'Bachelorette' producers up the ante this season with three villains under one roof

The prevalence of villains on “The Bachelor” or “The Bachelorette” is hardly anything new. But on this season of “The Bachelorette” with sweet southern belle Emily Maynard, it seems the producers are upping the ante.

In the past the contestants have all rallied around one villain—this season, it seems as though the majority of the house is taking issue with three of them.

First up is Ryan, the full-of-himself personal trainer who has made several chauvinistic remarks to Emily including that she would be his “trophy wife,” and if she gained weight during their marriage he would, “love her, but just not love on her.”

Then there’s Kalon, an arrogant socialite from Texas, who boasts about his designer clothing and interrupts Emily frequently, telling her to, “let him finish.”  His alleged blog has made its rounds on the Internet, and in it, he dishes about getting high, checking himself out in the mirror “to see how good he looks,” makes anti-Semitic comments, and dishes on his tactics to get multiple women to sleep with him.

Classy.

Rounding out the trio of meanies is Doug, who initially seemed to be a pleasant man. But as the episodes progress, he’s becomes very short tempered, even starting a fight with one contestant just before Emily walked in.

And it’s not the first time Doug has been connected to allegations of violent behavior. Star Magazine and WetPaint.com reported that Doug was booked in 2000 for assaulting his girlfriend with a weapon.  Star cites the police report, which claims the couple’s argument, “got physical when he pushed her and held her against the wall, grabbed a shotgun, and started firing into the dirt.”

So why the sudden influx of negative contestants?

Entertainment Weekly’s executive editor Kristen Baldwin said that although the show has a history of inserting one stereotypical villain per season, the producers might not have necessarily known that these men would have these tendencies.

But although this season’s trifecta of bad behaving dudes might not have been detected until after “The Bachelorette” started to tape, it’s not to say that the producers didn’t take advantage of the opportunity when it came about.

“When you’re dealing with a class of people who are attention-seeking, it is much more likely that they will have done something ridiculous and provocative in their pasts,” she said.

After all, as Baldwin points out, it’s the job of the producers  to highlight the bad behavior—they’re making a television show after all.

Moreover, ABC’s ratings for Monday evenings have been excellent, as a result of the drama, which casts doubt on the notion that “Bachelorette” producers had no role in stirring up trouble by casting these men.

Still, as Baldwin points out, “nobody put a gun to [the contestants heads]” to make them act poorly. And it can’t all be blamed on the idea that producers edited them to make them look a certain way.

“I wouldn’t give too much credence to people that say it’s all editing,” she said.  “People who go on these shows are not very self-aware.  When they see themselves true to life, they get defensive.”

“Editing is the dubious defense of all reality TV,” Baldwin said. “Of course they’ll highlight bad behavior, but there has to be bad behavior.  If you give them fodder for the villain edit, you’re doing to get the villain edit.”

An ABC rep did not respond to multiple messages from FoxNews.com.