It’s no secret that ABC wanted Emily Maynard to be The Bachelorette something desperate, but according to a new report, producers were so anxious to get the southern beauty to sign on they were willing to go to extremes. And tolerate some pretty diva behavior!
Many were surprised when Emily seemed to have a abrupt change of heart about finding love on TV after a first failed attempt, but according to In Touch Weekly (via their print edition), producers agreed to accommodate all of her demands in order for her to agree to the show – including moving the Bachelor house to her hometown of Charleston, South Carolina. And the network is reportedly paying Emily a whopping $250,000!
A source close to Emily disputes that she is getting a huge fee to appear on the show, telling RumorFix that Emily is not being paid. “None of the reports are true. None of the contestants go on the show for money – only for love.”
Even more surprising is how far the network is willing to go for Emily’s cooperation. “The producers have completely changed the format this season in order to meet Emily’s demands,” a source tells In Touch. Emily has some pretty strict demands for her potential suitors, too. She allegedly requested that producers “pre-qualify” the men to make sure she isn’t getting any losers – or any broke guys. “She wanted only the best-looking, most mannered guys,” the source reveals.
After viewing former competitor Ashley Hebert‘s season, Emily made it perfectly clear she is not accepting any Bentley Williams-esque villains. Furthermore, Emily knows what she’s looking for and the single mom is quickly sending men home! “She’s whittling it down to a handful of candidates who she will spend a lot more time with,” an insider explains. “If she doesn’t like a guy, he’s gone.” During a recent group date in Bermuda where the men were involved in a boat race, a source claims that Emily “had the producers change the teams so that her top guys were in the same boat.”
Most surprisingly, is that after Emily insisted that her six-year-old daughter Ricki would have no interaction with any of her dates, a source is reporting that Emily is keeping Ricki very involved. “She took one of the guys to watch Ricki play soccer on day one!” Not sure I believe this allegation…
Moving on, the most hated Bachelor couple ever, Ben Flajnik and Courtney Robertson, are still proclaiming that their love is real and a wedding is in their future! “We’re very much in love,” Courtney recently told US Weekly (via their print edition). “We’re talking about getting married maybe at the place where we had our first date in Sonoma. Ben’s open to it.”
For now the couple hasn’t moved in together, but they are going on dates and learning about each others’ lives. “I’m going to be in San Francisco a lot, and he’s going to be in LA a lot,” Courtney shares. “We’ve got a lot of trips planned.”
“They need time to have that normal relationship before saying ‘I do,'” a source asserts. “He wants to take the time to court Courtney.”
Ben adds that they don’t want to rush into things because they want their relationship to last. “We want to figure out who we are together, so we’ll have a better chance.” And putting those cheating and break-up rumors to rest, Ben assures us that he and Courtney have been spending plenty of time together. “When the show was airing, we spent a lot of time together and got to know each other really well.”
Things are continuing to go well for the couple who just returned from a romantic vacation in Puerto Vallarta. “Courtney and Ben have the same sense of humor, and their friends do too,” a friend of Ben’s tells the mag. “Everyone hangs out like they’ve known each other for years. It’s been a very comfortable combining of worlds.”
IS EMILY BEING A DIVA ON THE SET OF THE SOW? IS SHE MAKING DEMANDS OF THE PRODUCERS? DO YOU THINK BEN AND COURTNEY ARE RIGHT TO TAKE THINGS SLOWLY? WILL THEY GET MARRIED?
