THE PARRYING KIND
In 2016, saber fencer Monica Aksamit won a bronze medal at the Rio de Janeiro Olympic games. Now, she’s making a lunge at love as a contestant on Fox’s “Joe Millionaire: For Richer or Poorer.”
The 31-year-old New Jersey native and Brooklyn resident was first approached last winter by producers who slid into her Instagram DMs offering to play cupid in front of a slew of cameras.
“It sounded really interesting. And I thought, ‘Well, love hasn’t really worked out for me,’ ” Aksamit — who ended an engagement in 2020 — told The Post. “And I don’t know anybody who finds love on dating apps. I feel like I am digging through trash to find the one diamond.”
Yet Aksamit, who calls herself a “romantic” looking to get married, was still hesitant.
“I didn’t want people to judge me or say ‘She’s empty.’ I think dating shows have a bad reputation at this point. [Producers] said, ‘Listen, it’s going to be better than “The Bachelor.” We’re not all about the drama. We want to give you an opportunity to fall in love. Are you down?’ ”
But it was her mother who cast the final vote.
“I was going back and forth and she was like, ‘I don’t know why you are hesitating.’ My mom is Polish. She’s Eastern European and has very high standards. She was like, ‘Who cares if people are talking. This is an experience for you,’ ” said Aksamit, who is also a model and an influencer.
For love or money
The show, which premieres tonight at 8 p.m., features 18 women vying for the love of two bachelors: Kurt, a 32-year-old construction CEO from Charlotte, NC, and Steven, a 27-year-old farming CEO from Gallatin, Mich. The twist is that one of these two gentlemen is wildly wealthy, while the other . . . well, he’s cute, too. The love-seeking ladies don’t know which one of them has the fat bank account.
It’s a reboot of the wildly popular 2003 iteration that featured Evan Marriott, who was masquerading as a hunky millionaire while in reality he was a construction worker bringing in $19,000 a year.
Aksamit, who had never seen nor heard of the original show, said the money angle wasn’t part of the allure, though she’s previously spoken out about how financial struggles have figured into her overall story. In a 2019 profile in The Post, the fencer opened up about using GoFundMe to support her Olympic aspirations — a practice that has become more widespread for elite athletes in less marketable sports than, say, gymnastics or swimming.
At the time, she was living with her mother in New Jersey and working numerous jobs in between training sessions to make ends meet. Her struggles struck a chord. Aksamit immediately surpassed her goal by more than $10,000. While she narrowly missed making Team USA for the Tokyo games after the last qualifying competition was nixed due to the pandemic, she signed with Ford Models, which also manages her digital endeavors. With 100,000 Instagram followers, the 6-foot athlete is now making a living working with companies like AT&T, Garmin, Body Armor, Bandier and Nobu Hotels.
When producers told the women about the financial twist, Aksamit said she wasn’t fazed by the prospect of falling for an average Joe.
“My mom always said, ‘I never want you to put yourself in a situation where you have to rely on a man for money or whatever.’ Do I want someone I have to rely on? No, I want to be able to make my own money.”
The deal breakers
There is one requirement, though. Her dream man “must love dogs,” said Aksamit, who has two precious pups named Pongo and Oro.
The beauty can’t say if she found love with either bachelor, but she did hit it off with the other contestants, including Suzette James and fellow New Yorker Annie Jorgensen.
“I’ve made some really good friends,” said Aksamit, who will be flying back from Poland just in time for the premiere.
“We are planning a watch party at [Annie’s] apartment . . . if my COVID test is negative.”