Singles are set to bare hearts
A NEW SEASON OF BACHELOR IN PARADISE IS HERE TO TAKE OUR MINDS OFF THE PANDEMIC. PREPARE TO MARVEL AT FIJI’S BEAUTIFUL BEACHES AND WATCH FOR VIOLATIONS OF THE BRO CODE – ALL IN THE NAME OF FINDING TRUE LOVE
LOVE triangles, nudie runs, double dates ... it is all in a day’s work for contestants on the latest season of Bachelor In Paradise.
Host Osher Gunsberg says viewers will see it all when the third season of the reality show launches on Wednesday, with a new batch of loveless hopefuls spending time together in tropical Fiji with the dream of finding “the one”.
“Mainly because, in Fiji, everybody spends all day with each other all the time,” Gunsberg says when asked what sets Bachelor In Paradise apart from feeder shows The Bachelor and The Bachelorette. “On the other shows, the time they spent together is very brief. So you get to have those conversations that can occasionally drift towards silence – and the difference between picking up those dead zones in a chat, or are comfortably sitting there as the chemistry fizzles away, makes all the difference.”
When asked what viewers can expect this season Gunsberg, who hosts all the Australian Bachelor formats, says “love, sunburn and cognitive dissonance”.
Season three of Bachelor In Paradise will see the return of some “serial” contestants like Keira Maguire and Jake Ellis alongside some less familiar faces from previous seasons of The Bachelor and The Bachelorette.
“The best part about Paradise is learning another side to people you’ve only seen back in Australia,” Gunsberg explains.
“Often this means seeing how someone may have grown now that they’ve had a chance to experience life in, and then back out of, the mansion. This year, however, you may be surprised what you learn about people you thought you knew so well.”
Different this year is the introduction of the Bula Banquet, where every second episode will include a themed meal at which the cast can ask anonymous questions of other cast members. Starting with a bang, the first Bula Banquet will see contestants take part in a revealing game of Friend, Kiss and Marry, based on who is in the island paradise. It is the reality show’s version of Shoot, Shag or Marry.
“We’re really only in Fiji for a short time, and to have the best chance of forming a relationship that’s going to last is to get everything out in the open,” Gunsberg says.
“The Bula Banquet is just that. People are able to make far better choices at the rose ceremony because they don’t have to rely on second-hand information.”
Producers will also keep the game moving with a number of surprise guests, or intruders.
And expect plenty of scandals, with producers making sure cast members are kept on their toes.
Ciarran Stott will be in for a shock when one of his exgirlfriends joins the party, while friendships and the “bro code” will be tested when a number of the cast compete for the same person’s affections.
Hibernation hears that, for the first time in three seasons, someone’s invitation to a date is declined, while serial dating show contestant Maguire will be in fine form, ruffling feathers as usual.
“I would be happy to kiss multiple guys until I found the right one for me,” says contestant Mary Viturino, 32. “I’m hoping to meet a guy that I’m attracted to and that is mature enough to have a good talk. I’m going to be myself.
“I’m pretty crazy and funny. Normally I always have people that hang around me so we will see what happens.”
Abbie Chatfield, one of the more memorable contestants from Matt Agnew’s season of The Bachelor, says she is going into the show with an open mind.
“I think I need to go in without expectation and see who I naturally gravitate towards,” she says. “It’s hard to know who you will like based on a few snippets on TV. I think this time I will take it slowly with my emotions; I don’t want to get hurt again.”
Timm Hanly from Angie Kent’s season of The Bachelorette lists the five things he will be packing for his tropical stay as “budgie
smugglers, sarong, sunnies, sandals and hats”. “Physically, I think I’m looking for a natural sort of girl but, spiritually, on the same wavelength,” the 27-year-old says. “Someone that is open minded and driven and confident in themselves.”
Gunsberg’s advice to the contestants is to be themselves.
“You can only hold your tummy in for so long, and you can only pretend to be someone you’re not for so long,” he says. “It is important to just be who you are, be as funny or unfunny, as dorky or as suave as you are – because a relationship can’t last if you’re trying to hold up an unrealistic version of yourself.”
BACHELOR IN PARADISE, WEDNESDAY, 7.30PM, CHANNEL 10