Is 'The Bachelor' Scripted? Here's What Contestants Have Revealed About the Franchise
"I was saying lines verbatim from producers because I’d been sitting in a stupid room for an hour and just wanted to go," one alum said.
Updated Feb. 14 2024, 1:41 p.m. ET
With every season of The Bachelor comes a fresh batch of seemingly cooked-up drama. At least, according to some viewers who believe that the reality show is anything but reality.
But is the show actually scripted? How much of the show is influenced by producers, and how much of it is actual reality? Well, lucky for all of us, some Bachelor Nation alumni have been more than happy to spill the tea...
in Season 28, fans thought Joey (center) kept Sydney (left) around for the drama. Do producers do that kind of thing? We cover that below.
So, is 'The Bachelor' scripted?
When it comes to the narrative arc of the show, the opinions are a bit divided. Based on what former contestants have said, it appears that the producers do have some say in the scenes that end up featuring in each episode — but their instructions aren't necessarily definitive.
The contestants are also strongly encouraged to approach producers if they know they have something important to say to the Bachelor or a fellow contestant.
Tenley Molzahn, a Season 14 contestant, ventured so far as to inform producers about how good of a kisser she was. In turn, they helped her become the first to kiss Bachelor Jake Pavelka on camera.
According to an article by the New York Post — titled "The Bachelorette is all a lie," no less — some of the steamiest scenes to ever feature on the show were significantly shaped by the producers' ever-changing list of instructions.
Take, for instance, a date that Bachelor Ben Flajnik and Courtney Robertson went on. What appeared as a spontaneous, carefree skinny-dipping session taking place on the starry beaches of Puerto Rico was, in fact, the outcome of hours of planning and unparalleled logistics.
However, not every part of the show is pre-arranged. As Catherine Giudici, the wife of Season 17 Bachelor Sean Lowe, explains, contestants have to come up with their own lines, take responsibility for their actions, and represent their interests throughout the shooting of the show.
"[The producers] can ask questions and maybe guide you in an answer but you are completely your own person and responsible for what you say and do," Catherine explained in an Instagram Q&A.
But sometimes what a contestant might say or do may be the result of an exhausting "interrogation" from producers — at least, that's what Season 8 Bachelorette alum Chris Bukowski says about the whole thing.
As he told author Amy Kaufman for her 2018 book Bachelor Nation (per Life & Style):
"I was saying lines verbatim from producers because I’d been sitting in a stupid room for an hour and just wanted to go. You would say something you totally didn’t even believe or want to say, but they just keep asking you and asking you and asking you — just like you’re being interrogated."
So, there you have it. The Bachelor isn't scripted per se — contestants do enjoy a lot of freedom to decide what it is that they want to do — but some parts do bear the mark of a team of genius producers.
On that note, we have to ask...
Do producers encourage the Bachelor to keep some contestants around just for the drama?
This is a question that viewers have long questioned and suspected to be true.
Well, guess what — according to one producer, it is absolutely true.
As former Bachelor executive producer Scott Jeffrees said in Amy Kaufman's previously mentioned 2018 book Bachelor Nation: "We would say, 'We'd like you to keep this one because she's good for TV, and this other one we'd like you to get to know better."
