When I first heard that Gavin Henson was to headline a remake of the ever popular US Bachelor series I can’t say I was terribly impressed, especially when I read the he was doing it for ‘a bit of fun’. Anyone who knows me knows that, after my sister encouraged me to watch the Jake Pavelka series of America’s The Bachelor, I’ve been utterly hooked. Ok, it shamelessly plays with people’s emotions, and most of the resulting engagements break up, but as a true romantic it does completely draw me in. With real love on the line, and the addition of some complete love freaks, the heart stopping rose ceremony, and the heartless two on one dates where at least one person is going home, it makes pretty epic viewing. Ok, so I watched my first episode ever going ‘bloody hell, this is awful’, but there’s a strange lure that keeps you hooked and you just can’t wait to see who actually ends up finding love. And whether it works out or not, its a thrilling ride.
The UK Bachelor with the harem
As with many British remakes, I wasn’t expecting much. I mean, compared to ANTM, Britain’s Top Model looks like a selection of trailer trash victims being led by the best of the worst ‘Z’ list celebs, even after Elle McPherson took over. But, it’s go to be said, the UK’s version of The Bachelor isn’t at all bad.
It has to be said that Gavin Henson isn’t the most articulate of men, but he is by all respects a bachelor. He also revealed that he is looking for love and hope this series works for him. Of course, his 25 women were a mix of conniving stick thin bitches, brainless twins who looked like they’d come straight from ‘Take Me Out’ and a group of man eaters, but there looked to be some great girls too. Georgie, Keshia and Carrie stood out for all the right reasons, and I’m glad that Gavin sent a lot of the ‘crazies’ home in the first batch – excluding the total whack job Laura who he was probably told to keep by production bosses simply for TV viewing reasons. However, I have a strange feeling that, if she let down her obvious barriers against insecurities, Laura may actually be a very nice girl underneath her ridiculousness.
So, will I be watching the UK’s first Bachelor series? yes, most definitely. It’s not quite the US version, it has a strange narration which makes it seem like Channel 5 are trying to push this as a documentary when its actually a pure reality show, and some of the girls are pretty blah blah blah, but it has all the makings of a new and very popular UK series.
The Modern Hermit 