‘Bachelor In Paradise’: Robby Hayes Reveals How The Cast Got Around The 2-Drink Rule

Bachelor in Paradise had a few new rules this season, but cast members say it didn’t impact the show in any real way. After a sex scandal rocked the set of the ABC reality show, producers launched an investigation and put new rules in place to ensure the cast’s safety in regards to consent and alcohol consumption. But while a two-drink maximum rule was imposed upon the Bachelor in Paradise cast, franchise alum Robby Hayes revealed there was a major loophole in the new alcohol policy.

“We had our own little ways to get around it,” Hayes told People.

“If it was two drinks an hour, we’d grab one at 3:50, one at 3:55, then [it was a] new hour at 4:00. We’d grab one at 4:00, and one at 4:05, then you have four drinks within 15 minutes.”

The Bachelor franchise has long been regarded as a booze-fest, but longtime host Chris Harrison has denied that there’s a free-for-all when it comes to alcohol on Bachelor in Paradise.

“That’s a big misconception of the show — that we push it, and that we need it and we want it,” Harrison told the Hollywood Reporter. “But that really doesn’t help us. Someone being sloppy drunk and being out of it does not give us good television… On the contrary, we want people to be of their right mind and give us a better story to show.”

While Harrison downplays the role that booze plays on the show, some past cast members beg to differ. Bachelor alum AshLee Frazier, who appeared on the first season of the summertime spinoff, told the Los Angeles Times that Paradise producers nudged teetotaler cast members to drink, sometimes shadowing them an offering to imbibe with them. And five-time franchise alum Chris Bukowski revealed that during his last stint on Bachelor in Paradise two summers ago, he downed four vodka sodas before 11 a.m. Bukowski blacked out, but not before stepping into a fire pit and getting into a shouting match with a producer.

“I still take a lot of the blame for the way I was, but I think producers hold responsibility too,” the Bachelor in Paradise star told the Times. “They’re the ones supplying the alcohol and the place I’m sleeping and what I’m eating. It’s almost like going to a bar — at the right time, the bar owner is going to cut you off and put you in a cab. And the producers should also cut you off instead of continuing to feed you the juice.”

Of course, one of the most beloved “characters” on Bachelor in Paradise was recently departed bartender, Jorge. The BiP bartender left the show this season to start his own business and he was replaced by franchise alum Wells Adams. But there’s no denying that the bartender role is an important one on the ABC franchise, if for no other reason than to lend an ear to the lovelorn cast members— while mixing up those two-an-hour margaritas.

Bachelor in Paradise airs Mondays and Tuesdays at 8 p.m. ET. on ABC.

[Featured Image by Bryan Steffy/Getty Images for iHeartMedia]