Bachelor Fever!

With Monday being the season premiere of The Bachelor, I thought what a perfect time to post about my very own appearance on the hit ABC show. A little look at what goes on behind the scenes of The Bachelor.

Last year around this time, all of northern Indiana had Bachelor Fever. That was because local boy and recent Bachelorette cast off, Ben Higgins, had won America over and was chosen as "The Bachelor" for season 20. 

For those of you who don't watch the cheesy and sometimes trashy "reality" show, let me fill you in. Pretty much, one guy (The Bachelor) sets out to find love by "dating" twenty-some girls at the same time and chaos ensues. Jealousy, cat fights, and drunkeness take center stage on this show, and I am ashamed to admit it, but it has become my guilty pleasure.

Once "The Bachelor" has whittled it down to a few select ladies, he takes them back to his hometown, which in Ben's case is Warsaw, Indiana. Warsaw is less than an hour from where I live and when I heard they were going to be shooting a carnival scene and the public was welcome, I jumped at the chance to see how a real network television show was made.

I studied tv production in school and had even been on a weekly tv show in high school, but aside from that and a few local newscasts (oh! and the local 80's kids show Happy's Place!) I had never seen an actual television show being filmed. I can now scratch that one off the bucket list!

 

Sunday, October 25, 2015: We arrived in Warsaw a little after 5pm, as we were told shooting started at six. A long line had already formed down the street from the check in table and we waited, listening to everyone's excited chatter and the latest Bachelor gossip while the line continued to grow steadily behind us. There was a mix of young and old and both men and women in the crowd, but mostly young women - obviously part of "Bachelor Nation."

This was the "entrance" to the carnival that Ben and his date, Amanda, would arrive at. Once we got into the actual carnival that was set up around the town square and courthouse, we were left to our own devices. We ate, I went on a ride, and we waited (and waited) for the show to start!

 They could not have asked for a better night to film a fall carnival. The trees were at their peak color and the way that the lights from the rides lit them up was actually magical - almost like being in a movie - or a tv show in this case! These pictures do not even do it justice, the color was gorgeous!

The crew was busy setting up giant cranes and cameras and there were a lot of frazzled crew members running around like the secret service wearing earpieces and walkie talkies. The hours began to crawl by. Filming was set to start at 6pm according to all the local news outlets, but by 8pm everyone was getting antsy. The word on the street was that Ben and Amanda were held up shooting some scene elsewhere in town. Another hour or so went by and we were given instructions by a guy that seemed like he might be the director. Act natural, mill about, and don't climb on the sets! (Sorry for the blurry pics - we were photographers on the move!)

Almost four hours after we arrived, Ben and Amanda finally arrived! They ran (Amanda riding on Ben's back) in through the carnival sign the crew had set up and over to some games - where of course Ben won her a prize.

The crowd swarmed around them like bees to a hive! I have no idea how the crew got any shots without it looking like there were people hanging off of him, because they were! It was honestly like the second coming of The Beatles. People were going crazy. They were running up to him telling him stories about how they know his mom or does he know their grandson that went to grade school with him? Both Ben and Amanda handled themselves very well. They were polite and spoke to everyone that had the audacity to go up to them.

Here they are getting ready to meet with the Mayor, Amanda clutching the all-important rose!

 Somehow, I got lucky enough to be standing directly behind Ben, Amanda, and the Mayor as he gave his speech. I thought for sure I was going to make it on tv now! How could I not, I was right in the middle of the action - or behind it, I should say. My scene did make it to the final cut, but they zoomed in so tight on the three of them that all you could see was a tiny bit of my coat and hair! Movie magic had ruined my chance! You could actually see my husband plain as day in his orange sweatshirt further back in the crowd!

Host Chris Harrison was even there! If you can't tell from my fabulous shot, that's him on the left with the blurry face. He was sequestered for the most part in the makeshift control room inside a vacant building. He was returning from getting coffee when I was able to snag this pic of him.

Ben and Amanda ventured onto some rides and sat down and ate cotton candy together where they shared a kiss. All the while, thousands of people were still crowded around them analyzing their every move.

Here's Ben doing the famous interview portion of the date where he tells the audience how he thinks the date is going.

One of the last scenes was Ben and Amanda riding on the carousel. Once again, we were able to get a great spot right up front!

Unbeknownst to me, there was a cameraman standing right behind my husband and I and he was shooting over our shoulders. This would become the only scene in which you could clearly see us - and it was from behind! But, I am still honored that I made it into the final cut at all! With all those people, we really didn't stand much of a chance. So I am happy and actually a little proud with just that little bit! How many other people can say they were on The Bachelor?

Extreme close up!

The kiss goodnight on the ferris wheel. I thought for sure he would have chosen Amanda in the end, but we all know how that turned out!

Here is Ben yelling down to his adoring public at the end of the night, thanking us all for coming out.

~ ~ ~

Our episode did not premiere until February and we were on pins and needles for months wondering if we were going to make the cut. Here are the shots of us that made it to the actual telecast! Our world television premiere!

Blink and you'll miss us! There we are to the left of Ben as he and Amanda went on the same ride that made me want to barf.

Here's my infamous shot I was so sure I would be front and center in! You can see the side of my face and hair right behind the Mayor's butt and partially covered by the ABC logo.

There's my husband behind Ben in the bright orange! I was so glad I made him wear that! It made us easy to spot in the big crowd!

Our parting shot! I love this picture of us! In the end, I was amazed at all the time, money, and effort that went into this production. The carnival scene actually only ended up being a few minutes out of the entire hour long show, which makes me feel even luckier that we made it onto the show at all!