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20 Little-Known Details About "The Bachelor" They Don’t Share On The Show

On the surface of things, The Bachelor seems to be a reality show about finding love in a confusing world. Of course, any fan of the series will also be able to tell you that one of the core reasons why people tune into the show is for the drama that pops up from week to week. However, many of The Bachelor’s viewers have no idea about the interesting things that happen during filming of the show's seasons.

Fortunately for fans of The Bachelor that want to know more about what happens behind the scenes, many people involved with the series cherish attention. As such, many former stars of this series are all too happy to talk about what they experienced after their time on the show has come to an end.

Thanks to those revelations, it is time to look at this list of 20 little-known details about The Bachelor they don’t share on the show.

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20 Some Words Are Banned

Via bustle.com

When you read the title of this entry you might think to yourself, of course, The Bachelor’s producers want to limit the kind of language the stars of the show use. After all, this show airs on network television which implicitly means that profanity as a whole is heavily frowned upon, to say the last. However, when it comes to this popular “reality” show, much more mundane words have been banned by the people in charge. For instance, the 17th season’s bachelor, Sean Lowe, told Glamour magazine “any time you call it a process, they will make you re-tape it and say journey.”

19 The Ladies Get A Lot of Gifts At The Beginning Of The Season

Via businessinsider.com

Tasked with bringing virtually everything they are going to need with them, aside from basic amenities, the stars of The Bachelor spend a lot of time packing for this huge adventure in their life. However, that doesn’t mean that the show’s producers fail to provide them with anything special, as Season 17 winner Catherine Giudici-Lowe revealed during an interview, as Bustle reports:

“A piece of luggage with a ton of clothing, jewelry, and beauty [products]. There were bikinis, jewelry, and jeans. You could trade if they didn't give you the right sizes. It was nice stuff.”

Clearly, The Bachelor’s producers want to provide the ladies with some stuff to help them look their best.

18 Makeup Experts Are Brought In To Teach Contestants

Via businessinsider.com

Since the last entry was about how The Bachelor’s producers provide their female contestants with some items to help them look beautiful, you might assume they were concerned with their makeup too. You'd be right. Turns out they put enough thought into the makeup worn by the ladies to bring someone in to lend a hand at the start of the season.

A tidbit of information that came to light after Season 16 contestant Courtney Robertson revealed it was, “a producer informed us that the makeup artist was only provided to us for the first night. From now on, we were on our own," as Parade reports.

17 Things Get Really Warm In The Mansion

Via Imgur.com

It only makes sense that most of the ladies who learn they have been chosen to compete on The Bachelor do what they can to prepare for their time on the series. For instance, you’d expect anyone that is set to appear on television to try to get in the best shape they can and The Bachelor probably should work on their small-talk skills. However, we doubt any of them train their bodies to deal with being warm all the time but it turns out that would be a good idea. This is the case because during filming in the mansion the air conditioning is never on since it creates enough noise to interfere with the filming process, as Refinery29 reports.

16 Producers Discourage Off-Camera Talking

Via people.com

One of the principal concepts of the television world is that if something wasn’t captured on film it might as well have never happened. An idea that is taken to the extreme when it comes to The Bachelor’s contestants, Season 13’s Jillian Harris is reported by Bustle as saying,

“When the cameras aren't rolling, they don't want you to talk to anyone. And there are no phones, computers, newspapers, nothing. Only producers. Your body becomes starved for a connection with anyone, which makes it easier to fall in love.

You're starving for that [closeness]. It was like Stockholm syndrome, but it's a TV show.” We can certainly understand why they want the good stuff to happen on camera but that seems pretty harsh to us.

15 Returning To Normal Life Can Be Really Hard

Via dailymail.co.uk

It's easy to think that the show's contestants will find things in the outside world, such as getting a job, easier after their time on the show. Well, turns out that is not the case for everyone, as proven by the story of a former Bachelor franchise contestant.

“I didn't understand the magnitude of the show and how hard it is to get a real job right after,"

JJ Lane from Season 11 said, as Insider reports. "Everyone knows who you are and employers see it as a distraction”, which is why almost a yearlong job search had failed them a new employer.

14 The Bachelor Does Have More Serious Talks With Contestants

Via dailymail.co.uk

When it comes to the relationships that are created as a result of The Bachelor, the show makes it seem like they’ve never discussed anything of true importance. However, the Bachelor from season 20, Ben Higgins, has said that is not the case.

“I would never have proposed to Lauren if our faith wasn’t talked about before our engagement,"

he told Buzzfeed, adding, “Those conversations are definitely had, but a lot later. [They are] not had with every woman there. They usually take place a couple weeks down the road.”

13 Music is A Big No-No

Via sheknows.com

While it may seem like becoming a TV star of any kind would be all glitz and glamour, the truth of the matter is that being a part of The Bachelor can be really boring. We are going to focus on that further as the list goes on but for now, it is time to look at the fact that producers seriously impede on one thing stars of The Bachelor could do to pass the time.

Speaking to The Verge, Daniel Maguire (who's appeared on The Bachelorette and Bachelor in Paradise) revealed that several people “brought guitars… but [the producers] often didn't want them to do that… they want everyone to engage with each other, they want everyone to be talking”.

12 The Contestants Aren’t Paid Anything To Appear On The Show

Via abc.com

Considering that this “reality” show has been successful enough that 27 seasons of the show have been filmed so far, you may think the network behind the series spends a pretty penny on it. While that probably is largely true, very little of that cash goes towards paying the people that appear on the show.

As Bustle reports, contestants don't make any money from being on the show. That's pretty scary considering some of them quit their jobs to be on it.

11 The Filming Process For A Season Takes Months

Via tvguide.com

No matter how long it may take for your typical “reality” TV show to air, many of them are filmed over far fewer days than you think.

Filming The Bachelor takes about two months, and contestants are expected to find love within that time frame, as Insider reports. Hmm, could that be why so many couples don't make it? It certainly makes sense, if you think that they hardly know one another by the time they've chosen to be together!

10 Food Is Plentiful And Specific

Via YouTube.com

An example of The Bachelor’s producers doing the stars of their show right! According to Season 20 contestant Katie Levans, the ladies are provided with all the best ingredients.

“The pantry, fridge, freezer, etc. were all overflowing with food to accommodate everyone’s dietary restrictions — I’m vegetarian, Catherine’s vegan, Kacie B’s gluten-free. You cook for yourself, but at rose ceremonies, they lay out a whole catered spread,"

she said, as Insider reports. "There was also a lot of candy. I recall eating so, so, so many M&Ms.”

9 Group Dates Can Last A Lot Longer Than You Think

Via screenertv.com

One of the most notable hallmarks that makes The Bachelor stand out from other romance “reality” shows, seeing a large assortment of people go on a group date can result in some incredible TV. After all, seeing the ladies lose patience with one another for one reason or another and the way they try to get the attention of the Bachelor can all be really interesting.

Unfortunately for the stars of the show, however, going on one of these group dates can be an arduous experience. This is the case because group dates can take a very long time since some start as early as nine in the morning and last long into the night, as Insider reports.

8 The Rejected Ladies Are Given Help

Via hollywoodreporter.com

When it comes to watching a season of The Bachelor, all you have to do is take a seat, turn on your television and enjoy one episode after another. However, the ladies that take part in the show dedicate months of their lives to the process. After all, not only do they spend a significant amount of time during the show’s filming but the casting process is even more exhausting. With all of that in mind, it makes sense that failing to be given a rose could be a devastating experience, especially if they genuinely hoped to find true love. Fortunately, the women are provided with extensive psychological help after leaving the show.

7 Applying Makeup In The Mansion Isn't Easy

Via glamour.com

If you are the type of person who likes to take a long time doing your makeup and rely on things like large mirrors and great lighting then appearing on The Bachelor may not be for you. This is the case for a number of reasons, including a hectic schedule making it difficult to spend a great deal of time focused on perfecting your appearance.

If that weren’t enough of a challenge for The Bachelor’s contestants, Season 19 contestant Ashley Iaconetti revealed another reason why applying makeup during the filming process is hard.

“The lighting in the mansion was really bad for makeup, so I did mine on the balcony every day," she says, as Allure reports.

6 Contestants Have To Improvise Their Workouts

Via YouTube.com

Clearly, a show that takes the looks of their contestants into consideration during the casting process require the ladies of The Bachelor and the man at the center of it all to be in amazing shape. Even though the show’s producers obviously want their stars to continue to look great, they don’t make working out in the mansion an easy task, as revealed by Season 18 contestant Andi Dorfman. “There isn’t a workout room or any kind of equipment in the mansion," she told Women's Health.

"So we had to improvise if we wanted to stay in shape. We would run up and down a hill in the backyard and use whatever we could find in the house as free weights.

It was pretty comical”.

5 The Contestants And Bachelor Travel Differently

Via Instagram.com

If it hasn’t become incredibly clear by now, the star of a season of The Bachelor has a very different experience than the contestants do. While that is obvious from watching the show, since he is the one that has all the ladies competing for his attention, he also has all of the advantages behind the scenes of the show.

For instance, not only does he actually get paid to be on the show and the women don’t, as we revealed earlier on this list, he also gets to travel in style. When it comes to air travel, he gets to fly business class while the ladies spend their time in the coach section, Today reports.

4 Contestants Still Have To Pay For Some Things

Via businessinsider.com.au

When Season 17 winner Catherine Giudici-Lowe was asked by Allure what would happen if a contestant ran out of her beauty products, her answer was pretty surprising.

“You could request it and give the handlers cash. Handlers would go out and buy lotion or something simple,”

she said. "If you wanted something specific, you could order it, but you might not be in the same place the week after because you're always traveling."

3 Producers Limit Mirrors

Via YouTube.com

As any avid TV watcher can attest, the vast majority of people that star in a series are extremely attractive. While that is a shame, it is the case because many viewers enjoy watching beautiful people, which is something the producers behind The Bachelor must realize. Yet, they’ve made a series of decisions that make it pretty amazing that the people that appear on The Bachelor look so good. Probably the most surprising of them all, Season 19 contestant Ashley Iaconetti told Allure,

“There were maybe four mirrors in the house of 23 girls because mirrors make it hard for the camera guys.”

That's not exactly practical for a show where looks seem to be important.

2 Before Filming Starts, There Are Weeks Of Preparation

Via themuse.jezebel.com

When it comes to a major show like The Bachelor, the powerbrokers behind the scenes do everything they can to make sure a season turns out the way they want. As a part of that process, according to Season 13 contestant Jillian Harris, contestants go through weeks of preparation before filming takes place.

“Right before you start filming, there are three weeks where you do fittings and meetings. They allowed me to get my own Pilates trainer, order whatever food I wanted, and do Crest Whitestrips,"

she told Allure. "Apparently, they didn't like my Canadian accent, so they had me go to speech therapy. After three or four classes, the producers realized I was losing my quirkiness, so they cancelled the classes.”

1 Contestants Lead Very Structured Lives

Via tvguide.com

Right off the hop, it may seem extremely obvious that during the filming of a season of The Bachelor the ladies are told what to do a lot of the time. After all, they clearly need to be in the right place at the right time in order to interact with the Bachelor and their fellow contestants.

However, the degree to which the ladies have every minute of their lives controlled by producers was surprising, as revealed by Season 17 winner Catherine Giudici-Lowe in a Bustle article. “One time, they allowed us to watch movie. Another time, we went to a spa and could get two things done," she said. "We did each other's hair because there was nothing else to do.”

References: Glamour, Bustle, Parade, Refiner29, Insider, Buzzfeed, The Verge, Insider

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