The 'Bachelor' franchise host is spilling all!
Chris Harrison is revealing some secrets about the making of The Bachelor.
Fresh off the premiere of Peter Weber's season, the Bachelor franchise host stopped by Entertainment Tonight to guest co-host Tuesday's show. During his sit-down with ET's Lauren Zima, Harrison was quizzed on the behind-the-scenes secrets that go into making the dating show -- and some of his answers may surprise you.
From who really comes up with those limo entrance one-liners to how they manage microphones throughout all that time in the hot tub, Harrison gave Bachelor Nation an epic peek at everything that goes on throughout the journey to find love.
Writing the one-liners for limo arrivals
Harrison told ET that he and the show's producers work with the women to plan the best way for them to introduce themselves to the Bachelor.
"They get to L.A., we start talking to them about their hobbies: Do you ride horses? Do you fly planes? Is there something funny that you would like to talk about?" he said. "Because you can't just have 30 people getting out going, 'Hi, my name's Lauren.' We do try to mix it up."
"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 added. "You know, I got the dad jokes. I like to share."
As far as the rest of the season, Harrison acknowledged that "tongue-in-cheek parts of the show" totally exist, but so do "the parts that are really serious and steeped in sincerity."
Stealing the Bachelor
Once the women make their night one entrance, they have to plot how to get time with the Bachelor. Can I steal you for a sec? has become one of the most repeated lines of the series, Harrison shared, thanks to both the producers and the contestants.
"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," he said. "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.'"
Recording the show (and not using hidden cameras!)
As the season really kicks off, fans may think that every sweet, awkward and unforgettable moment has to be captured on audio and video, but that's not the case at all.
"There's no hidden mics anywhere," Harrison shared. "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."
"We know what we're going to use and we really do shoot specific things. We don't have hidden cameras in the ceilings," he continued. "And we tell people, if you are in the bathroom or whatever, you're off-mic. There are a lot of times when they're not even on mic... We do give you a lot of alone time if you need that personal space."
As for the mics that contestants have to sport, Harrison gives high praise to the audio department on figuring out how to make mic packs look camera-friendly.
"The audio department is amazing. They truly are. To hide a microphone... when you're wearing very skimpy, tight dress, where that has to go to not be seen, it's not easy," he explained.
As for where the mics go when contestants take a dip in the hot tub, Harrison shared, "Typically we will use a boom... 'cause you can't have the microphone underwater."
Planning the dates
Though the Bachelor himself is not actively involved in the planning of his dates, producers take his interests, hobbies and personalities into account while figuring out where he'll take his ladies.
"I do all of the logistics, all of the planning," Harrison joked. "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."
Knowing the names at the rose ceremony
After the introductions, conversations and dates, next comes the rose ceremony, where, each season, the lead seems to have learned the name of all the contestants in a manner of hours.
"We actually will stop so they can memorize the names themselves," Harrison explained. "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."
As for how he'd fare trying to memorize all those names in one night, Harrison quipped, "I barely remember my own name at the end of night one."
"There's 30 women! That's a lot," he said. "We're watching the premiere and some of them are leaving and I'm thinking, 'There's no way that woman was on the show.' The worst is when I'm in public and I run into somebody who says, 'Do you remember me from 10 years ago? I left night one.' I'm like, 'Wow. That was hundreds of thousands of people ago. I'm sorry.'"
Plotting the two-on-one
As the season gets further along, contestants have to face the dreaded two-on-one date in which two women accompany the Bachelor on an outing and only one of them returns to the mansion. While fans have become accustomed to two contestants who are butting heads winding up on the date together, Harrison explains that picking those particular women is totally dependent on the season as a whole.
"It really depends season to season of what we need and what they need," he said. "If it's someone like Nick Viall, who I vividly remember kind of kicking the can down the road and [not being] really emotionally committed at the time, we needed to force him into some issues. And so sometimes it's like that."
"Sometimes you have a guy like Peter who wears his heart on his sleeve and we got enough emotion going on, and so yeah, he just needs to make a tough decision between two women," Harrison continued. "It really depends on the season."
Preparing for the Fantasy Suites
In one of the most anticipated episodes of each season, the Bachelor has the Fantasy Suite dates -- nights sans cameras where he and a contestant forego their individual rooms in favor of sharing one. Since some contestants use the opportunity to have sex, providing condoms is of the utmost importance to the show.
"As many as are needed," Harrison revealed of the number of condoms provided. "I think with Peter we had to up our game. Knowing what we had going in, we had to at least have half a dozen."
"We know four is on the table, so you gotta be safe further than that," he added, referencing Weber's windmill rendezvous with Hannah Brown. "We had to be safe with him."
As for who has to go get more condoms if the Bachelor runs out, Harrison cracked, "Sadly, also my job."
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