If you’ve sat on your couch on Monday nights to watch the latest Bachelor or Bachelorette take their shot at finding love, you might have noticed that you rarely get to see what the contestants are doing in between filming at the Bachelor Mansion. Sure, we see them having pool parties and arguing over who’s there for the right reasons, but that’s all for the cameras.
Off camera, do they just lounge around waiting for dates? Do any of them work out? Are they always sipping champagne? After doing our research and finding out what might what really go on, we were shocked to find out how unhealthy their living situation actually is, specifically for four different reasons.
1. Food
The contestants are understandably stressed in the two months that they’re looking to find love, and with all that stress comes the junk food cravings. What better way to patch a hurting heart than with some chocolate?
According to Lauren Bushnell (who had won Ben Higgins’ heart), the Bachelor Mansion is fully stocked with every food imaginable. If there’s something that’s not there, contestants can make a request for handlers to run to the store to get it. Sure they can request things like avocados and spinach, but those fresh veggies tend to lose their appeal next to a jar of Oreos.
While on the road, the contestants are served three buffet-style meals a day. “It’s hard to pick up the salad tongs when you’ve got pulled pork sandwiches and macaroni and cheese sitting right next to it. I never chose salad. I always chose the massive brownies,” Ashley Iaconetti from Chris Soule’s season told WetPaint.
2. Drinking
As we have seen season after season, there is certainly no shortage of alcohol on the show. Many contestants reveal that the producers encourage drinking, and many people take to drinking when they are bored and waiting for the next date card (some starting even early in the morning). It becomes an activity for contestants to do while they’re hanging around the house. Of course, the prospect of having the contestants boozing all day means more entertainment and double the drama.
3. Working Out
It’s very surprising to learn that there isn’t actually a gym in the Bachelor Mansion for the contestants to use in their spare time. Instead of typical workouts, they’re forced to get creative, like running around the mansion, or taking after Chad and filling a suitcase with heavy objects and strapping it to their waist because, why not?
When they’re traveling, contestants are allowed to use the hotel gyms, but only one at a time (as to not draw attention to filming) and for only a short period of time in order to give everyone a chance. “Only a couple times did I work out with the other girls. You get 30 minutes, which is pretty short. I would usually do the elliptical or run on the treadmill and then do crunches,” Courtney Robertson told Allure.
4. Lack of Sleep
Rose ceremonies that sometimes last all night, combined with long group dates and traveling the world can make it hard to get enough sleep. “‘The Bachelor’ is exhausting,” former Bachelor Sean Lowe told Yahoo Health. “Sometimes the dates will begin at 7 a.m. and won’t finish until midnight. Those long, exhausting days didn’t exactly make me want to work out and eat healthy.” Maybe now we can understand why a good nap is so important!
So, when you really think about it, it’s pretty alarming to think that a group of 20 girls or guys, all vying for the same person’s heart, are cooped up in a house together, drinking all day while eating mostly junk food day and night, with no way to work out in order to stay in shape. Needless to say, it’s unhealthy.
Of course, we all watch the show for its entertainment and emotional montages, but now, maybe we can better understand why some contestants seem a little extra emotional. I mean, being cooped up like that for that long is enough to drive anyone to tears.