Kayte Christensen: Confessions of a TV Addict
PHOENIX, April 7 -- When I heard that the new Bachelor was going to be Jesse Palmer, the backup quarterback for the New York Giants, the only thing that crossed my mind was: This is the greatest publicity stunt a sports agent has ever thought up! Needless to say, going into tonight's season premier I was a bit skeptical. Anyone with common sense would be though. This is a successful, handsome, intelligent young man with everything going for him, so how is it possible that he needs help finding a wife? Well, as we've all heard before, why ask why?
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Confessions of a TV Addict. (Photo: Arizona Department of Health Services) |
But the surprise twists don't end there. One of the 25 women is really a spy for Jesse; his best friend's wife is going undercover as a bachelorette, giving Jesse the luxury of having someone on the inside to tell him what the women are saying and doing. The only question is will he listen to the advice the spy gives him if and when that does occur? We have to leave that question unanswered for now and meet the 25 women Jesse had the pleasure of drawing from.
Jessica B. a 21-year-old law student, Debbie a 27-year-old massage therapist, Mandy Jaye a 26-year-old interior designer, Karen a 28-year-old retired beauty queen currently in pharmaceutical sales, Trish a 28-year-old model, Dolores a 27-year-old sales manager, Jean Marie a 26-year-old hair stylist, Mandy C. a 25-year-old professional soccer player formally with the WUSA's Power, Suzie a 23-year-old prosthetic therapist, Annie-Catherine a 27-year-old stylist, Francine a 25-year-old attorney, Tara 23-year-old general contractor, DeShawn a 25-year-old account manager, Jenny S. a 26-year-old personal trainer, Julie a 24-year-old NFL cheerleader, Amber a 26-year-old consultant, Jessica K, a 21-year-old student, Holly a 26-year-old banker, Kristy a 22-year-old medical student, Katie a 22-year-old corporate manager, Celeste a 24-year-old executive assistant, Rachel a 27-year-old public relations manager, Kristin N. a 25-year-old Thai pop singer, and Jen M. a 24-year-old professional skater.
After a couple hours of mingling and meeting all 25 women, Jesse headed up to the deliberation room knowing he had to send 10 women away without a rose. However, because he had the chance to give away a "First Impression" rose earlier in the evening, Jesse knew he only had to choose 14 other women to join Trish, the 28 year-old-model, who made a lasting first impression. He spent the evening asking women how many kids they wanted to have. Not a particularly good ice breaker but in terms of the small amount of time he had to make his decision, Jesse threw out what, to him, was the most important question that needed to be asked.
Apparently the following 14 women want to have big families as well. Kristy the medical student is very intelligent and according to Jesse would have won second place for the best first impression, if that is even mathematically possible! Annie-Catherine is from Quebec and speaks French giving her an automatic foot in the door. Mandy C., the professional soccer player drew his attraction from the moment she stepped out of the limo because she is "hot, and shockingly sexy." Jesse, the attorney that said herself she has the least self-confidence of anyone she has ever met and has doesn't think she is as pretty as other women she meets, accepted her rose before Jesse even had the chance to ask her. Jenny S., the personal trainer and retired competitive swimmer who barely missed qualifying for the 1996 Olympics muscled her way into the final fifteen. Jean-Marie, Celeste, Mandy Jaye, Amber, Tara, Julie, Suzie and, after quite a bit of drama, Katie the non-aggressive corporate manager and Karen the beauty queen turned pharmaceutical saleswoman were also asked to stay. Those of you that were keeping count as I went down the list probably noticed something was wrong. You couldn't be more right.
When giving away his fifteenth and final rose, Jesse asked Katie to stay while looking directly at Karen. Katie was elated and gladly accepted the rose. Then, with what one can only imagine as the most embarrassing thing that could happen to a person, Jesse asked Chris Harrison, the host, to step outside with him for a minute. It was then that Jesse revealed to Chris that he had made a mistake and said the wrong name. He meant to ask Karen to stay and instead said Katie. So what to do, what to do? Chris suggested that Jesse go back inside and tell the women, Katie in particular, that he had made a mistake and meant to ask Karen to stay. However, he offered Katie the chance to stay if she wished and give him the opportunity to get to know her better as well. She, in what is most likely going to be her most humiliating moment ever, shyly accepted the invitation and said she would see where it went. This was without a doubt, the most shocking rose ceremony yet. And to think that Chris Harrison has been saying that for six seasons now and for the first time it was true!
But don't hold your breath; I have some things to say about the sixteen women chosen to stay.
My least favorite from the moment she spoke was Trish. Not only do I get the feeling that she is more than a little confident, "I'm going to capitalize on the fact that I have long pretty legs and of the other 24 women what he's going to remember is those long legs that possibly could be wrapped around him at some point in time," but I also get the impression that she is what one might call money hungry. "[I was glad when I found out that Jesse is a football player because] getting paid well for what you do is always a good thing!" Funny thing is that she is confident and has absolutely no boundaries. I could only begin to imagine what trouble she is going to cause in the next six weeks.
Julie, the NFL cheerleader, also rubbed me wrong. I don't know if it is plainly because the only thing she was able to come up with was different forms of the sentence, "He is totally hot!" or because she is the reason cheerleaders are saddled with the stereotype of being complete and utter bimbos. Who knows, maybe she has an intelligent side that is just being eaten by her spankie pants!
Karen, the retired beauty queen, is perfectly sweet and obviously gorgeous but it seemed to me that throughout the whole entire evening she felt like she was on stage at a pageant. If she tilted her head to the side one more time and smiled I was going to have to call my chiropractor ... it hurt my neck just watching her.
Mandy C. has a definite presence about her that I believe comes with the territory of being a professional athlete. She screams confident and secure which can be a very attractive thing to a man. However, there is something about her that makes me think Jesse will soon loose his initial interest in her.
My favorite right now is Kristy the medical student because I think there was something about her that really blew Jesse away. She is not a particularly strikingly beautiful woman but she is intelligent and that really drew Jesse to her. He was definitely turned on by her brain and her ambition, something he said he wanted in his future wife.
I can't wait to see what these sixteen women will do during the course of this show. The spy, at some point is going to really get to know these women on a whole other level and I think can really change the direction and outcome of this show.
Until next time�