Editor’s letter

Hot on the heels of reality TV’s original heart-throb Art Green revealing he’s The Bachelor NZ no more after his darling Matilda Rice said a resounding “yes!” to his marriage proposal, this week we have more reallife romance to make us all go awww!

We’ve seen little of season three’s cute Bachelor pairing, Zac Franich and Viarni Bright, since they graced our cover after the finale, but we can confirm that these two are definitely the real deal (page 8). They’ve just had a dreamy getaway in Rarotonga, where funnily enough, they bumped into Art and Matilda not long after their engagement. Surely that’s a lucky sign for the newest lovebirds?

Personally, I think there’s got to be easier ways to find love than signing up to a reality show, but I take my hat off to these young lovers who managed to find a connection while cameras followed their every move.

Now my obsession is to know whether Cupid – or relationship experts Tony Jones and Dr Pani Farvid – find success on Three’s Married at First Sight NZ. Choosing to wed someone before you’ve even met sounds nuts, but it makes for sensational viewing and I can see real chemistry there. It’s early days, but I’ll be watching and willing the contestants to find happiness.

There’s nothing that makes me feel my age more than listening to young women in the office talk about the brave ways in which they’ll search for their perfect match. In my day (I say with a croaky old lady voice), dating was something they did in American movies. It wasn’t really a big Kiwi thing.

Compared to all the options to help you find a love match today – literally in the palm of your hand thanks to dating apps like Tinder – it seems amazing we met anyone at all!

I’m almost certain I wouldn’t be courageous enough to date a complete stranger, but I have to concede I have so many friends, family and colleagues who have the loveliest stories to tell about meeting their soulmates thanks to the wonders of online dating. Do you have a romantic story? I’d love to hear it. Drop me a line.

Have a great week!