The Bachelor has won the hearts of millions thanks to its intensely emotional scenes that include everything from hysterical crying to professions of love, but the popular franchise’s producers have a disturbing way of ensuring they get the dramatic footage fans love.
In her new tell-all Bachelor Nation: Inside the World of America’s Favorite Guilty Pleasure, Los Angeles Times reporter and author Amy Kaufman reveals that producers ‘have been known to keep track of when the women in the house are menstruating.’
According to Page Six’s coverage of the new book, former Bachelor producer Ben Hatta told Kaufman that following the contestants’ menstrual cycles helped producers get the emotional soundbites they were looking for.
Playing dirty: Amy Kaufman reveals in her book Bachelor Nation that producers track the contestants’ menstrual cycles to get emotional interviews. Ashley Iaconetti is pictured crying
Drama: Caila Quinn (from Ben Higgins’ season) and Bekah Martinez (from Arie Luyendyk’s most recent season) are just two of the many women who were caught crying on camera
‘When women cycled together in the house, it created a completely different vibe,’ Hatta said. ‘So a girl’s now crying mid-interview about nothing, or being reactionary to things that are super small. It helped the producers, because now you’ve got someone who is emotional — and all you want is emotion.’
Hatta went on to add that a menstruating woman was also more willing to make a declaration of love for the show’s star with a little nudging from the producers.
Kaufman’s new book gives a behind-the-scenes look at the ABC franchise
‘If a girl’s feeling the butterflies for a guy already, when she gets into that state, her feelings just become more powerful, so she’s probably more willing to tell that guy she loves him,’ he said.
‘And maybe one of the producers knew she was in that emotional state and was like, “You know what? Now’s a better time than ever. You should do it, you should do it, you should do it!”‘
The beloved show has been a ratings grabber for the past 16 years, leading to numerous spinoffs, including The Bachelorette, Bachelor Pad, Bachelor in Paradise, Bachelor in Paradise: After Paradise, and The Bachelor Winter Games.
Although contestants face an intense range of emotions and are often put in triggering situations while filming the show, psychological issues aren’t always a deterrent when it comes to casting.
In her book, Kaufman gives a detailed account of the casting process, including strict background checks and STD tests. However, Bachelor contestant Rozlyn Papa claims the psychological evaluation does little to protect potential contestants.
Papa candidly told producers that she struggled with depression before she was cast on Jake Pavelka’s season of the show in 2010.
Hmm: Former Bachelor producer Ben Hatta told Kaufman that a menstruating woman was also more willing to make a declaration of love. Ari is pictured with Lauren Burnham this season
Surprise details: The Bachelor mansion, which is known as Villa de la Vina, is owned by Real estate developer Marshall Haraden, who lives in it about 10 months out of the year
‘If they really were trying to protect you, you’d think that would be sort of a red flag and they would say, “Well, maybe this is someone who can’t handle this kind of pressure,” she said.
‘But instead it was almost like, “OK, perfect. You’re going to cry. You’re going to say some screwed up stuff.”‘
Before being eliminated, Papa was pegged as the ‘villain’ after being accused of cheating on Jake with a male producer, which she denies.
Everyone working on the show is dedicated to creating the most dramatic season ever, and Kaufman writes that Bachelor executive producer Scott Jeffress ‘kept a wad of crisp $100 bills in his pocket’ to give to crew members who evoked the best on-screen drama.
To better understand how producers manipulated contestants, Kaufman agreed to a role-playing exercise with former producer Michael Carroll, who boasted that he could get her to say what he wanted her to.
According to USA Today, the hypothetical scenario involved Kaufman being interviewed while on a date with The Bachelor.
Leverage: Contestant Desiree Hartsock had producers pay her rent while she was competing for Sean Lowe’s heart on season 17 of The Bachelor
Moving on: After being eliminated, Desiree went on to become The Bachelorette
‘Watching you and him is like watching (expletive) paint dry,’ Carroll told her. ‘I want to kill myself. You are boring me to death, and I know you’re way more fun. If you’re not into it, you can go home tomorrow if you want. You don’t have to be here.’
‘The power of suggestion is real,’ Kaufman writes in her book, ‘especially when someone is berating you and making you feel like a disappointment.’
Carroll also explained to Kaufman that they would pre-categorize the contestants into different roles, often times using offensive language to describe them.
‘Mom. Southern Belle. The cheerleader. The (expletive). We all called them ridiculous names. The fat one, the hot one, the crier,’ he said.
Even if you still manage to watch your tongue during filming, the show’s producers have other ways of getting what they want.
A former editor admitted to ‘Frankenbiting,’ the process of editing a soundbite to create a different meaning. Kaufman reports it is a ‘main technique’ the show employs to create story lines.
‘There’s no allegiance to what happened to reality. I don’t care what happens,’ he said. ‘It’s like I’m handed a big bucket of LEGOs and think, “What do I want to build today?”‘
Pressure: Season four Bachelorette winner Jesse Csincsak said he didn’t feel like he had a choice when it came to proposing to his former fiancée, Bachelorette DeAnna Pappas
Stuck: After splitting with her fiancé Andrew Firestone following their Bachelor engagement (pictured), Jen Schefft said she felt pressure to get engaged again as The Bachelorette
Popping the question is another point of contention for the show’s stars, who have admitted to feeling pressured to get engaged to people they didn’t want to marry.
Kaufman explains in her book that almost every contestant she interviewed said ‘they felt they had no choice but to get engaged at the end.’
Season four Bachelorette winner Jesse Csincsak said he didn’t feel like he had a choice when it came to proposing to his former fiancée, Bachelorette DeAnna Pappas.
‘There is no “What if I don’t propose” option,” he told Kaufman. ‘It’s just “Here’s the ring. Go give it to her.”‘
He reportedly started throwing up before he popped the question. Unsurprisingly, he and DeAnna ended up splitting just a few months after the proposal.
Meanwhile, Bachelotte star Jen Schefft revealed that she felt a similar pressure to accept one of the final contestants’ proposals on season three of the spinoff — even though she knew she didn’t want to marry either of them.
‘The producers basically told me that I was coming across as a horrible person on television — a really cold, (expletive) person,’ she told Kaufman. ‘I always felt like I wanted to give them what they wanted, without being crazy. I was still true to myself, but I didn’t want to disappoint anyone.’
Harsh: ABC has come under fire this week for the shocking Bachelor finale that saw Arie Luyendyk Jr. callously dump contestant Becca Kufrin on live TV
Going too far? The Minnesota publicist tried to walk away from the cameras, but she was followed around the apartment
Defense: Ari is now engaged to runner-up Lauren Burnham, 25, and the two have been left to defend their unusual love story
ABC has come under fire this week for the shocking Bachelor finale that saw Arie Luyendyk Jr. callously dump contestant Becca Kufrin on live TV after asking her to marry him just weeks earlier.
The much-hyped season finale saw the 36-year-old former race car sensationally taking back his proposal to Becca, 27, to pursue a relationship with runner-up Lauren Burnham, 25.
The network and show producers have been criticized for filming and airing the excruciating moment Luyendyk broke the news to his completely unaware bride-to-be — after he informed producers and even discussed his plans with the show’s host Chris Harrison in a pre-recorded segment.
The footage that follows shows a blindsided Kufrin breaking down and crying while trying to escape the cameras that were pointed on her throughout.
ABC made a point to promote the scene as ‘uncut, unedited and unbelievable,’ which many fans believed crossed the line.
However, the story has somewhat of a happy ending. Becca has been announced as the new Bachelorette, while Ari and Lauren have been left to defend their relationship following their engagement.