Maskless 'Bachelorette' finale causes uproar on Twitter, forcing ABC to pivot halfway: 'Irresponsible'

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ABC and producers behind the "Bachelorette" finale were forced to pivot halfway through its "After the Final Rose" segment after Twitter users put up a fight against the maskless crowd seen on television.

The "After the Final Rose" event was hosted by Kaitlyn Bristowe, who opened the show in front of a live studio audience. Attendees were seen sitting in seats close to one another and without face coverings. 

The shocking sight caused Twitter users watching at home to unleash their fury against ABC and the "Bachelorette" producers, calling them out for an obvious disregard for people's health given the recent surge of the Omicron variant. 

One user called attention to the fact that the live event began "with everyone in the audience not wearing masks," until Twitter's uproar. "That's now how viruses work, you're all f---ed already if Omicron is in that crowd," one user wrote.

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Another social media user joked, "Last night I was watching the Bachelorette with my wife and unborn son. My unborn son looks at me and said ‘Dad, why aren’t those audience members wearing masks? Don’t they know about the global pandemic and the almighty Omicron variant?’" 

One person tweeted at the show's official Twitter account directly, writing, "Why is no one in the live audience wearing masks? We’re [in] the middle of an escalating pandemic!"

"WHY IS NO ONE WEARING A MASK THIS IS A SUPERSPREADER EVENT," another angry viewer wrote online.

One user called it an "irresponsible" move. "Why is no one wearing masks nor physically distancing?Such an irresponsible choice to NOT advocate to viewers that audience & bachelors be vaccinated. Was it required? Will contact tracing happen if it wasn’t? Plz stop risking lives by pretending we are not still in a pandemic!" the tweet reads.

The social media uproar seemed impossible to ignore, as halfway through the show, Bristowe announced via Yahoo!, "We have seen a lot of chatter online, so just so we’re clear, everyone around me has tested negative. But just to exercise additional caution, our audience will remain masked throughout the rest of the show."

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That led to a mix of more criticism and relief from those watching at home. Twitter users once again took to the social media website to mock the network and credit themselves for provoking positive change.

One Twitter user shared a popular meme of Oprah Winfrey edited to read, "You get a mask! You get a mask! Everybody gets a mask!!" and wrote, "The #bachelorette producers after reading #BachelorNation's tweets about the audience not wearing masks at the live super-spreader show."

"Twitter really bullied the bachelorette into making the live audience put masks on," one user wrote.

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"The way the #bachelorette live show started with zero masks in sight and 2 hours later every single one is being worn," one person wrote with skeleton emojis, adding, "the optics scrambling in action," with a meme of Dr. Anthony Fauci laughing.

ABC's "The Bachelorette" stars Michelle Young.  (ABC/Sami Drasin)

"Say what you want about https://Twitter.com but what other website could bully the bachelorette live studio audience into putting on masks," another user pointed out.

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"twitter literally told the bachelorette live finale audience to put on masks and.... they did it. inspiring use of the internet," tweeted one person.

In a statement shared to Fox News onto Wednesdsay, a representative from Warner Horizon said: "In accordance with industry guidelines, audience members are fully vaccinated and have gone through rigorous testing."