Mari Pepin made some accusations against The Bachelor franchise producers recently that may have some fans scratching their heads.
Once explained, it likely will make sense though.
And to be completely honest, we’re not at all surprised to hear her make this type of accusation or that they may be doing such a thing.
After all, reality TV isn’t purely reality at all.
It’s entertainment, and when an aspiring reality star signs on to be filmed, they agree to certain things.
Among those agreements includes an understanding that all of what is filmed won’t necessarily air and that there is an editing process that will take place.
In recent years. that editing seems to have become more liberal in how they put together scenes — and drama — to get the maximum effect and keep viewers on the edges of their seats.
That drama translates to ratings, and it should surprise absolutely no one that the higher ratings equate to more money for production companies and the networks that air the shows.
That’s where Frankenbiting comes in.
Here’s what Mari Pepin said about The Bachelor producers
Mari Pepin first appeared on Matt James’ season of The Bachelor and then went on to find love with Kenny Brasch on Bachelor in Paradise.
She’s been in Bachelor Nation enough that she knows a thing or two about how producers use footage to maximize drama — and profits — when they put together a season of the show.
Mari told The Mirror, “Frakenbiting is when they take little snippets of audio and they kind of like weave it together to form a sentence and now to me it’s really obvious.”
“But sometimes they’re really good at hiding it. So they’ll take part of this sentence and part of that sentence and make the person sound like they just put it together,” she added.
Mari also shared the way to determine if Frankenbiting is being used or at least where a viewer should be skeptical about it, and it makes total sense.
“If you don’t actually see their mouths moving while they say it there’s a good chance that it’s actually ‘frankenbitten’ and edited in a certain way,” she explained.
Mari Pepin knows about Frankenbiting because it happened to her
Mari claims that producers definitely spliced her soundbites together on The Bachelor and Bachelor in Paradise to turn them into a more dramatic storyline – and she wasn’t happy about it when it happened either.
Mari said, “I can’t recall them off the top of my head now but I remember watching back and being like ‘That’s not what I said’ or they cut off a part of a sentence to make it sound like it was something else.”
She continued, “You definitely pick up on it as a contestant and now watching it as a fan I am able to pick it up.”
We’ll have to watch the show more closely to see where something may be authentic and where producers are likely being creative with the editing in these upcoming episodes of The Bachelor – especially now that there is confusion over the final rose spoilers.
The Bachelor airs on Mondays at 8/7c on ABC.