Questions of authenticity
Is the TV Show The Bachelor scripted?
The Bachelor (U.S. TV series)
On February 26, 2009, in an exclusive interview between "The Bachelor" Season 13 contestant Megan Parris, and Steve Carbone, Megan commented that the producers edit the footage to create a fictional storyline. "I don't think producers showed any real conversation I had with anyone... The viewers fail to realize that editing is what makes the show... You'll hear someone make one comment and then they'll show a clip of somebody's face to make it look like "that" is their facial reaction to that statement, but really, somebody made that face the day before to something else. It's just piecing things together to make a story. "On March 26, 2009, Megan Parris argued that not only was the show scripted, but that producers bullied contestants into saying things to the camera that contestants did not want to say. "'There's nothing real about it,' she said of the show's trademark "confessionals," in which contestants talk to the camera about the latest goings-on. "It is scripted," she said. "They basically will call you names, berate you, curse at you until they get you to say what they want you to say." Both ABC and Warner Bros., the studio that produces "The Bachelor," had no comment. "On March 15, 2010, creator Mike Fleiss appeared on "20/20" and said that he develops contestants into characters that will cater to his audience's tastes and that they "need fair share of villains every season." Fleiss has come under fire for admitting that "The Bachelor" has less to do with reality than it does making good television. On February 24, 2012, during the taping of "The Women Tell All" episode of "The Bachelor," a private conversation between contestant Courtney Robertson and a show producer went public when microphones were accidentally left on in between camera takes. The conversation revealed the producer's role as a coach encouraging Robertson to fake certain emotions for the camera which she was not feeling.