Alisha Aitken-Radburn has spilled all the biggest behind-the-scenes Bachelor details and we can’t get enough.
The former Bachelor and Bachelor In Paradise contestant took to Instagram with a series of revelations just hours before Jimmy Nicholson’s season of the show kicks off.
From casting insights, to fashion tips, and what really happens to those fancy cheese platters on one-on-one dates, Alisha laid it all out for fans.
Taking to her Instagram Stories with the prompt “What do you want to know about the first night meeting Bachie?”, fans flooded her with questions.
One asked if all the girls (and guys on the Bachelorette) auditioned or if some were headhunted for the show.
“In my season I’m 98% sure we all auditioned, I’ve heard headhunting is more prevalent in MAFS [Married at First Sight] and I know it happens more often for the boys,” she revealed.
Alisha added that Glenn Smith, whom she fell for on Bachelor in Paradise, was actually approached via a DM from Warner Brothers.
Another fan asked if some of the more awkward entrances on the first night are just set up for the cameras.
Alisha said they were totally real, explaining that contestants workshop ideas with producers to plan an entrance that captures their personality.
“Obviously they’re keen on the novelty-ish ones because they’re entertaining,” she said.
In fact, one producer wanted her to put duct tape over Nick Cummins’ mouth when she met him and just stare at him for several minutes “to capture that I worked in politics”.
Alisha politely declined, and we can understand why.
As for fashion and style secrets, Alisha revealed contestants have just a few minutes with stylists to pick out a dress for the first night and have to be assertive to really get what they want.
When asked if contestants know who the Bachelor will be ahead of time, Alisha said the leading man’s identity is usually kept under wraps.
“That being said, in my season Honey Badger was dropped to the papers before we flew out,” so Alisha said she had a solid idea of who would be waiting on the red carpet.
Speaking of that first meeting, the ladies get more time with the Bachelor than we (and Alisha) ever expected.
“They didn’t tell me until just before I went down the red carpet that I would have TEN MINUTES,” she wrote.
Feeling like she had to fill the time “spooked her” a bit, especially since meeting the Bachelor can be pretty nerve-wracking.
When a fan asked if the contestants get coaching before the first meeting, Alisha said they get help from the producers.
“It’s very nerve-wracking so your producer will practice and workshop your entrance with you,” she wrote.
“I had mine scripted fully in a book. I was that nervous.”
Her revelations about the production, styling and entrances were huge, but there was one other topic fans were dying to know more about.
What is the food really like on The Bachelor?
It turns out, their food situation is a lot like what most of us do in lockdown.
Though the big events were catered, Alisha said the girls would do online Coles shopping orders and just make their own food in the mansion.
They’d often cook together in groups, but the one “sore point” among the ladies was… avocados?
“People would put them in their luggage to ensure they actually got to eat them before they were gone,” she confessed.
As for the cheese platters we so often see on the one-on-one dates, Alisha said those definitely get eaten too.
She revealed all these enticing details the night before the latest season goes to air with Jimmy Nicholson as The Bachelor, and fans are now more amped than ever.
Plus, they’ll now know exactly what was going on behind the scenes when Jimmy meets each of the ladies vying for his heart.