50 secrets only true Bachelor fanatics know

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THE BACHELOR -“Episode 2108” – Corinne, Rachel, Raven and Vanessa are left in Bimini, still shocked that Nick sent Kristina home before the rose ceremony. They wonder if they still will get a coveted hometown date from the unpredictable Bachelor. But with the stakes being so high, Nick will go on an emotionally charged journey to visit these final four women’s hometowns. Raven meets him in Hoxie, Arkansas, and cute couple have some great, sexy fun, but Raven’s father reveals some serious news. Then, it is on to Dallas where Rachel and Nick confront the challenges that might meet an interracial couple. Corinne is waiting in Miami where her father waits with some tough questions. Finally, Nick travels to Montreal to reunite with Vanessa. Although her special needs adult students give him a big thumbs up, things don’t go quite so well with her big Italian family, especially after her father drops a bomb about Nick that has Vanessa questioning their relationship. Just as Nick gets ready to make the gut-wrenching decision to send one woman home, he gets a surprise visitor, who could change everything, on “The Bachelor,” MONDAY, FEBRUARY 20 (8:00-10:01 p.m. EST), on the ABC Television Network. (ABC/Drew Cason)NICK VIALL, RAVEN /

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.

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