Here's How Becca's Age Compares To Her 'Bachelorette' Contestants

Amidst the many, tedious strides The Bachelor has made in an attempt to join the rest of us in the 21st century, one area in which the franchise continues to lag is casting age-appropriate pairings. However, Becca's age compared to her Bachelorette contestants is actually one of the most even breakdowns we've ever seen for a Bachelorette, so maybe the show is finally making progress there, too.

Of course, age doesn't actually bear any weight when it comes to a couple's compatibility. People come to relationships with different baggage and frequently, a May-December relationship is exactly what makes both parties feel most secure in the partnership. The problem is that the Bachelor franchise consistently gives Bachelors a younger-skewing contestant pool while giving Bachelorettes older men to choose from. There's nothing wrong with having a contestant like, say, Bekah on Arie's season, who was 14 years younger than her suitor. But then where are the women who are 14 years older than the Bachelor and why aren't they also being represented in the dating pool? (The obvious answer is because those women be past child-bearing age and god forbid the Bachelor franchise depicts a couple who might be perfectly happy living a child-free life together.)

But 28-year-old Becca (who was vying for 36-year-old Arie's attention last season) has a precisely distributed age spread for her contestant pool. The youngest competitors are David, the venture capitalist from Denver who didn't get much air time in the season premiere, and Colton, the former football player turned nonprofit runner, who got a ton of attention in the editing room. (According to previews, he's apparently this season's resident virgin, although some guys in the house are skeptical about the truth in this.) Both David and Colton are 25 years old. Meanwhile, Becca's oldest contestants — Alex, Christon, Jean Blanc, Joe, and Leo — are 31. We've already bid farewell to Joe, the grocer from Chicago, but all the other guys remain.

If you're doing the math here, that means no contestant is any older or younger than Becca by more than three years. In fact, her contestant pool includes exactly 12 men who are older than her, 12 men who are younger than her, and four men who are her own age. That means both the median and average ages of Becca's contestant pool is 28, which is exactly how old Becca is. (Either there's a former mathlete hanging out in the casting department this season or even numerology is rooting for Becca to find love.)

And the good news is, this system seemed to work! Ahead of the season premiere, Becca was able to reveal to People that she did receive a proposal at the end of the season.

"I am engaged!" she said in the interview. "It was the happiest moment of my life. And it feels so good to say it. I still pinch myself, like, did that all just happen? It’s been a whirlwind."

Added Becca, "I’m so excited to start this season and for everyone to see everything that happened. It’s been crazy, but it was so worth it."

And despite the very sensible age breakdowns, it's true that Becca didn't dodge her fair share of drama. Between the whole house questioning a seeming frontrunner's virginity, two "wrong reasons" contestants being introduced on night one, and whatever the hell Jordan is about, we have plenty of season to get through before the final rose is handed out. Oh, and of course, someone gets carted off in a stretcher. You can keep with with Becca and her guys when The Bachelorette airs Monday nights on ABC.