Um.. I stand corrected on my thought of the use of the boom mics. ;)
Well, at the point in question of the show, there weren't 26 people there.
Also, they use several cameras for this show, and it wouldn't be inconceivable to have a certain amount of mics synced with each camera, so even at the initial rose ceremony, yes they could have had 26 mics. I wouldn't want to be that editor. Or those editors.
And I agree with the above poster who said that validating either side of this whole Andrew/JJ mess is a fail for everyone involved.