The Bachelor delivers the lowest rated finale in history

The Bachelor‘s season eight finale aired on Thursday night. 

And despite being the most watched non-news program of the night, the season finished at an all-time low in the ratings.

Just 694,000 viewers tuned in for the majority of the episode, with numbers peaking at 879,000 to watch the moment Locky chose Irena Srbinovska over Bella Varelis.

Last year’s finale with Matt Agnew 1.170million, making Locky’s season the lowest rated in franchise history.

In fact, Locky was even defeated by Home and Away in his hometown of Perth, with  87,000 tuning for the Aussie soap compared to the 72,000 who watched Locky.

Overall, The Bachelor was the fifth most watched program of the night, with Seven News and Nine News occupying the top four spots. 

The highest rated Bachelor finale was season three’s Sam Wood, who pulled in 1.482million viewers back in 2015.

During Thursday night’s gut-wrenching finale, Locky told both Bella and Irene that he was in love with them – but then had the tricky task of sending one home.

He broke down in tears as Bella arrived to face the music, telling her he ‘fell in love’ the first day he saw her, before coming up with a rather feeble excuse to end things.

‘I know you don’t, like, sort of see where your future is at the moment. I think I need just a little bit of certainty,’ he said, as Bella looked at him in utter disbelief.

‘I just don’t know if I can see us working,’ he added, to which the brunette replied: ‘I just don’t get it. Yesterday, you told me you were in love with me.’

As Locky tried to explain himself, a furious Bella stormed off and snapped: ‘My God… Can I leave? I’m going.’

She later told producers: ‘Who does that to someone? Who tells them they’re in love with them and then… I just want to get out of here.’

After this emotional break-up, Locky composed himself then professed his love for Irena Srbinovska, telling her he couldn’t wait to spend the rest of his life with her.

‘Irena, every time I’m with you, I feel so safe and protected. It’s kind of weird, because I’m a pretty big dude, and not many people can make me feel like that,’ he told the 31-year-old nurse.

‘But just when I’m with you, I feel so calm and comfortable, and it’s a pretty new feeling for me. I know you’re going to make a beautiful girlfriend, wife, mother, everything. You’re the whole package.’