After 16 long, suspenseful and often drama-filled episodes, the seventh season of The Bachelor Australia has come to an end. That’s right, 31-year-old astrophysicist Matt Agnew has chosen his lucky lady, and she just so happens to be 28-year-old chemical engineer, Chelsie McLeod.
From the drama that followed Abbie everywhere she went, and the scandal Rachel found herself at the centre of, to Monique’s swearing mishap and Helena’s numerous attempts to leave the show, the series proved to be quite the rollercoaster ride.
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Given that there were a total of 28 women confined to the space of just one mansion, all fighting for the attention of the same man – who can’t even tell any of them just how deep his feelings (or lack thereof) for them truly are – it should come as no surprise that there were a number of ups and downs throughout the course of season.
As such, when given the chance to talk to Abbie, Jessica, Mary, Isabelle, Brianna and Cassandra, Vogue set out to uncover all there is to know about the realities of filming the Australian iteration of the beloved reality TV series. For more, scroll on to familairise yourself with The Bachelor Australia’s casting process, the intricacies of filming, the hardest part about being on the show, and how each of the outfits the contestants wear are selected.
On the most difficult aspect of filming the show
Jessica: “The hardest part has probably been being away from home, because it makes me feel quite isolated in the situation. You kind of feel like you have nothing else to concentrate on [other than] what’s happening immediately around you, so that can get the emotions running quite high.”
Isabelle: “They are long days. Everyone’s pretty accommodating, you get fed pretty well, you get attention, nice make-up people walking around… but it’s just long days and you just never know what’s going to happen, because everything is just secret. So you just have to be prepared all the time.”
Brianna: “For me, it was actually being on camera. I know it sounds stupid but I found it harder to be myself, not that I wasn’t myself. But I was just more in my shell knowing that there were people around. Not that it was planned because obviously we can say whatever we wanted to say, but that added pressure just didn’t let me come out of my bubble as much.”
On the realities of filming the show
Jessica: “When we get ready for the cocktail parties, there is a lot of time and effort that goes into our styling and our hair and make-up. It’s a whole day thing, you are trying to get 20 girls ready for a very elaborate cocktail party. So, there is a lot of down time when you are already dressed up in your gowns before you get filmed. We would sit around and listen to Ariana Grande, have a sing-along and dance-along in the lounge room. As soon as sort of daylight goes we will start filming and then it will go on into the evening.”
Isabelle: “We normally get a call time the night before saying you have to be up at this time or you have to be ready by this time. But unless it’s like a single date, you don’t know what it’s for. There are a lot of sound and microphones, there are a lot of cameras and a lot going on on set. It’s quite a big production, there is a lot going on you don’t see but it is amazing to see firsthand when you are in the house.
We would get topics to talk about but other than that it was all our own free conversations. We’re not going to sit there and talk about Jenny down the street, nobody is going to want to watch that, so obviously you have to keep the topic on what is actually going on in the house.”
I taught the girls a lot of Pilates while I was in there and then we did walk through the yards, went swimming in the pool, and we had access to Netflix which was awesome so we watched movies. Bree brought in her Lego and we played Lego and Uno, it was great.”
Cassandra: “They get so much content and then they have to fit it into an hour so we were all a bit shocked like “oh my god, like our whole date got cut”. It’s a funny situation, but it is what it is. They have to do it. Elly got a bit of extended time on [one] episode and that wasn’t aired. Nikki did a rap for Matt, and that wasn’t aired either.”
Mary: “Going on TV is just like something out of this world. It was like being in a movie all the time. All of a sudden you’re there and you don’t know what’s happening next. There are so many surprises. When you see our faces surprised, it’s because we are surprised. You never know what’s going to happen next. There’s so much shock and so much drama. I would do it again because it’s just a crazy experience. You learn so much about yourself, and it’s a different environment.”
On the show’s casting process
Jessica: “It goes over a few months, it’s pretty rigorous. You do group casting, a lot of phone calls, a lot of interviews and stuff like that. Once you fill out the online application you go and do a group audition, and then it’s just about getting a feel for the different personality types and how people cope in a group situation. Obviously you’re in a group situation when you’re in the house so I guess it’s just to see how you interact with other people and what your personality is like.”
Abbie: “I submitted an application because I was like “why not?” And then the next day or two days later I had my audition. I put in my application in at the 11th hour.”
On the season’s show-stopping fashion
Jessica: “Before we go on the show we get told to pick out some styles of dresses that we like; what kind of cut, what kind of colours we like and don’t like, and then the styles and they sort of kind of work around that. They do take into account your style and what you like to wear. We have have a huge range of dresses to pick from and we try a few on, see what looks good on us and what we feel comfortable and confident in. Outside of the cocktail parties, all the clothes are our own clothes. We style ourselves, we do our own hair and make-up. So everything is very authentic when it comes to the dates and group dates or anytime where we are just sitting around at the mansion hanging out.”
Isabelle: “Some girls shared outfits, which was really nice. You gave each other style options and that sort of thing, but pretty much all the dresses were organised for us and if they fitted and we liked them, we would wear that for the evening.”