When do Contestants Find Out Who The Bachelor or Bachelorette Is?
Being a contestant on The Bachelor or The Bachelorette is a unique, wild experience. But before filming even begins, potential contestants go through an equally wild casting process.
How one becomes a contestant on ‘The Bachelor’ or ‘The Bachelorette’
Bachelor Nation’s probably seen the casting notices that flash on their screens during commercial breaks on The Bachelor or The Bachelorette. According to an E! News source, “Only a couple women get picked from actual casting calls. It’s a very small percent. Most of the women are either cast from videos they send in or referrals or they find their own way on.”
From there, the casting process takes months. Annaliese Puccini from Arie Luyendyk Jr’s season of The Bachelor described casting as “a bit overwhelming.”
“Every time they’d call me for the next round, I was surprised,” she told E! News. “I got a call from them and then months later, I went to Los Angeles for casting and there were so many people that I met, a photo shoot and interviews. It was so exciting but definitely a bit overwhelming. The whole thing felt like a ‘pinch me’ moment.”
Contestants only learn they’ve made it on the show a couple of weeks before they start filming.
“The producers don’t actually confirm that you’re on the show until about two weeks before you have to pack your stuff up and travel to LA,” the source told the publication.
When contestants learn who the bachelor or the bachelorette is
So when do contestants learn who they’re going to be competing for?
For Jed Wyatt (Hannah Brown’s season winner and ex-fiancé), he didn’t learn Brown was going to be the bachelorette until just before filming.
“I didn’t know it was gonna be Hannah until two days before,” he said on LAnded Late Night.
It almost seems impossible to come on the show with the intention of getting engaged when contestants don’t even know who they’ll be (hopefully) falling in love with when they agreed to join the cast.
What if you’re there “for the right reasons,” but there’s just no sparks between you and the lead?
Many contestants quit their jobs to come on the show. If they learn the lead’s someone they don’t mesh with do they just head home?
Bachelor season 20 contestant Olivia Caridi gave up her job but said, “I did not give up my career. I am confident that I will get another job in broadcast news to continue my career in the television news industry.”
JJ Lane, a contestant on season 11 of The Bachelorette, told MarketWatch that he had trouble getting another job after being on the show.
“I didn’t understand the magnitude of the show and how hard it is to get a real job right after,” Lane said. “Everyone knows who you are and employers see it as a distraction.” He added that former contestants may find a supplemental salary from appearances and product promotion.
“It’s not a way to make a living,” he said. “It is more of a supplemental way to get something out of being on the show.”
Thankfully, even if contestants don’t hit it off with the lead right away, chances are, living in a house with 20 other people who are going after the same man/woman is bound to rub off on them.
