to remember that these are real people who are airing out all their dirty laundry in front of about 8 million people on television. We need to be thanking them for that. Not only do they help us through the winter months, they often do things that make us feel so, so much better about out own personal situations.

Sure, some of the introductions are a little cliché or overdone, but surely they are better than whatever you could come up with, Kyle from Utah.

While we’re at it, perhaps you could cool it with the tweets about Pete being the wrong Bachelor pick. If not for him, this season’s windmill theme would make NO sense. This season will probably be just as good as the rest of them. If there’s one thing you can expect from The Bachelor, it’s produced drama, fun-but-outlandish dates and enough Chris Harrison to make you feel slightly uncomfortable about how involved he gets in this process. That’s a formula for success if I’ve ever seen one!

While you are live

trashing

tweeting the introductions on Monday night, be sure to toss in a few compliments to the contestants as well. Couldn’t hurt to at least try to kick off the season on a positive note.

Season 24 of The Bachelor begins on Monday, Jan. 6 on ABC at 8 p.m. ET.