This is crazy! Being a contestant on ‘The Bachelor’ may be the opportunity of a lifetime for some ladies, but would those same women be willing to shell out BIG bucks for just the chance to grab a rose? Read on to find out what contestants pay to get a shot at love.
“What didn’t I do before I left for the show?” former Bachelor contestant Whitney Bischoff — who ended up getting engaged to Bachelor Chris Soules (even though it didn’t work out) — told Refinery29. “I got highlights, lash extensions, a gel manicure, and a supply of high-definition makeup… But I had the most anxiety about how I was going to go without my weekly spray tans. After my farewell spray tan, I bought about four bottles of St. Tropez.”
And prep work like that does NOT come cheap. Most of the contestants said it’s actually super easy to drop $1,000 on just their beauty-related purchases before filming. Contestant Jaclyn Swartz estimated her total — which included salon appointments, workout classes and mass product stock-ups — was more like $5,000. “Equinox is expensive, man,” she says. Preach, Jaclyn!
But some contestants do find ways to continue their beauty rituals while in the house. “I brought a duffel bag full of toiletries, and then a huge makeup suitcase,” contestant Ashley Iaconetti said. “They tell you that you are allowed two to three suitcases total, but I brought six,” Jaclyn said. Hey, when you need your lipgloss, you need your lipgloss. Right?
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The financial burden isn’t at all shared with the men of the franchise, who, “don’t have to do anything, and they don’t have to spend money on anything beauty-related,” Ashley said. “Well, this season, the guys probably have a ton of hair product in that bathroom — but not normally!” The star of The Bachelorette, like this season’s JoJo Fletcher, have a complimentary glam team. Bet JoJo wishes she had that squad when she was a contestant!
HollywoodLifers, would you drop that kind of dough for a rose?