The Bachelor’s got jokes, y’all. On Monday, ABC debuted a brand-new promo image for the reality dating show’s upcoming season with Colton Underwood — and the promo is a spoof of the 2005 Judd Apatow comedy The 40-Year-Old Virgin.
“The new poster for this season of @bachelorabc looks really familiar. I don’t remember Steve having pecs,” Apatow joked on Instagram, alluding to the movie’s star (and center of the OG poster), Steve Carell.
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And don’t worry; Underwood is in on the joke too. Showing off his own sense of humor, Underwood responded to Apatow’s post by tweeting, “Hey @JuddApatow does this mean I have to wax my chest now?”
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Fans of the 2005 film will undoubtedly understand the reference to one of The 40-Year-Old Virgin’s funniest scenes in which Carell’s character is convinced by his friends to get “manscaped,” with the entire affair ending very badly at the hands of a hot wax technician.
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Sure, Underwood may be like Carell’s character insofar as he went into his Bachelor season a virgin, but teasers hint he likely won’t stay a virgin by the time he proposes. Host Chris Harrisoncommented on Underwood’s virgin status as recently as November, telling Extra the NFL free agent’s “V-card is still intact” before noting “it will be put to the test” once the season heads into the fantasy suite episodes.
Underwood’s virginity has been at the heart of essentially every interaction or promotion since he became a part of Bachelor Nation on Becca Kufrin’s season of The Bachelorette. Like previous Bachelor Nation virgins Ashley Iaconetti and Becca Tilley, Underwood quickly became linked to his celibacy after revealing it on live TV.
Following that initial bombshell to Kufrin back in July, the now-Bachelor took to Instagram to elaborate on his decision.
“It’s something that I don’t talk about very often and something that only a handful of people know. I considered it a gift and a curse for many years, but finally have come to terms about standing up for who I am and the details that make me, me,” Underwood wrote on July 9.
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“Anyone who feels they are hiding their truth out of embarrassment or fear of being judged… I HAVE BEEN THERE,” he continued. “You are not alone, I have covered up my truth with lies and tried to ‘fit in’ — while I thought fitting in was what I wanted, I’ve recently learned that being different is what I need.”
And although Underwood has remained a good sport about ABC homing in on his virginity for promotional purposes, his buddy and fellow Bachelorette alum Blake Horstmann recently hinted that Underwood was growing weary of the shtick.
“I don’t know if ‘insensitive’ is the word, because he’s very open about it,” Horstmann told ET over the weekend. “He has no problem talking about it, which I respect a lot. But I mean, even he’s getting sick of it… It’s all it is, it seems like.”
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Still, Harrison insists there’s much more to Underwood than his virginity and all the punch lines ABC is playing up surrounding it.
“What I’m really excited about, honestly, obviously, much has been made about his virginity. I’m excited for Colton, for me, for the show, for fans to get beyond the cocktail joke of it all,” Harrison told Us Weekly at the 2018 iHeartRadio Jingle Ball.
According to Harrison, Underwood truly opens up this season about his reason for remaining celibate and it “is fascinating.”
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