The Bachelor Australia
Channel 10
Wednesdays 7.30pm
THERE’S love leader boards, red roses and group dates – if you hadn’t guessed already, it’s all about The Bachelor.
Tim Robards is the Sydney chiropractor at the centre of the show and then there’s the bevy of beauties vying for his affection, his hand in marriage… or maybe a lucrative media career.
Channel 10 ramped up efforts to publicise the show and it probably worked – whether you love it or hate it, most Wednesday night audiences have probably flicked over and been caught up in the show even for a few minutes of indulgence.
There’s the buff Ken doll “looking for love” and a series of women who decide (with the encouragement of the producers) that they are head over heels for man they have spent two and a half minutes with.
What’s worse is that the girls – most of whom have careers and are very attractive – are convinced they love a man who they know nothing about, and have to fight with 20 other women for.
Of course Tim is probably living most men’s fantasy, given the fact that he has his choice of women that most men can only drool over.
To his credit, he does seem like a genuinely nice guy but it seems hard to stomach that he had to go on a dating show to find a woman.
If a man who looks like he’s been photo-shopped (to steal a line from Crazy Stupid Love a la a topless Ryan Gosling) has to go on a reality dating show, then there’s not much hope for the rest of mankind.
For those who haven’t dared watch it, each episode includes a group date in which the Bachelor selects several girls to attend, followed by a single date with one “lucky lady” and the rose ceremony.
The show can be entertaining in that it’s bizarre to watch the girls work together, develop friendships and then turn on each other when they remember what’s at stake.
But mostly it’s just a sad day for romance/dating/television.
– Danielle Galvin
