Bekah M. Went ‘Broke’ Because Of ‘The Bachelor’

It may be some people’s dream to be a contestant in the Bachelor franchise, but few really think about the sacrifice that goes into it. Sure, spending a few weeks (or months) away from work to pursue a super hot bachelor(ette) may seem pretty awesome on paper, but according to past contestant Bekah Martinez, it hurts your wallet a lot more than you’d expect.

Martinez explained that she basically went broke just trying to keep up with all the finances during her stint on the show. But what really took a toll on her bank was paying for the outfits she wore on air.

“I was like, ‘This is going to cost me thousands of dollars if I buy all of these.’ Knowing that there’s a potential to go on the show for two months and not make any money during that time — I’m not working, but I still have to pay rent and all my living expenses — there was no way I could spend a few grand on clothes,” Martinez told Glamour.

Martinez took to borrowing as many clothes from friends as she could (luckily, one of her friends was a pageant girl and she nannied for someone in the fashion industry) but still ended up dropping about $800 on her wardrobe. When she returned to LA after the show, she was so broke she ended up returning anything that still had a tag on it. But unsurprisingly, she probably spent less money than other contestants on the show.

“I can image some of the girls who didn’t have the resources to borrow things from showrooms or friends probably spent a significant amount of money—at least a couple thousand, easily,” Martinez said. “Everything [Seinne Fleming] had was from, like, Free People and Anthropologie. I imagine she spent the most out of everyone because she had so much cute, brand-new stuff.”

It’s easy to forget that life on The Bachelor might not be as fabulous as it seems. While the women (and, on The Bachelorette, the men) might get swept away on international vacations and adventurous excursions during their time on the show, their lives away from the camera aren’t always so luxurious.