Depictions of alcohol in the Australian TV series “Bachelor in Paradise”

With the most recent series of the popular TV show hitting our screens earlier this week, an article has been published in the journal “Alcohol and Alcoholism” titled “Depictions of alcohol in Australian TV ‘Bachelor in Paradise’: A content analysis”. The researchers broke down each episode into 1 minute intervals and coded each interval for the presence of alcoholic and non-alcoholic drink related content, including actual use, implied use or other references to use. Results showed that 70.7% of 1 minute intervals contained alcohol related content. Fourteen of a total sixteen episodes depicted alcohol related content within the first minute interval of each show. Alcohol advertising is restricted in Australia, in order to prevent exposure to young viewers. However, this heavy saturation of alcohol related content on reality TV shows bypasses Australia’s “self-regulating” alcohol advertising standards. The researchers question what impacts the normalising of heavy alcohol consumption may have on young viewers with 17.6% of “Bachelor in Paradise” viewers aged under 24 years.

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