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The Bachelor 13

Megan Parris says Bachelor producers “berate,” “curse at” contestants

by Andy Dehnart 29 Mar. 2009 | 7:53 pm

Early Bachelor 13 reject Megan Parris has offered strong criticism of the show, and and among her charges are that producers “berate[d]” her during “scripted” confessionals to get her to say certain things, constructed quotes via frankenbiting, and bleeped her even when she wasn’t swearing.

She’s said a version of this before–talking to reporters after her elimination, she said, “I don’t feel like I was portrayed accurately at all … it’s not accurate to who I am but I just hope people realize that the circumstances are not real and it’s not what you see.”–but her recent comments are more specific.

“They chopped up pieces of conversation and did voiceovers. So they’d show a flash of my face and then they’d flash to something else, but I’d still be talking. So they chopped up different parts of conversations to string them along to make them sound like a sentence. But it’s nothing I would ever say,” she told the Pittsburgh Tribune-Review. Of the confessionals, she said, “There’s nothing real about it. It is scripted. They basically will call you names, berate you, curse at you until they get you to say what they want you to say.”

“It’s really hurtful. After I watched the first episode, I literally wanted the earth to swallow me. They made me feel like they were going to make me out to be America’s sweetheart. I went into the experience completely naive and trusting and vulnerable. I let myself get completely manipulated,” she said.

The high school lacrosse coach said that “what [viewers] saw on TV was a character. It wasn’t me. It was not at all indicative of who I am as a person. It was complete misrepresentation of who Megan Parris is.”

‘Bachelor’ candidate from Sewickley Hills goes off script [Pittsburgh Tribune-Review]

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about Andy Dehnart

Andy Dehnart’s writing and criticism about television, culture, and media has appeared on NPR and in Vulture, Pacific Standard, The Los Angeles Times, and other publications. He has covered reality television for more than 18 years, and created reality blurred in 2000.

A member of the Television Critics Association who serves on its board of directors, Andy, 41, also directs the journalism program at Stetson University in Florida, where he teaches creative nonfiction and journalism. He has an M.F.A. in nonfiction writing and literature from Bennington College. Learn more about reality blurred and Andy.

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reality blurred is your guide to the world of reality TV and unscripted entertainment, with reality show reviews, news, and analysis. It was created in 2000 by Andy Dehnart. He's still writing and publishing it today.

reality blurred is regularly updated with highlights from the world of reality TV: news and analysis; behind-the-scenes reports; interviews with reality TV show cast members and producers; and recaps and reviews of these reality TV shows, including Survivor, Big Brother, The Great British Baking Show, Shark Tank, The Amazing Race, The Bachelor, Project Runway, Dancing with the Stars, Top Chef, and many more.

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