ABC
It has taken me months to admit to my friends and family that I’m a Bachelor guy. I hired a camera crew, gathered them around in some weird convention center, made them sit in a circle, and told them that I haven’t missed one episode of The Bachelor this season. It was difficult, but I told them I know every young lady’s name and that I drink every time Ari says “You look beautiful” or when he sticks his footlong tongue down some poor girl’s throat. My dad stood up and walked out, as a Bachelor-watching beta male isn’t the finished product he had hoped for. But, sports are hard.
I am who I am. And if I want to watch 30 girls fight for Ari’s love only to have them break up and never speak to each other when the cameras are off, then I deserve to do it with a glass of red.
So if you’re not a Bachelor guy, stop reading this post right now and go lift weights or kill a moose or watch Rambo or something.
*****
Now that we’ve weeded out the strong ones, there has been some wild news to hit about the behind-the-scenes intricacies of your favorite ABC show that may be of interest to you.
Have you ever wondered the processes involved in a contestant being casted for the show? Yes, yes you have. But before you go filling out an application, understand that they put each contestant through the ringer.
Los Angeles Times staff writer Amy Kaufman’s new book, “Bachelor Nation: Inside the World of America’s Favorite Guilty Pleasure,” provided some insight on the rigorous process. According to the New York Post, each potential contestant must:
- Fill out an extensive application
- Send in 15 photos of themselves
- Produce a video of themselves “dressed as if going to a nice dinner,” showing off their apartment, their pets, and talking about what their ultimate fantasy date would be.
- If producers are interested, the person will be invited to LA for one of two final audition weekends to meet the producers
- A 150-question personality test is filled with multiple-choice and true-or-false questions like: Do you think you can control things with your mind? Have you ever wanted to kill someone?
- One-on-one interviews with a producers with candles and mood lighting
- A bigger interview with two dozen producers who ask questions rapid-fire like ‘Would you rather have a DDD bra cup or write a cover story for Vogue?’
- The applicant would then meet the show’s therapist who ask them a wide variety of questions like ‘have you ever cheated on anyone?’
- A private investigator would then dig up things from their past for story lines and to get ahead of any potential tabloid stories that may come out. The investigator is trained to find out if the person has ever made a sex tape or has an STD [they are required to give pee and blood]. If it turned out the person had an STD, they would be taken out of the running immediately and now dozens of producers and show runners know they have herpes.
Kaufman’s book also pulls the curtain on the games the producers would play with each other to try to drum up drama. Via New York Post:
Kaufman reveals that the show’s supervising producer, Scott Jeffress, would motivate the other producers with cash, keeping a wad of $100 bills for anyone who delivered the goods. “The first producer to get tears? A hundred bucks! You get [the bachelor] to make out with the right girl? A hundred bucks! Catch a chick puking on-camera? A hundred bucks!”
The conditions in the “Bachelor” mansion set the stage for a chaotic, stressful environment: Contestants “sometimes sleep 12 to a room in bunk beds,” and they aren’t allowed to leave the property, listen to music, read books or magazines, work out or catch up on the news.
“It’s all part of a well-designed producer strategy called ‘The Bubble,’” writes Kaufman.
“Inside the bubble, all that matters is the show.”
Well this certainly gives me and the girls something to chat about in our next Bachelor party complete with avocado toast and boxed wine.
[h/t New York Post]