21. Producers Pick The Frontrunners
The show stops short at telling bachelor and bachelorettes who to pick, but they meddle right up to that line. They arrange who gets out of the limos and in what order, as we already know, but they also fiddle with the rose ceremony order.
In the early days, producers will make suggestions about who to keep and who to send home, but they are just nudges. Once the stakes get higher later in the season, producers can’t guide the lead as much, but they can dictate the order in which their name is called to create the illusion of frontrunners and favorites.
Sean Lowe writes in his book, Here For The Right Reasons, “the show likes to put the most obvious choices first so that drama builds towards the end of the ceremony with the rest of the women who are unsure of their status.”
Ever wonder how the cameraman knows which face to linger a little too long on, and which contestant gets a close up? It’s because they are called in the specified order, mandated by the showrunners.
The producers aren’t just some removed puppet masters, however. They get to know the contestants really well, and sometimes they become close friends. Producers are basically personal handlers whose job it is to make the contestants happy and content. Relationships are bound to form, and some bachelors and bachelorettes keep in touch with their handlers long after their time on the show is over.