Sadly for those who watch The Bachelor for the ~drama~, you won’t be seeing much of it go down on social media as it was recently revealed that much like the most recent season of MAFS, Ten has taken over their contestants’ IGs.
According to the So Dramatic! podcast, “Ten have gone to extreme lengths to gag the girls this season.”
A production insider claimed that when the girls arrived at the mansion, they “were asked to sign an amendment to their initial contract.
“The amendment asked them to sign over all of their social media passwords to Warner Brothers and Channel Ten throughout the entire duration of the show.”
The new contract imposes a “social media freeze period” where contestants will have to hand over the keys to the kingdom (read: the passwords to their Instagrams) to Ten’s social media peeps and they will be “locked out of social media for two and half months.”
Another insider has spoken to Daily Mail Australia, revealing who’s to blame for this, and the answer is: last year’s girls.
“Warner Bros learnt from the fame hungry girls of season eight who were obsessed with getting followers,” the source said.
“To ensure Jimmy’s girls did not go rogue, they’re controlling their social media accounts for the first time, and compensating their silence with $5k.”
Here’s a peek at last year’s The Bachelor contestants, to refresh your memory:
The shady shit they’re referring to probably includes Bella Varelis dropping leaks on Instagram and subsequently having her cocktail photos snatched from her as punishment by The Bachelor producers at the time, according to a source.
The So Dramatic! podcast revealed that contestants automatically receive a coveted blue tick if they sign Ten’s social media clause, plus they’ve allegedly been offered $5000 each to sign the contract and if there’s any breach, they’ll have to forfeit the dosh.
“BIP [Bachelor In Paradise] is not happening, they needed something to convince the girls to stay silent,” Daily Mail Australia’s The Bachelor source added.
As the season airs, contestants will have to run their posts and captions by Ten for approval, also comments will be turned off on all their posts and their DMs will be closed so they can only be contacted by people they follow.
So Dramatic! says the contract also stipulated that they are not allowed to speak to the media or “a certain podcaster.” She adds that Nadine Kodsi from last year’s season going rogue and leaking the winner was probably to blame for that.
The Bachelor Australia continues tonight at 7:30pm on Ten.
