Bachelor in Paradise star Mari Pepin reveals shocking behind-the-scenes secret

Bachelor in Paradise star Mari Pepin has spilled some secrets about the popular ABC show and admitted producers will pull out all the stops to make sure there's drama.

The 29-year-old appeared on Season 7 of Bachelor in Paradise, where she met her now-husband Kenny Braasch. But while Mari enjoyed her experience on the show, it wasn't all plain sailing.

Speaking exclusively to The Express US, Mari said, "I would say the conditions of the resort that we were staying in maybe weren't all that great. We didn't have access to air conditioning. It was incredibly hot and humid."

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The TV star suggested show bosses make the environment uncomfortable "by design".

She explained, "You know, they have air conditioning, but they shut it off because they don't want contestants to be hiding in the rooms. They want us to be on camera, right? So that wasn't super fun."

Mari also revealed there were lots of bugs crawling around while filming Bachelor in Paradise, with many often being found in the contestants' beds.

"Sometimes we would come back to the rooms and there would be little crawlies in there and lots of crabs always walking around. They like to climb on lots of things. I had one run across my feet once. That was not fun," she recalled.

Mari added, "So I would say in terms of conditions of the ambience of the setting wasn't all that great."

However, she didn't let that negatively impact what she took away from the show. "My experience overall was lots of fun. It was obviously a win for me because I ended up finding my now husband," Mari said.

She added, "It was a lot of fun. It was nice to be almost on a mini vacation for about a month."

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Before appearing on Bachelor in Paradise, Mari tried to find love on The Bachelor's Season 25. However, she was eliminated in week 4.

Mari admitted her experience on the original show made her nervous for the spinoff.

"I feel like I was more nervous for Paradise and I want to say it's because there were just so many more options, if that makes sense," she explained. "And I knew that it would be multiple people going for the same person, which is what it's kind of about. It's like mixing and mingling and multiple people trying to get with multiple people. So I think that made me really nervous."

She added, "And you always feel that sense of, I don't know, almost hesitancy because it's like, what if no one picks me? Like, out of all the people here, not one person chooses me. That kind of was eating at me a little bit before I got there.”