How To Get Cast On The Bachelor: Here’s What It Takes

Have you ever wondered how reality TV stars are selected? It takes a specific type of person to lay it all out there while having cameras document their every thought and action 24/7. I definitely could not handle that kind of stress. However, I have often wondered what the casting processes for shows like The Bachelor require. Do you have to know someone? Do they make you take a personality test? What do you have to do in order to even be considered? Well, I did a little investigating (just call me Nancy Drew), and I found out what the process entails.  Here is how to get cast on The Bachelor, and what it actually takes to go through the process.

Open Casting Call

If you’ve been thinking about how to get cast on the Bachelor you’ve def considered going to an open call. If you do choose this route, you will likely be waiting in lines for hours on end, only to fill out forms and speak with a producer for 5-10 minutes, then be on your merry way. You know, exactly the way I like to spend my days off. Oh, they also take a bunch of awkward pictures of you from every angle. Wanna-be models/Instagram sugar bear hair ambassadors please form a line and we will be with you shortly. There is basically a .0083% (I’m guesstimating, don’t quote me) chance you will ever hear anything back. I have heard that you get a free and exclusive bachelor pen when filling out your application, so all is not lost.

Other ways to start the process:

You can fill out an online application yourself since it is 2018 and all (and you’re an independent woman dammit!). You can mail in an application if you want to pay for a stamp like its 1812. Or, you can be nominated by a friend/family member who wants to see you humiliated in front of thousands on national television find love.

Eligibility

You first have to sign a very long eligibility agreement waving away all of the human rights that our founding fathers fought so hard for. You have to be 21 or older, have a valid passport, be single (although they clearly don’t do a great job at monitoring this), not have a misdemeanor/restraining order, and not be running for office. Additionally, neither you nor a family member may be affiliated with certain media companies. You cannot have an STI, which they will check through a blood test later on. As it turns out, one of the main reasons people are rejected from the show is because they have an STI they did not know about. Get checked people! Safe sex is the best sex, duh.

Here is a short excerpt from the eligibility agreement that really resonated with me,

“Applicants acknowledge, understand, and agree that Companies (as defined below) use or revelation of Personal Information and Recordings, as defined in these Eligibility Requirements, may be embarrassing, unfavorable, humiliating, and/or derogatory and/or may portray him or her in a false light. Each applicant agrees to release, discharge and hold harmless the Companies from any and all claims including, without limitation, claims for slander, libel, defamation, violation of rights of privacy, publicity, personality, and/or civil rights, depiction in a false light, intentional or negligent infliction of emotional distress…” etc., etc.

And that’s only #11 out of 23! For those desperate enough to agree and sign, or too lazy to read it and blindly sign their name as I do with most long official potentially life-ruining contracts, you may now start answering questions.

Application Questions

If you decide to fill out the application online, the questions will be extensive and much more in depth. They ask for a lot of pictures even at this stage, so you will also need to do a v embarrassing photo shoot that your friends will make fun of for years to come. If you opt for the mail-in application, dip your quill in ink, bring out the old printing press, and send the application to producers through a carrier pigeon, you will have fewer questions to answer. The questions are pretty interchangeable for both how to get cast on the Bachelor and the Bachelorette, so I will just focus on the women’s application.

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They ask a slew of really personal and invasive questions about your family history, your past relationships, and your height, weight, job, with some lighter questions sprinkled in such as “what’s your favorite cocktail?” and “do you have any tattoos on your body and if so, where are they located?” Well, according to the Bachelor team, that may not be enough, and if you really want a shot at moving on, they want you to send in a video where you answer even more uncomfortable questions, but this time they get to see your facial expression while you do it. How to get cast on the Bachelor is less to do with you being lovable to the Bachelor, and more about being lovable to the audience.

Next Steps

If the producers are interested, they will ask you to provide more information, like the name and contact info on all of your ex’s, as well as ask for more pictures. You then have to fill out a confidentiality agreement stating you will not talk about anything that happens until after that season aired, or you will be fined up to 5 million dollars. Nbd, pocket change. Next step might be to meet with the casting producer and casting director in person and get more pictures of you taken. Or, you will be sent straight to finals weekend.

Finals Weekend

The next step for how to get cast on the Bachelor is Finals Weekend. You’ll fly to LA to meet with a panel of producers. Your “handler” will pick you up from LAX and check you into your hotel room (where you can’t leave except to meet producers to maintain the element of surprise). Once you’re in your hotel room you have to fill out an absurdly long personality test of over 1,000 questions. The next day you have an in-person, on-camera interview. A producer will tell you what to wear and how to wear it. You meet with a bunch of people (mimosas included), and do some mock interviews. A doctor runs blood tests and gives you a physical. Then you meet with a background investigator. Lastly, you meet with a psychiatrist who analyses the personality test to tell if you’re crazy. 

After finals weekend the producers choose their favorites based on all the information you’ve provided and contact you if you were cast on the show. There you have it, a process so intense and time-consuming you better hope you don’t quit your job, buy a whole new wardrobe, and then get sent home the first night after showing up in a chicken suit.

Does this answer your questions about how to get cast on the Bachelor? Have you ever tried? Share your story in the comments below!