The ‘911’ and ‘The Bachelor’ crossover, explained

911 and The Bachelor have a few things in common. Both are long-running TV series with large fanbases, both feature incredibly good-looking people, and both air on ABC. Given how fun it is to obsess over both shows, it was perhaps only a matter of time before they had a crossover.

The Bachelor has been on the air for an impressive 28 seasons and we’ve been watching people try to find love (and get married… and usually get divorced) since 2002. 911 premiered on Fox in 2018 and after it got canceled, ABC picked it up for a seventh season. While season 7 of 911 has been a fun ride so far, the 911 and The Bachelor crossover was particularly great.

What happened during the 911 and The Bachelor crossover episode?

In episode 4 of season 7 of 911 called “Buck, Bothered and Bewildered,” the crew members of Station 118 work on a case involving a woman named Bailey (Sara Fletcher) who has glued herself to the ground outside the iconic Bachelor mansion. She’s angry that she wasn’t chosen as a contestant, as she wants Joey Graziadei to fall in love with her. Host Jesse Palmer, the suitor in season 5 of the ABC reality series, also played himself.

While this would have been hilarious enough (we all love a good Bachelor spoof, like the Lifetime series UnREAL), it turns out that adorable couple Maddie Buckley (Jennifer Love Hewitt) and Chimney (Kenneth Choi) are both huge fans. When Maddie answers the 911 call, she tries not to freak out too much, and Chimney also tries to keep his cool when he learns what’s going on. Considering Chimney’s dramatic storyline in 911 season 7 before his wedding to Maddie, it’s nice to see the couple enjoying themselves (although, of course, that never lasts long on this show).

Although Bailey only appears at the beginning of the episode, which is also when Buck (Oliver Stark) and Tommy Kinard (Lou Ferigno Jr.) kiss, she is the perfect spoof of the over-the-top personalities who sometimes appear on The Bachelor. She even says, “I’m here for the right reasons,” which is probably the statement that every reality star has made at least once.

Oliver Stark told People, “There’s a really fun emergency, and it’s not necessarily the biggest in terms of spectacle…” but makes for an enjoyable episode. The 911/The Bachelor crossover is a reminder of how wildly entertaining 911 can be. As Stark said, no one is in horrible danger, but the team still makes everything better as usual.

As it turns out, Jennifer Love Hewitt came up with the idea for a 911 and The Bachelor crossover. According to Entertainment Weekly, Tim Minear, the 911 showrunner, explained that she loves the addictive reality dating series and thought it would be cool if the team got a call from the mansion. The star we’ve loved since her days on Party Of Five was definitely right.