Like millions of women, Barbara Walters tuned in for the March 12 Bachelor finale to see California winemaker Ben Flajnik, 29, propose to bad girl model Courtney Robetson, 28.
But the esteemed journalist, 82, wasn't truly interested in seeing yet another couple vow to spend "forever" together. "I lost an hour of the rest of my life watching the last hour of The Bachelor. I did it knowing that we were going to talk about it today," Walters said on The View Tuesday. "Say whatever you want, and then I will drone on because I am deeply offended."
When co-hosts Sherri Shepherd, Elisabeth Hasselbeck and Joy Behar asked her to elaborate on why she despises the dating show, Walters explained: "First of all, The Bachelor has been on for 10 years. Not a single Bachelor has married the woman he chose in the finale. It's a crock!"
"I just have to say that I love ABC, and I'm very happily employed, but I think this show is such a degradation to women."
Hasselbeck, 34, has been a devoted fan of The Bachelor since its 2002 premiere, telling Walters: "Next time we're watching it together!"
Snapped Walters: "I do not know how [your husband] Tim puts up with you."
Hasselbeck then admitted that she's wasted a significant amount of time watching men and women compete for affection on TV. "I've spent a total of 529 hours of my life watching The Bachelor — that's 22 days!"
"You could have been having sex with your husband!" Shepherd, 44, joked.
After Walters ragged on Flajnik, calling him "an ordinary guy with bad hair," Shepherd shared her theory as to why the show has remained so popular. "As much as we say, 'I'm single, I'm independent, I can take care of myself' — do we really want that fairytale?"
The four women then watched Flajnik get down on bended knee to propose to Robertson, but Behar, 69, wasn't buying their made-for-TV romance. "I would have loved to see him fall off that cliff," she joked of Flajnik. "His hair is Bieber gone wild!"
