On this season's finale of "The Bachelor," Nick Viall met Santa, played with dogs, and, finally, gave out his last rose (and a flashy ring).
The episode marked the end of a season that's spotlighted some rather unusual occupations, from aspiring dolphin trainers to adult nannies. But what does becoming a contestant on reality television really do to your career? Can having a national platform help you snag bigger and better opportunities? Or does taking time off (or even quitting your job) just derail your professional progress?
Business Insider spoke with six people who have appeared on "The Bachelor,""The Bachelorette,""Amazing Race," and "Survivor." We specifically sought out people who've participated in competition-type shows, as opposed to reality shows that focus on a group of specific people, like the "Real Housewives" franchise, because competition-type shows usually require participants to take a bigger professional risk (there's almost always one competitor who takes weeks off of work, only to get eliminated in the first episode).
Here's what they had to say about what reality TV did to their real-life careers:
SEE ALSO: A former 'Bachelor' star shares what he thinks is one of the most misunderstood jobs in America
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DON'T FORGET: An ex-Bachelor contestant describes how reality TV almost destroyed his career
'It fueled a fire for me'
Chris Soules, "The Bachelorette,""The Bachelor"
Former "Bachelor" star Chris Soules said he had to get away from his Iowa farm to appreciate how much he loved his job — and how little non-farmers know about the industry.
Before appearing on reality television, Soules worked on his family's third generation farming operation, Soules Farms. The farm focuses on soybean and corn production, and also raises hogs. Soules also worked in land investment with the Peoples Company Land Investment Team.
Soules' first brush with reality television came when he appeared as a contestant on season 10 of "The Bachelorette," ultimately finishing in third place.
Almost as soon as he returned home, he got an offer to star in season 19 of "The Bachelor." The opportunity would mean that he'd have to miss harvest for the first time ever, which Soules said made the decision to leave tough for both him and his parents.
"The biggest concern going into 'The Bachelor' was being away from work again," he said. "Luckily I've got a great team back at home on the farm who were able to manage a lot of jobs and keep that going."
He said that he wouldn't have left if it was just "for fun."
"It seemed like a great opportunity," he said. "I felt like I would be able to do more for the state of Iowa, by putting it in the spotlight even more. And it was a very good opportunity to meet somebody."
Soules said he first recognized the widespread misunderstanding about farming during his stint on television. He told Business Insider that agriculture is one of the most important industries in the US, but that there's a serious "lack of knowledge about what farmers do."
This prompted Soules to consider a new career path: agricultural advocacy.
"Many people don't see farmers as looking like me — they think, perhaps, more of somebody in denim overalls," Soules said. "It fueled that fire for me to be able to really want to speak on behalf of it and help educate through social media and public speaking and utilize those platforms to educate."
In his new capacity as an advocate for farmers, Soules appeared at both the Republican and Democratic National Conventions during the last presidential election (although he didn't endorse either candidate). Today, Soules juggles land investment and his new advocacy platform, but continues to focus on the family farm as well.
"Right now, my focus has been to continue to manage the farm and make it better," Soules said.
'We jumped right back into our normal life'
Kelsey Gerckens and Joey Buttitta, "The Amazing Race"
"Amazing Race" winners Joey Buttitta and Kelsey Gerckens describe themselves as "career-oriented people."
The now-engaged couple works at California-based ABC affiliate station KEYT TV. Buttitta is the morning news anchor, while Gerckens is the station's reporter covering Ventura County.
Still, they said they were prepared to quit the jobs they loved in order to participate in season 27 of "The Amazing Race." Fortunately, things didn't come to that. The couple ended up getting about four weeks off of work.
"We were pretty lucky," Buttitta said. "Our boss was really into it. He's a big 'Amazing Race' fan."
Gerckens and Buttitta agreed that their jobs may have given them an edge in the fast-paced competition.
"Having a camera in our faces wasn't a new experience for us," Gerckens said. "For other people who are getting used to having a camera and having people ask them questions, I think that was an added element that they had to get used to."
Once they returned home, the couple couldn't tell anyone that they had won the competition. They both took three days to recover, and then headed right back to work. Their coworkers had to watch the whole season to find out.
"We jumped right back into our normal life," Gerckens said. "Some other contestants take time off. But as soon as we could back to work, we went back to work. Literally that Monday, we were back at work like nothing had ever happened."
Buttitta said that traveling around the world has changed the way he reports on global news.
"It's certainly changed my outlook on my job, because you have a more personal connection with the people who you've met and interacted with, who have helped you in some way, through a reality show," he said. "For me, it's changed the way I read a story on the news that has to do with another country."
All in all, Gerckens and Buttitta agreed that their stint on reality television hasn't flipped their careers upside down by any means, other than the fact that they both get recognized a bit more — and not just for being on the news.
"We love working on TV and we love being reporters and anchors and doing what we do," Gerckens said. "We honestly just kind of jumped back into what we were doing and that's what we're currently doing now."
Gerckens and Buttitta said that reality show contestants should not expect lasting, life-changing fame to come from appearances on such programs.
"In my opinion, I don't ever think it's disruptive," Gerckens said. You have one life to live and you only get this opportunity once. I haven't heard of anyone who's had it destroy their life. But it definitely is different for every person."
'It was hurting me mentally and physically'
Chris Bukowski, The Bachelorette,""Bachelor Pad,""Bachelor in Paradise"
In terms of his career, Chris Bukowski said he was doing "better than 99% of the people my age" before reality television almost derailed his whole life.
When he was selected as a contestant for the eighth season of "The Bachelorette," Bukowski said his bosses at his sales job even gave him the time off to pursue the show. Bukowski ended up making it to week eight out of ten and was one of the final four contestants when he was eliminated.
As soon as he returned home, he received another opportunity, this time to appear on the third season of the spinoff series "Bachelor Pad." The season would start shooting in four weeks, and he decided to quit his job. Unlike "The Bachelorette," contestants on "Bachelor Pad" were paid — and given the chance to compete for $250,000.
"Going on 'Bachelor Pad,' I felt like a pro," he said. "I was just on camera for 30 to 40 days and I was confident in myself because I made it all the way to the hometown dates. Going on 'Bachelor Pad,' I kind of went in there confident and more of looking to just have fun, enjoy myself, and maybe win some money."
However, that's not how things played out. Bukowski ended up getting labeled one of the season's villains. This is when Bukowski said his career really began to suffer.
Bukowski's dream since college had been to open his own restaurant. After "Bachelor Pad"' he pursued that goal with his business partner and in 2013 opened up the Bracket Room in Arlington, Virginia.
But despite the time commitment it took to run his own restaurant, Bukowski said he still couldn't get the siren song of reality TV out of his head, and he made the "awful decision" to go back on "Bachelor in Paradise" twice and to "party crash" the tenth season of "The Bachelorette," in an appearance that he said was staged.
His TV appearances could help drive revenue and attract customers to the restaurant, he reasoned. But ultimately, he said, he wanted to redeem his villainous image from "Bachelor Pad." The TV appearances took their toll on Bukowski. While the restaurant itself didn't suffer, Bukowski said his ability to run the eatery began to fray.
"It was hurting me mentally and physically," he said. "When you're not at full strength mentally and physically, then your career will be affected no matter what you do."
After a drunken appearance on "Bachelor in Paradise," Bukowski decided to call the reality TV portion of his career quits. He got the chance to retire on air and read his letter of resignation to the cameras.
"It was a good therapy session for me, where I could just kind of write how I really felt about everything," he said. "That's the best medicine for anything."
He is still involved with his restaurant, but he's no longer runs day-to-day operations. Today, Bukowski works on his digital web development agency KCM Create, which he cofounded. He is also the head of investor relations at fitness startup Forte and an adviser for the dating app The Catch.
Bukowski said that he does not regret going on the show in the first place.
"I'm definitely happy where I'm at right now," he said. "I wouldn't change anything because everything has somehow benefitted me or made me learn from my mistakes."
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