Is South Florida overrepresented on The Bachelor and The Bachelorette?

The Outline

Ft. Lauderdale in its surrounding area is the "perfect breeding ground" for Bachelor franchise contestants, says Paola de Varona. "Looking back at the past four seasons of both The Bachelor and The Bachelorette, eight percent of contestants — 19 out of 232 total — were from South Florida. Three out of 26 contestants on Jojo’s season were from Ft. Lauderdale; five of the men on Rachel’s season were from South Florida," says de Varona. "Other regions have outnumbered South Florida’s representation on the show, but they’re typically much bigger areas: New York, Los Angeles, Dallas. I counted that the Bachelor franchise has held four casting calls in Fort Lauderdale since 2016, becoming a part of the show’s roster of cities that reappear each year such as New York City, Chicago, Dallas, and Nashville — some of which have been hosting casting calls since 2012. What’s more, the Greater Fort Lauderdale Convention and Visitors Bureau actually paid the Bachelor’s production company $313,000 for that footage of Arie cavorting through the city."