‘The Bachelor’ Secrets: All the Behind-the-Scenes Scoop You Should Know
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The Bachelor is just as fascinating even when the cameras aren’t rolling. Through the years, plenty of Bachelor secrets have surfaced from past contestants about everything from travel logistics to the length of rose ceremonies.
Bachelor Nation fans who have been tuning in to the ABC dating series season after season have started asking questions about what goes on when Joey Graziadei and more suitors are searching for love. In true reality show fashion, the behind-the-scenes details about The Bachelor and The Bachelorette are the definition of juicy.
Read on to learn some inside scoop on the Bachelor franchise.
The Bachelor Contestants Don’t Have Their Phones — Even on Long Flights
The Bachelor Season 23 alum Hannah Godwin responded on TikTok to a fan asking what flights look like on The Bachelor. Godwin recalled that when her group traveled for their first international trip, they told other passengers that they were a “dance team.” Godwin and her fellow cast members would sit in the back of the plane in random spots. The Bachelor star and host would “get on last” and sit at the front.
@hannahg11 #stitch with @emme honestly the travel days were where we made sooo many mems lol
The ladies were allowed two suitcases and a carry-on for luggage. Since The Bachelor and The Bachelorette contestants don’t have their phones while filming, they can’t listen to music on their phones during the long flights. During the cast’s nearly 18-hour flight to Singapore, Godwin said she watched Grease and The Notebook to pass the time. If the plane had music, she would listen to that. Journaling was also popular among the contestants.
“They [producers] wanted to keep the talking about the show and what’s going on and the drama and stuff pretty minimal on the planes,” Godwin said. “We really weren’t supposed to talk about it because if we weren’t mic’d they obviously wanted to capture whatever you were saying or thinking on camera.”
The Bachelor Mansion Is a Real Home
The Bachelor mansion has become iconic over the years, and it’s not a set! The Tuscan-style mansion, dubbed “Villa De La Vina,” is owned and lived in by contractor Marshall Haraden. He built the house in 2004, and ABC approached him about filming the show there. And the rest is history! When it’s time to film The Bachelor and The Bachelorette, Haraden and his family move out of the house for the duration of production. “When [the crew] comes, we move out for 42 days,” Haraden told TODAY Home. “Everything we own leaves the property and goes into storage.”
The Bachelor & Bachelorette Stars Are Paid to Be on the Show
When the Bachelor Nation shows were first starting, the leads weren’t paid all that much. The Bachelorette Season 2 star Meredith Phillips revealed that she was paid just $10,000 to be on the show, according to Bachelor Nation: Inside the World of America’s Favorite Guilty Pleasure. Amy Kaufman, the author of the 2018 book, wrote that now it would be “incredibly rare for someone to make less than six figures” to be the star of The Bachelor or The Bachelorette.
The Bachelorette Season 7 lead Ashley Hebert was reportedly only paid $30,000, according to Us Weekly, However, Season 8 star Emily Maynard supposedly got a very sizable pay bump to the $250,000 range.
A six-figure sum is now typical for the leads. Jason Tartick, who was a contestant during The Bachelorette Season 14, revealed on his Trading Secrets podcast that he was offered $100,000 to become the Bachelor. Colton Underwood and Blake Horstmann were also offered $100,000, with Underwood ultimately being the Season 23 suitor. The Bachelorette Season 13 alum Dean Unglert noted that he turned down a $75,000 offer to be the next Bachelor.
During a separate appearance on her now-ex’s podcast, The Bachelorette Season 11 star Kaitlyn Bristowe opened up about money negotiations ahead of her signing on. “I’ll only do it if you paid me as much as you paid [Bachelor star] Chris Soules,” she said.
The Bachelor & Bachelorette Contestants Are Not Paid
While the stars of The Bachelor and The Bachelorette are paid, the contestants are not. They also have to bring enough clothes for the entire season, too.
“I know that there are women in the past who cashed out their 401(k)s for the show,” television blogger Dana Weiss told Mic. “Some have gone into serious credit card debt.” While vying for Jason Mesnick’s love in Season 13, Jillian Harris (who became the star of The Bachelorette Season 5) spent thousands of dollars on clothes for the show.
“The girls do have to bring all of their own clothing and of course, they want to be wearing the best clothes EVER to be seen on TV in,” Harris wrote on her blog. “I had re-mortgaged my house and I spent something like $8,000 on clothing.”
Rose Ceremonies Are Much Longer Than They Appear on TV
The rose ceremonies during the episodes aren’t quick whatsoever, especially towards the beginning of the season. They’re drawn out for hours and hours into the early morning.
“On TV, what you see is I hand out a rose, the girl comes forward and accepts it, and then I hand out another rose,” Season 17 Bachelor Sean Lowe told Glamour in 2015. “In reality, there’s about three to five minutes in between each rose because all 15 cameras have to reposition. That first night lasts until about 7 a.m., and then each one after that lasts until about 3 or 4 [a.m.].”
The Bachelor, Season 28, Mondays, 8/7c, ABC
