Spoiler Alert! The Bachelor has begun filming.

According to what I know, and what I can say, The Bachelor began filming in California this week and Ben has chosen his first group of ladies.
The girls were housed at the Agoura Hills Sheraton for four days and spent Thursday with hair and makeup people getting ready to begin the first rose ceremony that night. Filming begins at 9:30 ish, after they hose down the driveway, plant all the flowers in the garden and get the press there to watch on closed circuit TV's behind the scenes.
You may think that it's just a crew and the people we see on camera that first night but I believe they have a big press gathering behind the scenes to get the media in their inner circle of love and secrecy. Ben comes back to the production area and meets these people, eats from craft services and schmoozes.
His presence at the 7 hour cocktail party is sketchy. The girls don't have free access to him, apparently. You almost have to take a number. He's carefully managed by producers.
If you enjoy finding out tidbits of info, go to RealitySteve.com. He seems to get all kinds of tips on what's going on. Like today they are filming at a high school in the Los Angeles area. And the producers and production assistants control the girls and the happenings to the nth degree. Very little is spontaneous.
I understand it's a TV show but I was hoping it was a bit more like what you see on TV. The Bachelor and the girls all sit around and talk for hours and no one influences the man's choice on who to pick at the rose ceremonies. Now I doubt that. I have a theory that the producers tell him to choose about 7 girls he really likes and then fill up the roster with girls who'd be good on TV. It could happen.
What do you think?