'The Bachelorette': 12 Burning Questions

Bentley clearly stated during the casting video that he wanted Emily. Why keep someone for Ashley who is definitely not into her? —Teresa

I think Ashley actually answered that best herself when I talked to her the other day. She said, ''Whether people come on for the thought of Emily being the Bachelorette or just the adventure and you're not quite sure about it, you never know what's going to happen.'' That was our thinking — if he ends up not liking her, he'll leave.

You've said that producers didn't tell Ashley about Bentley's bad behavior because they wanted her to experience her own journey. Why, then, in past seasons did they tell Jake about Rozlyn's inappropriate relationship with the producer, and Ali about Rated R's girlfriend? —Bean

Jake and Rozlyn were very different because we were involved. She was involved with a producer, and that was partially on us — and he was fired essentially. With Ali and Rated R, we didn't step in; we set Ali up with the girlfriend to talk. We never told her anything. Same thing with Ashley. She gave me the information about Michelle Money's text message [to her] and that Bentley may not be here for the right reasons.

Do you think Bentley will come to the Men Tell All reunion special? —Mandi

I hope he does. I want to know his motivation. I want to know why he did the things he did. As a host, I've never just gone after anybody or thrown anybody under the bus until they deserve it. I know people are like, ''If anybody deserves it, it's Bentley.''

Who cleans up after these guys? Do they cook for themselves? —Pamela

They do cook for themselves. It's funny. There's always the one girl or the one guy who kind of becomes the house mom or the house dad and is the cook. You get pigeonholed pretty quickly about what your job is around the house.

It seems like the format of the show has changed. With all of the international trips, it's more like a travelogue. Was this intentional? —Jenn

Yeah, it's become the norm. It started with Ali's season, where we went to Iceland and Istanbul and then into Portugal. We like the change of scenery. It's part of the escape of our show now.

Now that they travel so much, what do [the contestants] do all day when not on dates? Sightseeing? —Marcy

They're not allowed to just go out on their own. Our producers will take them out. I know, for example, in Taipei, they all went out and got suits made. From time to time, they'll get out and about, but it's always with a producer. They're not allowed to go sightsee on their own.

How much downtime does Ashley get to recover from jetlag, before dates? —KGB

Luckily, she is 5 foot 2 and weighs 80 pounds, so she curls up in these airplane seats and crashes on planes. She doesn't have a lot of time — I know it's an amazing experience for the Bachelor and Bachelorette, but it is exhausting. For the most part, she's going nonstop, and when I say nonstop, a date will go until two, three, four in the morning and we're up on an 8 o'clock flight. No one ever complains because who is going to complain about going to all these amazing places?

Why are there so many more physical challenges, like boxing and boat racing, this season? —Joe

It was something that just happened. Someone else mentioned the lack of hot tubs and helicopters [this season]; that wasn't a decision either. I think The Bachelorette lends itself to more competitive challenges because it's a bunch of guys, and guys by nature are testosterone-driven. Guys are a little more awkward if you take them on a date and they just sit around. They just don't give you as much good content as women do sitting around in a romantic setting.

Was the ill-fated comedy-roast date Ashley's idea, or did the producers make her do it? —Fred

It's not like [the Bachelors or Bachelorettes] have no say in the dates, but obviously the dates we set up take months of planning. For the most part, the dates are pretty much set and produced before they ever get on the show. The roasting date, I still stand behind it. It wasn't the worst date ever. What William did was the worst idea ever.

Is it me, or is Constantine and Ben F. the same person? —Taylor

I'm pretty sure they were separated at birth. Same mom, different dads. I think Ben's dad was definitely Rafael Nadal. He's his twin brother as well. I want to put the three of them in a room, Rafael Nadal and Ben and Constantine. It's funny, at first, like everybody else, I had the same trouble. I'm like, ''Which one are you?'' But when you get to know them they look so different because of their personalities. We've never, in the 10 years that I've been doing this, had contestants look so much alike.

When will the show return to casting new Bachelors and Bachelorettes? —Dawn

I don't know if we ever will. The reason soap operas are successful is they have a continuing story line. So do we. The hardest part is getting people involved and caring about the characters. We have already crossed that bridge before we even start our show because you already care about the character.

What's the hardest part about being the host? —Bentley

I think the hardest thing is trying to walk that line of host and confidant and friend. Ashley was a great example of that this year. I felt like she was kind of heading down a bad path, heading in the wrong direction. As a friend, maybe I would have done a little bit more and stepped in, but there is also that line of host where we're only supposed to know so much. I try to give her as much information as possible, but at the same time, you have to let them go through this journey and you have to let them live it and do their thing. That's kind of what happened with her. That's the hardest thing, walking that fine line of friend and host/confidant.