There is a new book exposing what went on behind the scenes while filming for The Bachelor franchise. Not surprisingly, the book makes claims that cast members were pushed to do things they didn’t want to do, including alcohol binges, and sex scenes in the limo. Continue reading to see what other claims the new book is making.
Producers Targeted ‘Unstable & Pretty’ Women
Cue The Sun: The Invention Of Reality TV is a newly released book that has set out to expose what happens behind the curtain on The Bachelor and other shows within the franchise. The author Emily Nussbaum is an American television critic who is a staff writer for The New Yorker.
In her book, Emily talks about the methods used by producers to get female cast members to engage in racy behavior. Occasionally, these suggestions from the producers put the contestants in dangerous situations.
One of the instances that may come to mind for fans of The Bachelor franchise is when Corrine Olympios and DeMario Jackson went overboard at the Bachelor In Paradise resort. However, someone overserved the two cast members, and producers had a hand in that.
Mark Costello, a casting director for The Bachelor, admits to several unsavory practices in the book. He said that they often looked for emotionally unstable women to appear on the show. This way, they could pressure the women into having a breakdown on camera.
To add to it, Mark Costello said it was even better if they were “unstable and pretty.” For television, “That’s gold,” he said.
The contestants were often psychologically profiled to pinpoint weaknesses that may push them over the edge. Apparently, they were all tracked on a whiteboard that listed qualities that may push them to have a breakdown. Qualities listed included things like “daddy’s girl,” “recovering anorexic,” and “just got dumped.”
Booze Flows Freely On The Set Of The Bachelor
On top of being psychologically analyzed for weaknesses, there has always been a ton of free alcohol provided to contestants. On the first night, the women typically arrive in limos sipping on champagne and are offered even more free drinks when they get into the house. At the same time, they are offered very little food.
Rhonda Rittenhouse was a cast member on Season 1 of The Bachelor. She said that she “felt like a caged rat” during the entire experience.
That feeling stemmed from producers pulling strings to get the contestants to humiliate themselves. The show creator Mike Fleiss berated one contestant for two hours until she agreed to take off her robe and get into a hot tub.
Producers are given a lot of incentive to make things like that happen too. The book claims that they receive bonuses if they can push a contestant far enough that they have a breakdown on camera. “The show’s supervising producer described peeling off $100 bills, rewarding producers for special achievements, like getting a girl to cry on camera,” the book reads.
The book’s author also claims that Mike Fleiss enjoyed drinking tequila while filming The Bachelor. In fact, almost everyone on the set was drinking and smoking pot. “The cast drank, the crew drank, the managers drank,” Emily Nussbaum wrote.
“You had to drink with [contestants] to get them to trust you,” executive producer Lisa Levenson revealed. Lisa and Mike were said to be having an affair on set, despite both of them being married to other people.
You can stream all episodes of The Bachelor on Hulu.
