Hawke's Bay's own reality TV
Do you have what it takes to be the Bay-chelor?
The Thirsty Whale has put out a call to find the next Bachelor and Bachelorette, and Hawke’s Bay Today spoke to the organiser to see what it takes to be the first “Baychelor”.
After Cameron Wattam’s friends complained of nothing to do in Hawke’s Bay, the 25-year-old decided to have some fun.
With the popularity of reality TV shows such as Love Island and Heartbreak Island, he decided it was time to bring The Bachelor and The Bachelorette to Hawke’s Bay.
“There is no such thing as a boring town, there’s just boring people and a lot of people in my generation feel like nothing is going on here. I feel like they don’t realise they can be the things that are going on,” he said.
He teamed up with Thirsty Whale bar and restaurant and put out a casting call on social media to find Hawke’s Bay’s first “Bay-chelor” and people had questions. How does it work? What does it take to participate? Am I good-looking enough?
Wattam said the event, designed for those aged between 21 and 32, would be filmed over one day after the bachelor and bachelorette were selected.
The first round would be blind dates, and the bachelor and bachelorette have to eliminate half of the competitors without knowing what they look like. In the second round, the bachelor and bachelorette get to see their competitors and ask three questions with two more people eliminated.
Finally, the third round offers up a twist with humour and competitors have one minute to “woo” their bachelor or bachelorette in any way they feel would crown them the winner.
“They have to be all cheesy and cringe, and it’s going to be either ‘smooth operator’, or they are going to crash and burn, which is going to be great for watching.”
The winner would receive a free dinner at the Thirsty Whale and then a bar tab at Roxof, and a special surprise.
“My definition of a good bachelor would be someone who has strength, but knows kindness,” Wattam said.
“We are looking for some real characters that don’t mind saying the first thing that comes into their head and people that don’t take life too seriously.”
He hoped the competition would take place in four weeks.