The Bachelor (American TV series) season 2
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| The Bachelor | |
|---|---|
| Season 2 | |
 Promotional poster | |
| Starring | Aaron Buerge |
| Presented by | Chris Harrison |
| No. of contestants | 25 |
| Winner | Helene Eksterowicz |
| Runner-up | Brooke Smith |
| No. of episodes | 9 (including 1 special) |
| Release | |
| Original network | ABC |
| Original release | September 25 – November 20, 2002 |
| Season chronology | |
The second season of ABC reality television series The Bachelor premiered on September 25, 2002. The show featured 28-year-old Aaron Buerge, a banker from Butler, Missouri. The season concluded on November 20, 2002, with Buerge choosing to propose to 27-year-old school psychologist Helene Eksterowicz. They ended their engagement weeks after the finale.
Contestants
The following is the list of bachelorettes for this season:
| Name | Age | Hometown | Job | Eliminated |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Helene Eksterowicz | 27 | Gloucester, New Jersey | School Psychologist | Winner |
| Brooke Smith | 22 | Albertville, Alabama | College Student | Runner-up |
| Gwen Gioia | 31 | Philadelphia, Pennsylvania | Executive Recruiter | Week 6 |
| Angela Vaught | 27 | Kansas City, Missouri | Registered Nurse | Week 5 |
| Hayley Crittenden | 28 | Lake Oswego, Oregon | Retail Manager | Week 4 |
| Heather Cranford | 30 | Dallas, Texas | Flight Attendant | Week 4 |
| Christi Weible | 23 | Boise, Idaho | Assistant Financial Advisor | Week 3 |
| Heather Campion | 24 | Walnut Creek, California | Marriage Therapy Trainee | Week 3 |
| Kyla Dickerson | 22 | Midvale, Utah | Airline Supervisor | Week 3 |
| Shannon Fries | 26 | North Lindenhurst, New York | Graphic Artist | Week 3 |
| Dana Norris | 24 | Beverly Hills, California | Radio Sales | Week 2 |
| Erin Lulevitch | 25 | West Chester, Pennsylvania | Publications Quality Control | Week 2 |
| Suzanne Freeman | 33 | Redondo Beach, California | Flight Attendant | Week 2 |
| Frances Dinglasan | 30 | San Francisco, California | Strategic Planning Analyst | Week 2 (Quit) |
| Anindita Dutta | 27 | Brooklyn, New York | Attorney | Week 2 (Quit) |
| Amber West | 26 | Chapel Hill, North Carolina | Psychologist | Week 1 |
| Camille Langfield | 29 | Sherman Oaks, California | Actress | Week 1 |
| Cari | 29 | Granite City, Illinois | 3rd Grade Teacher | Week 1 |
| Christy | 24 | Avondale, Arizona | Radiological Technologist | Week 1 |
| Erin A. | 24 | Houston, Texas | Interior Designer | Week 1 |
| Fatima Rivas | 22 | Long Beach, California | College Student | Week 1 |
| Liangy Fernandez | 30 | Coral Gables, Florida | Paralegal | Week 1 |
| Lori Todd | 26 | Dallas, Texas | Former NBA Cheerleader | Week 1 |
| Merrilee Donohue | 28 | Forked River, New Jersey | 1st Grade Teacher | Week 1 |
| Suzi Reid | 28 | Richmond, Virginia | Communications Specialist | Week 1 |
Future appearances
Heather Cranford returned for the sixth season of The Bachelor along with season four contestant, Mary Delgado, where she placed 9th/12th after having been eliminated the week she arrived. Gwen Gioia competed in the first season of Bachelor Pad, placing 9th/11th.
Elimination Chart
| # | Contestants | Week | ||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | ||
| 1 | Gwen | Angela | Helene | Angela | Helene | Gwen | Helene | Helene |
| 2 | Erin (TX) | Helene | Kyla | Gwen | Gwen | Helene | Brooke | Brooke |
| 3 | Frances | Erin (PA) | Angela | Brooke | Angela | Brooke | Gwen | |
| 4 | Helene | Brooke | Shannon | Helene | Brooke | Angela | ||
| 5 | Brooke | Anindita | Gwen | Heather (TX) | Hayley Heather (TX) |
|||
| 6 | Angela | Heather (CA) | Brooke | Hayley | ||||
| 7 | Lori | Dana | Heather (TX) | Christi (ID) Heather (CA) Kyla Shannon |
||||
| 8 | Kyla | Hayley | Hayley | |||||
| 9 | Christi (ID) | Christi (ID) | Heather (CA) | |||||
| 10 | Hayley | Shannon | Christi (ID) | |||||
| 11 | Dana | Frances | Dana Erin (PA) Suzanne |
|||||
| 12 | Heather (CA) | Suzanne | ||||||
| 13 | Anindita | Gwen | ||||||
| 14 | Suzanne | Kyla | Frances | |||||
| 15 | Amber | Heather (TX) | Anindita | |||||
| 16 | Merrilee | Amber Camille Cari Christy (AZ) Erin (TX) Fatima Liangy Lori Merrilee Suzi |
||||||
| 17 | Christy (AZ) | |||||||
| 18 | Heather (TX) | |||||||
| 19 | Suzi | |||||||
| 20 | Liangy | |||||||
| 21 | Camille | |||||||
| 22 | Erin (PA) | |||||||
| 23 | Cari | |||||||
| 24 | Fatima | |||||||
| 25 | Shannon | |||||||
- The contestant won the competition.
- The contestant quit the competition.
- The contestant was eliminated at the rose ceremony.
Episodes
| No. overall | No. in season | Title | Original air date | Prod. code | U.S. viewers (millions) | Rating/share (18–49) |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 8 | 1 | "Revealed" | September 25, 2002 | 200 | 8.90[1] | N/A |
| 9 | 2 | "Week 1" | October 2, 2002 | 201 | 11.00[1] | 4.9/12[2] |
| 10 | 3 | "Week 2" | October 9, 2002 | 202 | 12.80[1] | 6.4/16[2] |
| 11 | 4 | "Week 3" | October 16, 2002 | 203 | 12.60[1] | 5.9/15[2] |
| 12 | 5 | "Week 4" | October 23, 2002 | 204 | 14.90[1] | 7.0/17[2] |
| 13 | 6 | "Week 5" | October 30, 2002 | 205 | 15.00[1] | 7.3/18[2] |
| 14 | 7 | "Week 6" | November 6, 2002 | 206 | 16.30[1] | 7.8/18[2] |
| 15 | 8 | "The Women Tell All" | November 13, 2002 | N/A | 16.80[1] | 7.7/19[2] |
| 16 | 9 | "Week 7" | November 20, 2002 | 207 | 25.90[1] | 11.9/28[2] |