Why The Bachelor Nation Thinks This Villain Is A Hired Actress

The term "reality television" can be seen as a bit of an oxymoron these days. The genre is filled with hoaxes and lies, from Storage Wars allegedly planting valuable items in storage units to Bear Grylls staying in a hotel while he led viewers to believe he was allegedly roughing it on Man vs. Wild. And while the formula for even a straightforward reality show like The Bachelor would make it appear as though it's on the up-and-up, the series has still managed to garner it's own controversies over the years. 

Numerous stories have popped up about how events on The Bachelor are manipulated to provide a more compelling narrative about a man who dates a bunch of women at the same time, only to select one to marry. While you may expect a few details to be embellished here and there, audiences generally believe that all of the participants are legitimate people there to find love. Then came season 25. 

One contestant, namely "Queen" Victoria Larson, is just a little too out-there for some Bachelor fans, and her attitude so far this season has many suspecting there's some underhandedness at play.

If the whole "Queen Victoria" thing is a bit, Ms. Larson is very committed to it. When you go ABC's webpage for this season of The Bachelor, you can see her occupation officially listed as "Queen," and when she first made her entrance on the show, she really made an impression (whether it was a good or bad one depends on personal taste). She had four men carry her in to meet Matt James, and she promptly greeted him by bestowing a crown upon his head. Upon meeting the other women, she introduced herself as "Queen Victoria," and that seemed to be the straw that broke the camel's back for many fans who thought her presence came across as too much of an act right off the bat. 

Victoria Larson is, in fact, a real person who has her own wellness and beauty business (via Us Weekly), but the central question on many fans' minds is whether she had the idea to go by "Queen" all on her own or if the producers planted her there to stir up some trouble. Plenty of people have already taken to Twitter to voice their skepticism about the sincerity of the act with @kyliecallura writing, "I refuse to believe Victoria is actually like this in real life. She's got to be a producer plant, no one is this outrageous ... right?" 

Even former Bachelorette contestant J.P. Rosenbaum had his doubts when he tweeted, "The more I think about it, the more I believe that Victoria was planted by the show/producers. She just doesn't seem to fit the mold. Her 'villain' traits don't seemed authentic. Her presence, attitude, etc were so forced."

ABC executive Robert Mills even had to address the speculation in an interview with Us Weekly during which he stated, "There's always a story for how somebody became that way ... I don't know that you'll learn more now on The Bachelor, but I'm very curious about it, so maybe it's something we'll have Chris [Harrison] ask about or on Paradise." 

Whether she's a plant or not, one thing is clear — she's making some pretty entertaining television at the moment.