With a new year comes a whole new schedule of sweet, sweet reality TV!
And while Australia is currently transfixed with all things I’m A Celebrity… Get Me Out Of Here! and counting down to Monday 28 January for the premiere of Married At First Sight, behind the scenes, there’s another little show that’s getting ready to return to our screens later this year.
That’s right, The Bachelor Australia is tipped to come back for its seventh season around July and it looks like Network 10 are yet to cast their leading man.
Earlier this month, the official Bachelor Facebook page posted a message advertising they were on the hunt for the next Bachelor.
“New year, new you? 2019 might just be the year you find the one 💍 It’s your last chance to be our next Bachelor…Apply now,” their call-out read, before adding: “The Bachelor, casting now!”
WATCH: Nick Cummins opens up about his controversial decision. Post continues after the video…
Rugby union player Nick Cummins was our first celebrity Bachelor and we all know how that ended… (Image: Network Ten)
The post has since been inundated with over 18,000 comments, many of which are friends nominating their handsome, single mates for the top job.
While others were using the forum as a way to find their own Mr Right.
“I’m just here for the single guys people are about to tag,” one person joked.
“Scrolling through looking for the single boys,” another quipped.
According to the casting page, the show is on the hunt for single women between the ages of 23-45, single men between the ages of 25-40 and applicants “must be willing and available to be filmed for the duration of the series.”
Filming will kick off in mid-March and takes “up to 12 weeks.”
First stage auditions will kick off mid-January and on top of filling out an exhaustive online Q&A, reality TV hopefuls must also upload two current photos (a head shot and full-bod shot, to be precise) and film a two-minute video of themselves.
The fact our 2019 Bachelor hasn’t been officially cast yet and producers are putting a call out to the general public to apply fills us with immense hope.
So far, fringe Aussie “celebs” like presenter Scott Tweedie (yeah, I had to Google him too) and Bachelorette and Bachelor in Paradise reject Apollo Jackson have been thrown around as potential celeb contenders. Sounds like a recipe for a low-rating snore fest.
But 2019 should be the year we right the wrongs from the infamous Nick Cummins’ scandal, in which he strung along and dry humped a bevvy of total catches only to reveal he wasn’t yet ready to settle down with any of them.
While it made for one of the most intense and entertaining grand finales, we didn’t end up with a happy ending the nation so desperately needed.
So this year, I say we hark back to Bachelor seasons of yesteryear and return to casting a good old (but of course, camera-ready, totally charming) Average Joe who has his sh–t together.
Singer, actress and presenter Sophie Monk was our 2017 Bachelorette. She and chosen one, Stu Laundy, failed to make it past the six-month mark. (Image: Network Ten)
A normal dude is not going to clog up our precious Bachelor viewing time with cross-promotions for his various endorsements like Budgie Smugglers, Tradie Undies and Iron Jack beer during our ad breaks.
An everyday chump is not going to use his platform to promote his uncle’s pizza restaurant in Manly under the guise of a cute date location.
And most of all, a regular punter’s heart is more likely to be in the right place.
We saw a similar flat-line with our first-ever celebrity Bachelorette, Sophie Monk, back in 2017.
Don’t get me wrong, Sophie Monk was easily the funniest and most engaging Bachie heroine of our time – but she went on the show to meet a normal dude and ended up with millionaire pub baron and Sydney socialite Stu Laundy only for it to end in flames just six months down the track.
As someone who devotes a large portion of their life covering these shows, you can’t help but feel a little ripped off when the outcome ends in tears.
Success stories: Mr and Mrs Wood celebrate their first Christmas together as husband and wife, while Laura and Matty J are due to become parents later this year. (Images: Instagram)
You only have to look at the success of past “normal” Bachelor boys like Tim Robards, Sam Wood and Matty J.
Last year, chiropractor Tim Robards and criminal lawyer Anna Heinrich became the first couple from the Aussie franchise to tie the knot and have revealed they’d love to start a family in the not-so-distant future.
Personal trainer Sam Wood and his leading lady and now business partner, Snezana Markoski, from the 2015 series are the proud parents to one-year-old daughter Willow and celebrated their own beautiful wedding in Byron Bay last November.
Meanwhile season five’s marketing exec Matty J and jewellery designer Laura Byrne are counting down to welcome their own Bachelor baby in July.
Average Bachelor Joes are where it’s at! We hope you’re listening, Channel Ten.
Season one poster couple Anna and Tim tied the knot in a dreamy Italian wedding last year. (Image: Instagram)
