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To go on ABC dating show The Bachelor, you have to pass an all-day psychological evaluation from a studio-appointed psychologist
At the LA Times's Festival of Books, Rachel Lindsay revealed the rigorous process that contestants on The Bachelor must go through to get cast on the show
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Long before the contestants on The Bachelor exit their swanky limousine and sashay their way up to the season's eligible singleton, they go through a thorough casting process. Based on the drama that explodes out of ABC's long running dating reality show, you might think that the network deliberately invites some outlandish personalities on the show. But as Rachel Lindsay, an attorney who became a contestant on The Bachelor and the lead on a season of The Bachelorette, revealed at the LA Times's Festival of Books this weekend, ABC does their homework before assembling the squad each season.
Lindsay said, "[On] The Bachelor... there's a background test, there's a psych test, which takes like a day. And based off of that psych test, they do give you a psychiatrist to talk to, and the timing is based off of how you test. There's just certain things that you have to go through."
This discussion of The Bachelor's psychological screening was part of a larger panel examining the world of reality TV. Rachel Lindsay was joined by The New Yorker's Emily Nussbaum, along with journalist Ashley Nussbaum, the author of Disney High, a new examination of the "rise and fall" of the Disney Channel. Lindsay pointed out how little protections exist for reality contestants, because they're not unionized. She pointed out how a studio-hired therapist or psychiatrist edges into murky territory, considering that they are working at the behest of the network itself, rather than for the contestants themselves.
Reality TV is thorny stuff! And all three panelists agreed that they're not sure if there's an ethical way to do it within the model that exists today in Hollywood. Until reality contestants can get proper worker protections, things are going to remain this way.
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