50 secrets only true Bachelor fanatics know
By Sundi Rose
33. Sometimes They Shoot Hometown Dates At A Richer Relative’s House
Have you ever wondered how every single house in which they visit during the hometown is so well-appointed and impeccable? Me too. In fact, I just assumed that only the richest, bougiest women get picked because the Bachelor had some rule about showing middle class homes on primetime, network television.
Turns out, a lot of the families opt to “borrow” houses to have the Bachelor or Bachelorette come visit. Andi Dorfman says she’s heard, “some people will do their hometown in a different house, like an uncle’s house or a rich grandfather’s house.”
I guess this is a practical move, whether the contestants opt into this situation or the producers insist. It would be terribly distracting to meet so and so’s mom in the middle of a downtown trap house, or have the ceiling fall in with Mr. Perfect asks the father for his blessings. Since not every woman grew up in a sprawling estate, nor is every family independently wealthy, it’s necessary to fudge it a little.
Also, the families don’t usually prepare the meal they eat. Family’s request specific courses or kinds of food and producers usually make their requests come to be. Andi’s mom wanted to order a sushi boat since, according to her Bachelorette daughter, “my mom doesn’t really cook.”
Since the family can’t really talk to their loved one before the big reveal, the whole thing is incredibly awkward and intense. In real life, the families would get a little bit of heads up about what to expect or what the date is like. In this contrived disaster, all the families know is what they’ve seen on TV or read in the tabloids.
The Bachelor deals in romance as commodity, so any amount of reality would spoil the whole thing. It’s probably best to just pretend everyone grew up with money, in a nice house, with loving parents. Anything else is just kind of a bummer.