and your friends come up with little nicknames or phrases for each person that remind you of what they do (free spirit, cruise ship entertainer, I’m a model!), what was unique about them (horse girl, girl with two kids, guy on the skateboard), or when necessary, notable fashion mistakes (too spray-tanned girl, bad-weave girl, guy with the ascot).
2.Create Some Friendly Competition I recommend a drinking game in which each person drinks at certain words (rose, drama, house, date, love) or when certain inevitable things happen (like when a contestant suddenly seems to realize that he or she is not the only person dating the Bachelor/Bachelorette and gets upset—hello, don’t these people know what the show is about before they go on it?). Another idea is creating a bracket and getting some friendly wagers going on who will go home on a certain episode or who the ultimate winner will be!
3.Set Some Ground Rules With a room full of women, it is quite possible someone will want to talk throughout the entire show. I had to set some ground rules with my friends, especially when Courtney was on. Example: no talking between commercial breaks, unless we paused the show! Another boundary to decide on is whether or not you want to hear spoilers. Like it or not, and accurate or not, Reality Steve is out there and some people may want to tell you exactly what he says happened. I personally prefer the element of surprise, as it makes the whole experience more interesting.
4.Roses, Hot Tubs, and Some Other Ambience Ideas While you don’t want to creep out your friends by creating a Fantasy Suite, it is fun to incorporate some Bachelor-related decorations or settings into your viewing party. When Courtney was on the show, my girlfriends and I created a foam board where we had pictures of each of the girls and we would remove them one by one as they were sent home. Or you can never have too many roses or bottles of champagne at a viewing party. And, of course, if you can host a viewing party in a hot tub, all the more power to you, girl!
5.Use Your DVR to Your Advantage I can’t tell you how many times we have watched the preview for upcoming episodes of The Bachelor, and particularly the final episode, in slow motion, with frequent rewinds. It is incredibly fun to try to piece together the tiny details to predict who is getting the final rose, and who will be crying in the back of the limo.
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3
MALIBU BARBIES & BEN
M y hunch was right. On August 1, 2011, Ashley chose J. P. instead of Ben as her future husband in the season finale of The Bachelorette . I genuinely felt bad for Ben, who was furious and embarrassed after Ashley let him get down on one knee to propose, only to lift him back up by the elbow and reject him. I wondered if he’d ever recover from such a humiliating and cruel public dumping. The rumor was that the show’s fans desperately wanted him to be the next Bachelor, but he was so pissed about being humiliated he was playing hard to get with the producers. Nothing official had been announced yet, not even on the “After the Final Rose” show, when he faced Ashley graciously and stoically.
In my heart, I truly believed Ben would be the next Bachelor and I wanted it to be him. In my very first meeting with the show’s producers, they actually asked me who I’d like the next Bachelor to be and I, of course, said “Ben.” After having my picture taken, a producer handed me a huge packet and I thought I was in. That was easy! Not so fast. Next, I had to make it through Finals Weekend, which took place just five days after The Bachelorette finale aired.
When I showed up to the nondescript hotel, I was told to keep a low profile. Nobody could know that I was there for The Bachelor . As soon as I arrived I was escorted from my car and then whisked straight to my own room by a producer. If a random guest asked what all the commotion was about, we were supposed to say, “We’re filming a movie!”
Finals Weekend
Grace Slick, Andrea Cagan