All the Secrets 'Bachelor' and 'Bachelorette' Producers Have Revealed Over the Years

What happens when you trap 30+ strangers in a giant mansion with one person they're all competing to date? Drama, obviously. The entire concept of The Bachelor and The Bachelorette is TV gold, but that doesn't mean producers aren't playing a key role in getting it all to unfold. The production crew's literal job is making sure contestants cry, feud, and fall as hopelessly in love with their lead as possible—and yes, they use a lot of tricks to make that happen.

While the Bachelor franchise runs a pretty tight ship, producers—including Chris "Erotic Novels R My Passion" Harrison—have spilled plenty of secrets over the years about what, exactly, goes down behind-the-scenes. We're talking editing tricks, intel on exactly how rose ceremonies work (did Matt James really learn everyone's name in one night?!), how they go about casting villains, whether or not there are hidden microphones, how the casting process works in general, and—most importantly—what actually goes down in the Fantasy Suites.

Like, all I'm saying is you'll have a PhD in Bachelor production secrets by the time you're done with this, so congrats on becoming a doctor.

The Bachelor and Bachelorette limo entrances truly get more deranged by the season, and yep: they're pre-planned by producers based around the contestants' hobbies.

"They get to L.A., we start talking to them about their hobbies," Chris Harrison told Entertainment Tonight. "Do you ride horses? Do you fly planes? Is there something funny that you would like to talk about? Because you can't just have 30 people getting out going, 'Hi, my name's Lauren.' We do try to mix it up."

The Bachelor's main man does more than merely host: he also inflicts his dad jokes on everyone.

"When people are showing up in windmills and suitcases and all that, yeah, I'll throw some lines out every now and then. You know, some one-liners," he told ET. "You know, I got the dad jokes. I like to share."

Nary a cocktail hour goes by without someone asking "can I steal you for a second?" and producers are the ones encouraging contestants to interrupt.

"The logistics of trying to get 30 people to have 30, sometimes 40, conversations—because some [are] going twice—so it is the logistics of just trying to make sure everybody gets a little bit of face time before Peter has to make that conversation," Chris told ET during Peter Weber's season. "Sometimes the women will do it themselves. Sometimes a producer will say, 'Hey, you haven't had your time. You need to get in there when you see an opportunity.'"

The cast usually has microphone pacs attached to their outfits at all times, but they have to do things the old fashioned way when it comes to the show's many hot tub moments. "Typically we will use a boom," Chris told ET. "'Cause you can't have the microphone underwater."

All the glorious dates the Bachelor/ettes take their contestants on? Straight from the mind of Chris Harrison and the rest of the production team.

"We talk to them. Peter, pilot. It's a big part of his life and so obviously that's going to blend into the show seamlessly, as much as we can. We take into account who they are. We talk to them about their level of loving action and adventure, fishing, whatever it is. We try to implement that into the show," Chris told ET.

Former Bachelor executive producer Scott Jeffress confirmed this to Amy Kaufman in her book Bachelor Nation: Inside the World of America's Favorite Guilty Pleasure.

"We would say, 'We'd like you to keep this one because she's good for TV, and this other one we'd like you to get to know better," he said—explaining that the final decision is up to the lead.

Guess now we know why Matt kept Victoria around....

If you've ever wondered how the hell the Bachelor/ette remembers all their contestants' names during the rose ceremonies, it's shockingly NOT because producers are feeding them info through an ear piece.

"We actually will stop so they can memorize the names themselves," Chris told ET. "Because we have always wanted them to make the lists themselves and say it themselves. We don't want to be prompting them in any way."

That kinda implies that this scene during Peter's season was entirely staged for the cameras before they left?

Fans often theorize that producers plant hidden mics on the show, but nope: contestants know exactly when they're being filmed.

"There's no hidden mics anywhere," Chris confirmed to ET. "It's not a gotcha show. It's not a hidden camera show. We've had 'scandals' in the past when people say, 'You guys are filming 24/7! How do you not have that on TV?' We don't."

There are already theories that Victoria Larson is a plant, and judging from this quote from producer Mike Fleiss, fans might not be far off: "We need our fair share of villains every season," he told ABC. "And now we're very careful in our casting...to develop characters that the audience is going to root for and root against."

It's literally part of Chris Harrison's job to make things as awkward as possible. "I relish, and maybe it's because I've been a part of this so long, I really enjoy awkward moments," he told ABC. "I mean, I love creating them, I like seeing how people react. I don't mind it at all."

Chris Harrison confirmed this during an interview with Entertainment Weekly, saying that when female contestants are in the house snack jars are filled with cookies and candies, but, "When the guys are here the jars are filled with whey protein powder."

Thanks I hate it.

These were installed after David Ravitz fell out of the top bunk and had to be rushed to the hospital. Chris told EW the rails are called "chicken rails," since David was known for arriving in a chicken costume.

Scott Jeffrees told Amy Kaufman (via Elle) for Bachelor Nation: Inside the World of America's Favorite Guilty Pleasure that he used to keep "a wad of crisp $100 bills in his pocket" to give to anyone who delivered the best drama.

Mike Fleiss' former assistant Ben Hatta told Amy Kaufman for her book that every contestant had a STI test pre-show, and that, "Herpes was the biggest thing. And sometimes you'd be the first person to tell a contestant they had herpes."

Amy Kaufman's book claims that producers kept track of everyone's period and scheduled their interviews accordingly for peak emotion. Which is...insane. "It helped the producers, because now you've got someone who is emotional," Hatta said, "and all you want is emotion."

I mean...this one's not exactly a secret. As a former Bachelor/ette editor told Amy Kaufman for her book: "You think, 'Oh, she's going to say something bitchy and we'll use that.' No, no, no. You make whatever she does sound bitchy."

And of those 10,000 people, just 100 get narrowed down and flown to Los Angeles for interviews.

Former producer Katy Chen Mazzara confirmed this during an interview with Whit & Ry, saying that producers "all take turns" to go in and interview the potential cast member in order to see if their personality would be good for the show.

"That person is just with the Bachelor or Bachelorette," Katy told Whit & Ry. "They don't interact with the other people. They don't really even know the other people...we don't want to mix that up."

While the Bachelor/ette ultimately decides who gets sent home in general, Katy said producers are the ones who line up the juiciest order of eliminations.

....why Victoria got one of the last roses of the night during her super dramatic episode.

At least for producers, who are conducting interviews, helping their assigned contestant get ready, and running around filming all the limo entrances. "That first night is all night," Katy told Whit & Ry. "It's grueling, especially for us as producers. We basically work probably a 27 hour day."

What happens in the Fantasy Suites STAYS! IN! THE! FANTASY! SUITES. Katy told Whit & Ry, "We don't have cameras in there," meaning the Bachelor and his finalist are fully alone with their bowl of condoms.

The crew sticks with the Bachelor/ette and his or her finalist through dinner, then film them going into the fantasy suite, and...that's it. "Then they have until morning," Katy told Whit & Ry. "Let's say 10 a.m."

Scott Jeffress told Amy Kaufman for her book that former producer Lisa Levenson had major skills when it came to drawing out emotions.

"She was the most amazing interviewer I’ve ever seen," Scott said. "If we needed tears, she would get them. First, she'd walk out there and just give them a big hug. Then she'd give them a shot of tequila. If they wanted a cigarette, they'd smoke a cigarette. Maybe one more shot of tequila."

TBD on if Lisa is responsible for this moment, but congrats if so!

UnREAL creator and former Bachelor associate producer Sarah Gertrude Shapiro straight-up said as much to Cosmopolitan: "It's sort of like being a CIA interrogator. It's this really weird skill set that's not only manipulating people into performing how you need them to, it's even just having an ear for syntax as people describe their experiences and editing in your head so you can build a first-person narration from people who aren't narrators."

Obviously, producers have to go to bed at some point—but what happens if drama goes down in the middle of the night? Katy told Whit & Ry that, "There's usually PAs or production assistants or handlers who stay with them over night, so in case something big happens."