Ex Bachelor star reveals set secrets

The fifth season of The Bachelor Australia has just kicked off, and now one of the contestants from the first season has spoken out about what happens behind-the-scenes in the Bachie mansion.

Ali Oetjen, who placed as second runner-up during Tim Robards' series in 2013, says the bachelorettes have to repeat outfits for multiple days of shooting, and there's plenty of alcohol flowing to get the most dramatic reactions, which are then edited to make things even juicier for the viewer.

In an interview with Mix 102.3's Jodie and Soda on Wednesday, the blonde beauty, who reveals she was approached to be* *The Bachelorette before Sam Frost secured the gig, says: "The first rose ceremony that we ever had… it actually went over two nights.

"We had to wear the same dress, you had to get your hair down the exact same way… and drinking so much all the time," she added.

There's a dedicated stylist on hand to help the girls look picture perfect for the Bachelor, but according to Ali, some of the ladies weren't happy with their chosen outfits, saying "yeah, i'm not wearing that, That makes me look fat".

Ali was keen to make some good friends with the other girls in the mansion, but says once she decided to go in for a kiss on the first night, enemies were made quickly.

The drama only heightened with a little extra booze circulating around the cocktail party.

"They [the producers] did cotton on as the show went on to give us more drinks so that we would relax and do more of what the producers asked of us," she revealed.

While Ali "“went in for the pash” at the first cocktail party and didn't have much luck, she still managed to secure the first kiss of the season when she went on her single date with Tim Robards.

But even those single dates get edited says the reality star, and makes reference to the one where she broke her leg.

Explaining she had landed on a canoe, resulting in snapped ligaments in her knee, Ali says all viewers got to see was her awkward landing in the water.

"'I just broke down in tears when I saw that episode," she admits.

She also reveals that the contestants suspected "something was going on" between two of the girls who'd spend a lot of time in one room, even though they were meant to sleep in their own bunk beds.

While she failed to win the heart of Tim Robards, who ultimately chose Anna Heinrich, Ali has found her happily ever after with beau David Waldeck, who proposed in 2015.

"It really does mess you around in the head," she says of appearing on The Bachelor, though doesn't regret her reality show stint and says she would've been TheBachelorette if she had been single when approached.

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