This is not a review of the TV show “The Bachelor” (I will leave that to the folks in the “Media Reviews” blog), rather this blog is a commentary on the types of men who make the final cut and are bestowed the title of “The Bachelor.”
This season’s “Bachelor” (which begins airing on ABC next week) is a real prince, and I don’t mean that facetiously. The guy is an actual Italian prince. According to the show’s website, the newest reality “hunk,” Lorenzo Borghese has real royal blood coursing through his veins thanks to his New York City-based parents Prince Francesco and Princess Amanda Borghese. (The family’s title was bestowed by a 17th-century pope.) But, apparently, the 34-year-old prince is not resting on his family’s royal lineage to get ahead in the world. Rather, Borghese who was born in Milan but raised in New Jersey founded the Royal Treatment Pet Spa. In addition, he is also a Manhattan-based cosmetics executive.
Borghese recently told reporters that he is looking for a girl who “will be with me for the right reasons and not because I’m an Italian prince.” The statement made me chuckle because I have been an on-and-off fan of the show since it’s inception nearly a decade ago and frankly I have heard this line before. Only it is slightly altered by each “Bachelor” depending on his profession. I distinctly remember Bachelor No. 5 Jesse Palmer (a former second-string quarterback for the New York Giants) saying he didn’t want a girl to love him because he was a pro football player. Then there was Bachelor No. 3, Andrew Firestone (the great-grandson of Harvey Firestone tire entrepreneur, and son of Brooks Firestone, the creator of one of California’s most successful winery and brewery enterprise) who also echoed that he wanted a girl to love him and not his money. Seems neither was successful in finding the “perfect” girl (though I just saw Firestone on Food Network’s “Iron Chef America” as a celebrity judge so perhaps he isn’t ready to kiss the media spotlight goodbye just yet).
In recent seasons it seems the show has gone a different route, choosing bachelors who were “everyday guys” like last season’s Dr. Travis and Bachelor No. 7, professional angler Byron Velvick. The show’s ratings didn’t skyrocket with either one. But, getting back to the latest “Bachelor,” Prince Lorenzo Borghese. He recently told PEOPLE Magazine that his ideal date would be “packing a light bag, then piloting a private plane to an exotic locale for dinner.” And who would he like to take on this high flying date? Broghese says he is not looking for someone who “sits at home watching TV.” Guess that rules me (and thousands of others) out. Ironically, it’s those girls sitting at home watching TV that he needs to depend on to boost his show’s ratings.
Guess we’ll have to see if he finds love on the show. Are you a fan of “The Bachelor?” Who was your favorite?