Group date secrets! Sydney Lotuaco revealed behind-the-scenes scoop of The Bachelor on Us Weekly’s “Here for the Right Reasons” podcast.
“You see everyone on the show, but there’s all the people behind the cameras that you don’t really think about being there,” the Bachelor season 23 alum, 28, told Us about filming group dates. “You talk with your producer constantly. And I had a close relationship with mine. He would, like, coach me like, ‘OK, go in there and grab his hand.’ And be like, ‘I know, this is awkward.’ I’m just not a very loud person, so that was a little difficult for me.”
Sydney, who appeared on Colton Underwood’s season of the ABC show in 2019, added that the producers can be “helpful” during group dates.
“Before you go talk to [the lead], you discuss like, ‘OK, these are my things that I want to kind of bring up. This is where I want to push our relationship. How do I go about this?’ And they kind of guide you on that way,” she explained. “It’s super helpful. It’s a lot of just, like, being in your head, like, taking the chance when you can and then sometimes it’s super awkward because it doesn’t work out. You’re like, ‘OK, I’m gonna go over here.’”
The “Something to Share” podcast host added that there’s an “interesting dynamic” between contestants and producers.
“Everyone has a different [relationship] with who their producer is. But ultimately, if you read the room and the situation that you’re in, you can kind of understand where things are going to go for you,” Sydney said. “I think where people are surprised is when they’re just not, like, opening their eyes a little bit to what might be happening around them. I think the hardest thing for people is when something happens and then they watch it later and hear the interviews of everyone else kind of talking about whatever that thing was.”
After quitting Colton’s season during week 6, Sydney appeared on season 6 of Bachelor in Paradise.
“It’s always daunting because you’re going into a really weird way to date and it turns into a little bit of like high school popularity, especially in Paradise, so that can be difficult,” she told Us of her time on the spinoff. “And you’re hoping that the love of your life just happens to be there. And if they’re not, it really sucks because then you’re just kind of like, ‘What am I doing here?’ There’s a lot of factors that go into play.”
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Sydney noted she’s a “big rule follower” and didn’t form any pre-show relationships with potential Paradise constants, unlike her costars.
“I didn’t DM people. … Honestly, I regret not reaching out to people that I had interest in because I would have started at a better place,” she said. “I mean, I just didn’t know that’s how it was gonna go. It was little frustrating because you’re like, ‘OK, well, everyone kind of knows each other. I’m just trying to have this unique experience.’”
She concluded: “But I’m ultimately glad that I did go because I had a really great experience, despite the fact that I didn’t find my person there.”
