Each season of “The Bachelor” gives the ABC lead three opportunities to take his remaining contestants for an overnight date in an installment come to be known as the Fantasy Suite episode.

Before viewers tune in to watch Arie Luyendyk Jr.’s Season 22 overnight outings with Kendall Long, Becca Kufrin, and Lauren Burnham, find out the truth and surprises about these highly anticipated dates.

How Does It Work?

The episode will see Arie go on solo dates with his three remaining women. At the conclusion of each date, Arie and his woman will receive a card inviting them to “forego” their individual rooms in favor of an overnight stay as a couple in a “fantasy suite.” Both parties then decide where they want the night to take them.

Do They Have Sex?

Since the overnight portion of the date is not filmed, this is usually when contestants consummate their relationship, though there are also no rules against the contestants having sex sooner and not all finalists who make it to the Fantasy Suite choose to sleep together. Though, as noted in Amy Kaufman’s upcoming “Bachelor Nation: Inside the World of America’s Favorite Guilty Pleasure,” most do.

In the book, Kaufman, a previous “Bachelor” reporter, reveals that after weeks of sexual tension, it’s common for finalists to have sex once the cameras finally stop rolling.

Season 10 “Bachelorette” star Ali Fedotowsky shared a similar notion in her 2017 interview on the same topic with ETOnline. “From talking to the ‘Bachelors’ and ‘Bachelorettes,’ most do sleep with the people in the fantasy suites,” she dished at the time.

Similarly, in a 2016 guest column for The Hollywood Reporter Season 10 “Bachelorette” Andi Dorfman said she believes “almost every Bachelor has sex with everyone he goes into the fantasy suites with.”

Still, not everyone decides to be intimate. There are many other “Bachelor” and “Bachelorette” stars who have stated they did not have relations during the Fantasy Suite dates, including, but not limited to, born-again virgin Sean Lowe from Season 17 and Emily Maynard, who forwent the overnight dates in Season 8.

Is It Filmed?

 

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Fans of the show know the activities and discussions that take place during the Fantasy Suite dates are not shown, but that doesn’t mean the finalists are completely left alone. Kaufman writes in her book, debuting March 6, that producers have been known to share villas with the couples and can hear everything that is happening.

One unnamed contestant even told Celebuzz in 2012 that they always felt they as if they were being listened to. “...Thereu’s never a microphone free moments. Producers want you to believe you’re completely alone and they’re giving you privacy but they are microphones everywhere,” the insider said. “They’re secretly hoping you open up or say something juicy.”

Still, without cameras present, there is still a sense of privacy for the show’s stars. “As soon as the door closed, everyone takes a deep breath,” Dorfman revealed in her 2016 tell-all. “It’s the first time you don’t have cameras and microphones on you, and it’s just a weird feeling.”

Are The Dates Consecutive?

While the show makes it appear as if the Bachelor or Bachelorette is spending back-to-back nights with each of their contestants, Fedotowsky revealed that’s not exactly the case. “It’s every other night,” she explained to ETOnline.

“You wake up at kind of at your leisure,” Season 19 “Bachelor” lead Chris Soules added. “The next morning you’re preparing for your next day with the next girl.”

Tune in for Arie’s “The Bachelor” Fantasy Suite dates episode Monday at 8 p.m. EST on ABC.

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