'Bachelor' alum Corinne Olympios reveals the dark side of reality TV show fame
By Jessica Napoli | Fox News
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NEW YORK – "Bachelor" franchise star Corinne Olympios knows that sometimes overnight fame comes at a cost.
The 27-year-old told Fox News that her grandparents were almost victims of a faux-hostage phone scam after random people called their home demanding money in order for them to see their granddaughter again.
"You have to be prepared for the worst," she revealed.
"I mean like a few months ago some people called like my dad's parents who live kind of a little bit away from us and they don't speak very good English and they were like you need to pay us like X amount of money we have her granddaughter Corinne here," Olympios described.
"Like we're holding her hostage and then my grandma couldn't get a hold of us and she almost had a heart attack and it's just like the craziest things you can't even imagine."
"I was obviously fine. It was a lie. But like the fact that people think it's okay to do that -- is crazy. Like you just have to be prepared for the most ridiculous situations. My 90-year-old grandma had to deal with that," she continued.
Olympios also offered advice to men and women who want to be part of a reality TV show. She warned future contestants that they can't have skeletons in their closets because everything will be uncovered, especially any communication on social media.
"I think that if you're going to go on a reality show dating show, you need to make sure that you like anything that has happened in your life, you're okay with being in the public," she mused. "There are no secrets. There is no private life."
Olympios even exposed how after her cast photo was released for Nick Viall's season, she started to get DMs on social media from various other franchise stars.
"Just the cast pictures came out and all these guys from all the past seasons were like, 'Oh hi, we go out.' Like they jump on the new girl so quickly," said Olympios, who explained that little do the men know, all the women talk to each other and know exactly what's going on.
But Olympios wouldn't change the course of her reality TV career.
She feels grateful for the opportunities she's had and the ones she's working on currently, such as her music, stand-up comedy career and upcoming book -- I couldn't be more thankful to have the opportunity to do things in my life that I've only dreamt of doing growing up."
"I learned so much about myself. I grew up so much. I am so much more mature now. I'm so much more thankful for things now," she continued. "It's an amazing learning experience and you definitely get to learn who your friends are and who your circle is [but] you have to be careful of a lot of things."
