Have you been looking for love in all the wrong places? Does the idea of going on national television to find the guy or girl of your dreams sound like your bag of fun? Do you liken yourself to a Ryan or Trista Sutter? Do you even know who those people are? Then maybe having a whirl as a contestant on The Bachelor is right up your alley. And you are in luck because they are casting right now.
I spoke over the phone with Lacey Pemberton, the Casting Director for The Bachelor and its sister show The Bachelorette to find out what the show is looking for and was surprised when she said that they do not necessarily care what the person looks like, as everyone on the show is so utterly unattractive. Rather, she said, when looking for a cast member they want someone who is really interesting with a big personality. They also want to make sure that you have the ability to take time off of your job and that you are not crazy. Making an impression on Pemberton takes a lot of work as she goes through thousands of casting videos and she watches every single one of them. Her job sounds exhausting.
In addition to submitting a video online through The Bachelor's website, they also have live events where you can show up in person and really amp up your self-esteem when they don't accept you into their fold. I wasn't aware of the in-person events and it got me thinking that they should do a first week of nut-job episodes like they do in American Idol; that would get some ratings!
I tried to drag some Bachelor dirt out of Pemberton, but unlike me she is very professional. When asked if they ever cast someone that looked amazing in their video but turned out to be a total psychopath, she laughed and said, "Sometimes people make a wonderful tape but just aren't television ready." She's good. I will take that answer as them having some crazies, which is pretty apparent if you've ever watched the show. Some of those women look like they are about to break at any moment.
In general, however, Pemberton told me that the real key to getting on the show is standing out. Does that mean making a video in which you put on a display of your body modification suspension act? While I am sure that this would get some attention, I can't imagine ABC would be cool with this. Rather, being yourself and being attention grabbing is the way to go, and really if you are not an attention-grabbing type of person, you probably wouldn't want to go on a reality television show to begin with.
If you are looking for love and want to try your hand at The Bachelor Season 18 (yeah, this has been going on for that long), go tease your hair and get your video done ASAP, as the casting is starting to wind down. Houston has actually had a pretty respectable showing in the past, but we need a winner! Watch Ken Marino play the ultimate bachelor on E!'s mock show Burning Love
