Kaitlyn Bristowe says women on ‘The Bachelor’ face pressure to 'look the same as they did when they were first on the show'

Kaitlyn Bristowe speaks out about facing an immense amount of pressure to maintain a certain appearance after first stepping into the public eye as a contestant on The Bachelor in 2015.

"There's this ridiculous standard for women to look the same as they did when they were first on the show. So people got to know me as 29-year-old Kaitlyn and they want me to stay that young-looking, innocent, little, naive girl," Bristowe, now 37, said on the Not Skinny But Not Fact podcast, "and everybody changes over seven years."

Bristowe first appeared on television screens in 2015 when she competed in Chris Soules's season of The Bachelor and went on to become The Bachelorette. She later started a podcast and even competed in Dancing With the Stars where she took home the Mirror Ball trophy. Even as she's gone through iterations of her relationship with the Bachelor franchise — most recently returning to co-host season 17 and 18 of The Bachelorette alongside Tayshia Adams — Bristowe recognizes the expectation that she continue to show up looking her most youthful and told the podcast's host what she does to maintain that look.

"Yes, I've gotten Botox, yes, I've gotten fillers and I've never gone under the knife but people seem to think I do. But I love Botox and fillers. It makes me feel rested, it makes me feel like I look refreshed," Bristowe explained. "I love it and I also know it's an insecurity and I need to ask myself sometimes why I am doing that."

While Bristowe has faced — and addressed — public scrutiny for the evolution of her appearance, including those who say she does too much, she explained that it's her own criticism of herself that she wants to work on.

"My whole life I did think looks was the most important thing and I was in a dance studio comparing my body to other girls and I do know that that's an issue for me. I'd love to figure out why. I'd love to not be poking my face every six weeks to try to look better," she said. "I would never want my niece to turn 22 and think she needs to do that."

As for what people on the internet say about her looks, Bristowe admitted that her reaction is mixed.

"You’re just trying to hurt my feelings and sometimes it does and sometimes it doesn't," she said. "Sometimes it really ... if I'm on my period, it'll make me cry ... Sometimes I find it comical."

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