Tag Archives: Juan Pablo

The Bachelor Juan Pablo: Can he really fall in love?

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So another season of The Bachelor is upon us and I am slightly more excited than usual when it comes to this male version of the franchise. I think I’ve made it clear before that I believe the chances of an actual marriage with a man who is exposed to 27 women who want him is rare (Jason and Sean being the exceptions!).

From the way the show is editing and presenting Juan Pablo, I can maybe see him falling in love. He seems genuine, playful, and charismatic. He is absolutely himself, no hiding the way he checked each lady out on her way into the house, and seems like a good guy and dad. The question hiding beneath this hope, however, is whether or not he’s capable of a sincere monogamous relationship with one of these ladies, not whether he wants one.

He seemed overwhelmed. Like, how do I choose from 27 ladies that are all beautiful? And, as he met with them individually he seemed to like each one more than the next. What really threw me for a loop was his first impression rose. Sharleen is a beautiful, intelligent, elegant opera singer, but she wasn’t the most vivacious, beautiful, or even engaging woman there. She herself admitted to lacking that initial spark with him – almost to the point where she turned down the rose.

What’s more worrisome than her lukewarm feelings? He seems absolutely clueless to her disinterest. I guess that’s what a good ego can do for a man. I don’t think he’s thought about the fact that there could be a woman that might not want “Juan Pablo”! Anyway, previews with Sharleen seem odd. Maybe she stays around a while for drama, but she won’t be the one.

One thing Sharleen has in common with another woman that seems to be a front-runner is her intelligence. Juan Pablo seems to like his ladies smart. Is he smart enough for them, though? He seemed really smitten with Andi, a prosecutor from Georgia. Andi is fabulously attractive and obviously sharp as a tack. I couldn’t help but feel like she was humoring him some. Is Juan Pablo more looks and charms than brains – or is it the language barrier that causes doubt?

Some other girls that he seemed to like and my thoughts:

Twenty-four year-old Chelsea seems smart, cute, and fun. She made a “chemistry” joke when they met because she’s a science teacher. You could tell he thought she was attractive and would be good for Camila (his 4 year-old daughter). I think she’ll be around for a while.

Alli, the soccer-playing nanny from Illinois seems to have the most in common with him. They’re introduction was natural and seemed comfortable and real, while also showing a spark!

Clare, the hairstylist from Sacramento that hopped out of the limo pretending to be pregnant also seems to be on his list of favorites. Sure it was a silly trick, kind of like Lindsay’s wedding dress in Sean’s season, but Juan Pablo seemed to be looking past what she said and did to how pretty she was. I have a feeling, like with Lindsay, that we have a Bachelorette contender in Clare. She won’t win though.

Nikki, the pediatric nurse from Missouri took the Twitter love title last evening. Most people loved her and compared her to ex-Bachelorette Ali Fedotowsky. She is a doll. She seems real and down to earth, as well as smart and sweet. He likes her and she’s a possibility for sure.

To me he seemed most physically attracted to Christy, the marketing manager from Illinois. He gave her a rose but we didn’t see any conversation. This probably means she goes home next episode or that we’ll see a slow reveal of them getting to know one another.

The final rose of the night went to Amy L., a news reporter from Clermont, Fla. They had chemistry and she’s smart. She wants to be there and I think we’ll see a lot more between them.

Finally, there was single mom Renee who is beautiful, down to earth, and smart. Things look promising but is she just someone he connects with as a parent or is there more there? We will see.

So – what about the train wrecks?

It’s hard to imagine that they brought Amy the massage therapist on for any other purpose than to have her be the “you’ve got to be kidding” moment of the show. Red headed Kylie stepping forward for a rose when he called out Kat had to be the cringe moment of the night. When she said, “Can you keep us both?” and he stayed silent? Ouch! Another crazy that he kept was free spirit Lucy. She’ll be entertainment for sure.

I want to say one thing about the “Crier” of the night, Lauren H. I liked her. I liked her a lot. My take is that she was genuinely surprised by her emotional reaction to the experience of being there. As it happened, it seemed like she was intelligently processing her feelings and had identified her trigger. Maybe she wasn’t really ready to be there. Maybe she shouldn’t have explained her rough night to him when she first met him. I do not think, however, that she deserved the responses from people on Twitter or in blogs that she has received.

I get that people watch for the disasters. I get that it’s fun and good TV to talk about the crazy girls as I just did above. It seems to me, though that for real fans of the show, the focus on the craziness detracts from why we really watch. We watch to see a connection and see two people fall in love. Fans that have stuck with the franchise since the beginning enter each new season hoping for a Trista and Ryan, a Jason and Molly, a JP and Ashley, a Sean and Catherine – even an Andrew and Jen that was real despite not working out. That’s what I’m still a little worried about this season with Juan Pablo…I’m not totally convinced we will see him fall in love and if that hope isn’t stoked in the next few episodes, I may not finish this season.

Bachelorette Des: Episode Six – And then there were five…

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So. The question remains. Will Desiree fall in love? I’m pretty sure for the sake of the show she’ll find one of these remaining men irresistible and get engaged, but I’m still wondering if what I’m watching is legit? (In the JP/Ashley, even Sean/Catherine way) Last night’s episode was much better than the past few, and I’m looking forward to the remaining shows, but I can’t help feeling like everything is still very surfacey with this group.

For the sake of this blog I’ll start by telling you that she sent James home. The damage done by the other guys telling her things he said just couldn’t be overcome. I do wonder though, if he got ramrodded. It reminded me of Ben. The guys kept saying all this stuff, but the producers never showed us anything. If they had anything real on him wouldn’t they have showed us? I kind of feel like these guys are acting like a bunch of mean girls.

I’ll also go ahead and tell you the other two that went home were Kasey and Juan Pablo. I know she didn’t have a really great connection with either of them, but I did, and I’ sorry to see them go. Both of them were gorgeous and fun to watch. Kasey was downright eloquent, as I’m sure Juan Pablo would be in Spanish. Either would be someone I’d watch as a Bachelor, but I’m sure it will probably end up being one of the other guys left. Unless they could lure Arie back – now that would be worth watching!

Anyway, since this season is still in session, let’s talk about who’s left.

It seems like Chris and Brooks have the best shot at winning Desiree’s heart. Last night they were both on the group date, but we got to see their one-on-one time with her. She pulled Chris up to her room and read something she wrote for him. It was sweet and he was excited. She has that nervous, omg-I hope he likes me thing going on with Chris. With Brooks, there’s a natural comfort plus a sizzle. I feel like they’re the ones who really have a shot.

But then we got some surprising dates with Drew and Zack. Both were really romantic and it looked like she was really into kissing both of them (of course, it looks like she really loves to kiss anyway). Zack was really mature. Their conversation had depth and weight. It was the first time I could see him as hot, despite his amazing physique. I knew he was smart, rich, and built, but last night he was also in charge. With Drew, we got to see him open a little. He also stepped up in the “manly” department. They made out a lot, and she obviously liked it, but I can’t see them together.

The last guy she kept was Michael G. This just kills me. Maybe it’s the way he’s being edited (but I don’t really think so). He is like a queen bee. Pardon my language, but he’s a little bitch. He says he’s there for Des, but all he’s done is target Ben and James. Well, it doesn’t matter…I’m sure out of the five left, he’s low man on the totem pole.

The previews were the typical ones for this part of the season…depressing and drama-filled..designed to make us question what we’re thinking and ponder whether she actually found love. These next few weeks have all the tricks in the previews – like what’s this thing that makes it seem she’s so in love with Drew all of a sudden and that he’s going to leave her? And then we have all of the guys crying? I guarantee there’s not that much drama ahead. I don’t want there to be. I wonder if the people who make the show remember that while drama can be fun, most of us watch for a glimpse of love.

Bachelorette Des: Episode One

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Well, we’re off to another great start. First let me say that I loooove Des. She’s real, and funny, smart and unafraid to stand up for herself. She’s everything I wanted Emily to be. So, yeah – I’m excited.

I’m going to take a calculated risk here and offer what I saw on the guys she kept vs. the guys she sent home because come on, a guy in a suit of armor, a magician, and player that kept trying to take her to the fantasy suite – did anyone really think they were staying?

So, I tried to do a pre-ranking using the abc.com photos and profiles and was once again totally foiled. The photos of the guys never show what they really look like and you just can’t judge anyone until you’ve seen them next to Des.

Right off the bat, I knew I’d missed some good ones when half the guys in the opening segment weren’t on my list. Like Bryden, the Army guy that loves his dog and spent time in Iraq. He was adorable in person and she really liked his vibe. He walked away with a rose, but not the first rose of the evening.

The show repeated Sean’s trick from last season and gave Des the chance to pass a few out during the party. The first rose went to Ben, a relatively handsome dude who played the kid card in a way no one has before. He brought him in the limo. Now granted the kid was frigging adorable but I’m thinking this is a producer set up all the way. She’s definitely attracted to him but there’s something off that she’s not picking up on yet.

Another party rose went to Drew, who happened to be first out of the limo. She liked him right away and he talked about his “butterflies” that he hoped wouldn’t leave. I think it’s his eyes and his pretty smile that had her saying, mmm, mmm, mmm as he walked away.

Zak W. is a hard one to figure out. He came out of the limo shirtless and at one point stripped down to his undies to jump in the pool. He’s super smart and can actually be pretty good-looking at times but I can’t get a consistent read on whether he’s a geek or not. He’s definitely a nice guy though and I think I’m glad she kept him around.

Two other guys got roses at the party but we didn’t see hardly any of their conversations. That leads me to believe they could be sleepers and in it for the long haul. Michael G. who had her looking for the old penny she threw in the fountain seems nice but a little goofy. They showed him get a rose and get interrupted, but we only got a quick glimpse of the rose going to Nick M. He’s a pretty handsome fellow with some stunning blue eyes and a nice masculine aura. He wrote her a poem that he read out of the limo and it actually came off genuine. Des cries at the drop of a hat and you could see her eyes get a little shiny. I think she likes him a bit.

All of the other guys got their roses at the ceremony and it wasn’t really full of surprises. She kept The gorgeous Venezuelan, Juan Pablo, who played soccer with her and gave her chocolate – duh – no brainer. However, their language barrier will eventually get in the way. She also kept James from Chicago, who talked about loyalty and from the previews seems to be a part of some big drama in the house…he obviously loses.

Brandon from Maine is a cutie but maybe a tad too cheesy for her? He gave her his mother’s AA coin that he used to flip to flip to see whether he’d go to the interview for the show, and told her to give it back to his mom on their hometown. I like the kid but I’m betting he doesn’t get quite that far.

Other guys that she kept that were probably place fillers: Zack K. in his chucks, Will with his nicknames, and Brad with the bonehead wishbone move.

The guys we have left all have “could be” status. Brooks didn’t get a rose at the party despite some good conversations, but she obviously liked him and said his name at the rose ceremony in a way that made me go hmmm. Kasey seemed a little goofy at first but the more I watched him the more handsome he looked and he seems to have a brain as well. Robert – same as Kasey.

The final three guys to discuss all look really similar. Brian, who showed up in what looked to be a velour smoking jacket and jeans, Dan who was handsome yet pretty bland (although that could be an editing trick to throw us off), and Chris from Seattle who was one of my pre-show picks. Out of the three I just have a gut feeling that Chris will stick around awhile. He seems smart, genuine, cute. He’s non-threatening and serious and he just looks like they match up.

So: Episode One Predictions? I’m sure these will change by episode two but I’ll place a bet on her final four being:

Brooks, Chris, Bryden and Nick M….I’d throw Ben in there but it just feels like something has to be off with him. Happy Monday! See you next week. PS. If you leave comments make sure they aren’t spoilers. I’m going cold turkey this season…want to practice my matchmaking intuition.