ABC's 12th Bachelor Will Be Ready to Settle

Film.com - Seattle, WA, USA - How is it that after eleven seasons and zero wedding ceremonies, The Bachelor manages to stay on the air?

The long-lasting success of this charade of a show, in which a gorgeous, young, and usually wealthy bachelor scopes out 25 prospective wives until he picks “the one,” really says something about that notion that romantics are hopeless. It seemed silly from the beginning to believe that a true romance would blossom out of a dating competition, no less one set up in front of cameras, a production crew, and, subsequently, millions of viewers. But who can really still believe in this fairytale fantasy after it’s failed to deliver 11 TIMES IN A ROW?

I found it refreshing that Brad Womack didn’t chose either Jenni Croft or DeAnna Pappas in the finale of last season. While it was cruel for Womack to have the ladies meet with his family just before the finale and to let them believe he was about to propose, at least in the end he was honest and didn’t pretend he wanted to marry one of them. It's clear that most of the 10 previous dudes were pretending to be in love with their final picks, which is even more depressing. (Though avid fans clearly want these bachelors to pick someone, as so many were outraged by Brad's decision last season.) Finally, there was a realistic moment in an otherwise fabricated reality show. If you didn't already know, word on the street for some time now has been that The Bachelor is largely scripted, manipulated, and edited to be more exciting than it really is.

Well, hopeless romantics, get ready to start believing in the fantasy again. The 12th season of the show is scheduled to premiere on March 17th. The newest installment will feature a tall, handsome, wealthy, educated bachelor…oh sorry, you already knew all that! But there is a twist this time… he’s from England. His name is Matt Grant; he’s a 27-year-old financier who lives in London and who’s ready to settle down. Or, maybe he's just ready for a shag: when recently asked by OK! magazine why he was interested in being on the show Grant replied, “I have the opportunity to date hot American women. Enough said.”