When the limo door opened for successive beautiful women to climb out and meet bachelor Lee Thompson in the first episode of The Bachelor South Africa, the mansion setting was truly magical - but enhanced for television with candles, rose petals, extra potted plants, strings of LED fairy lights and even green flower walls to make it look better - just like what the American version does as well.
Although very real, the South African, Rapid Blue produced version of the Warner Bros. International Television Production (WBITP) format show crafted a love-seeking television fantasy for DStv subscribers.
That meant creating and enhancing a real-world environment and setting that had to look somewhat better on-screen than what the case is in real-life.
Just like for the American version of The Bachelor, Rapid Blue searched for, found and rented a mansion. And just like the American version, the people staying in the house moved out during the production period.
The modern mansion seen in M-Net's The Bachelor SA is situated in Sandhurst - an ultra-affluent residential area in Sandton, Johannesburg, and the wealthiest suburb in the country. To protect the privacy of the owners, M-Net and the production company are not disclosing the exact address.
Neither is M-Net or Rapid Blue even whispering about the real estate value of the mansion or what the cost was to rent it, nor who the neighbours are. To be expected, several high-profile South Africans reside in the area.
"We rented the house and the owners of the mansion were out of the country for the duration of filming," says Rapid Blue of the house that comes with a sprawling, beautifully landscaped garden as well as the pool seen in the show, in addition to an infinity pond.
"It was quite a process to find the perfect location as it had to meet the practical requirements of a production of this scale and be aesthetically appealing and TV-friendly at the same time," the production tells TVwithThinus.
"It's definitely not your typical bachelor mansion. The architecture is quite modern and the property has beautifully landscaped gardens which includes amazing sculptures."
"There is a gym, several entertainment areas and everything you would expect from a luxurious property in the heart of Sandton. It also has a guest house."
Although the show and production crew used all areas of the mansion, including the guest house, viewers who look closely will however notice that it's primarily the pool area and outside patio, lounge and entertainment areas that feature in the show - not really any of the rooms or areas.
According to insiders close to the show, this is deliberate, since the production and the owners agreed beforehand to what degree the mansion will feature in The Bachelor SA since again, in terms of privacy, the real-world people owning the property don't want the entire inside of the house to be seen by viewers like in a typical Top Billing tour-the-house episode.
The house has magnificent artworks, including great pieces from South African artists as well as unique furniture and fittings.
Eskom's loadshedding and power cuts weren't an issue. Rapid Blue says "the production was fully-equipped for the entire production and we didn't run off the mansion's power. So there was no interruption during the filming process".
While already beautiful, the show made some enhancements, just like the American version does at the mansion in California that it uses for the show.
"We only made small enhancements - mainly fairy lights, dozens and dozens of candles and too many rose petals to count. We wanted the series to have a true South African feel, so the heart of our stylistic approach was influenced by the protea's colour palette," says Rapid Blue.
And how secluded and secure? The Bachelor SA mansion is very secure and has 24-hour closed-circuit TV (CCTV) surveillance, as well as security guards at the entrance.
