Throng

Weekdays, 1.30pm on TV2

Hit reality series The Bachelor premieres a brand new season this week, with a new candidate in the wings hoping to meet the woman of his dreams.

Twenty-seven year old Matt Grant is a six-foot-five blue-eyed global financier from London and the first international Bachelor. This charming and witty English gentleman works with millionaire businessmen, but he has his mind on more urgent matters than any business deal: he wants to find the love of his life and start a family.

Matt believes the woman he has been looking for is one of the 25 lucky bachelorettes waiting to meet him on The Bachelor. Will his dream turn into a reality?

Friday 7 August, 8.30pm

The Bachelor comes to a shocking conclusion in this week’s two-hour special season finale, as Jason and the final two women return to the studio, after the final rose ceremony.

Jason's proposal to the love of his life was one of the most romantic moments in Bachelor history, but no one is prepared for what happens next as Jason and the final two women return to the studio for this exciting and moving look back at the journey they all took together.

Viewers will be treated to the latest update on the happy couple, and the woman Jason didn't choose, in what is sure to be an emotional season finale.

Friday 30 July, 8.30pm

In this gripping final rose ceremony of The Bachelor, nestled amongst the beauty and calm of The Bay of Islands, Jason prepares to make one of the most difficult decisions of this life.

With his search for love now narrowed down to Melissa and Molly, the handsome single dad brings his son, Ty, to our shores. Jason hopes that by seeing each of the two remaining women with Ty, now age four, he can get a sense of how they interact, offering a hint as to how the three of them would mesh as a future family.

Friday 17 July, 8.30pm

Romantic adventures await Jason Mesnick on The Bachelor, and the final three women Jillian, Molly and Melissa as they travel to the other side of the world for overnight dates in our very own Queenstown.

Tonight promises a wild, romantic ride with each of the women, until Jason has to make a heart-wrenching decision to eliminate one of them. Arriving in style from Los Angeles, Jason swoops in to pick up Jillian in a helicopter. Captivating views set the scene for a romantic picnic overlooking Lake Wakatipu, where they discuss their views on love and marriage.

When TV2 gets around to airing the next season of The Bachelor, we'll be able to see Jason Mesnick handing out some of his roses in New Zealand as the thirteenth season made a trip to the Bay of Islands and Queenstown.

Three of the dates  featured a helicopter ride over Lake Wakatipu, bungy jumping at the Kawarau Bridge and sailing into the sunset on the yacht Yvalda.

The season finale in the US attracted its biggest audience since 2003 with 15.4 million viewers.

Tourism New Zealand has recently launched a campaign in the US which conveniently coincides with Air New Zealand's lowering of their return flights for $760USD ($1500) return.

Friday 20 June, 8.30pm

Popular reality show The Bachelor returns to TV2 tonight at 8.30pm. This seasons lucky bachelor is US Navy Lieutenant Andy Baldwin, MD, who works as an undersea medical officer for a special operations dive unit stationed in Pearl Harbour, Hawaii. The 30-year-old is a real-life "officer and a gentleman".

Preparing to face his most exciting mission - to find a partner - Baldwin says he has high hopes the reality show will be able to help him find true love. "I am myself, and I bring my integrity and my character and my dreams to this show."
"Where do people find the love of their life? How are the odds of finding it in a nightclub, at a bar or at a library?" he asks. "I think the way [the show] is set-up, it's very possible you can find something that's meaningful and loving."

He is unphased by people who knock the match-making ability of The Bachelor - as he puts it - "people find love in all sorts of strange ways."