There are a lot of brand new aspects to The Bachelors this year – and the fact that there are three men suiting up is only the beginning.
Felix Von Hofe, Thomas Malucelli, and Jed McIntosh are lining up to find the loves of their lives in a season that will bring viewers a whole new Bachelor experience.
Mediaweek spoke to host Osher Günsberg and EP Tim Ali about bringing the most unique season of the show to life ahead of the show’s premiere on Monday, January 9 2023 on 10 and 10 Play.
Osher Günsberg and Tim Ali
It’s enough of a challenge to be looking for a singular bachelor, let alone three. Ali says that when the team were casting the men for 2023, they were very conscious of the fact that Prince Charming looks different for everyone.
Ali: “It was really important for us to find three guys from very different backgrounds, that are all very individual in their personalities. We wanted to give the ladies of this season a choice, and I think that’s the biggest difference in the series – if you don’t connect with one of our bachelors, it doesn’t mean that your search for love is over.
“We were really trying to mimic the dating world in real life. For us it was about getting three men from very different backgrounds, different age brackets, from different walks of life, with different values, from very different careers, with very different passions, to give a really broad range of choices for the ladies.”
During the show, Günsberg is not only there to keep the show running, but is always a key emotional support for the Bachelor or Bachelorette as they make their way through the minefield of dating. Having to do that three times over might sound daunting, but Günsberg says that “you rarely see one man talking to another man on telly about something other than sport,” and breaking that stereotype has been rewarding.
Günsberg: “A hero always shows up to this show, and he’s gorgeous, he might have a really powerful business, he might have a rig that looks like a meat tray standing up when he takes his shirt off – yet he’s still looking for something.
“The relationships that have come out of The Bachelor that have stood the test of time are the ones that came from a man who went ‘hang on a sec, maybe it’s me’. For me, watching another man go through that is incredible. To watch that three times over, and to see three different men go through three very different self-realisations was just so cool.”
The Bachelors – Thomas Malucell, Jed McIntosh & Felix Von Hofe
This season will also be shaking things up for the women, with the 34 ladies entering the show with more power than they’ve ever had.
Ali: “We’ve introduced almost a bit of a Tribal Council feel at the Rose Ceremonies. Osher holds court in a new open forum discussion with all the ladies in the house, giving them a chance to get anything off their chest they feel that they need to.
“It encourages conversation, and it’s given us some drama too, which is nice!”
Günsberg: “People don’t realise that we were the first country around the world use the thought tracks during those Rose Ceremony scenes – where you see the close ups of the men or women, and you hear the interview grabs as the voice over. We were the first country to use that, and now we’re taking it one step further.
“We take that and we say ‘that person is here, what do you have to say?’. In those moments, I’ve got to say those women model some of the most extraordinary emotional intelligence and brilliant boundaries that I have ever seen on television. It’s a long, long, long, long way from throwing a drink on someone you don’t agree with, and it is just as wonderful to see!”
Outside of the way the format itself runs, this year will see the show move to Queensland, with filming taking place on the Gold Coast for the first time. According to Ali, the move “was about changing it up” and updating the vibe of the show.
Ali: “Traditionally The Bachelor has had a very old money feel – a big, historic, old world mansion, lots of traditional roses, and all the outfits had a very traditional look. We wanted to really break away from that.
“The Gold Coast has lots of sun, and it has a very particular style – it just suited where we were taking the show. It gave us beautiful beaches, it gave us beautiful hinterland, and it gave us an amazing cosmopolitan scene as well. The fact that we had those three really different vibes that we could play into made the Gold Coast a really attractive place to go.”
Günsberg: “There is not a fairy light or a candle in sight! It looks like dating on one of those big high end real estate shows. The boys live in the top of this skyscraper that you can see New Zealand from, it’s unbelievable – we went to so much trouble to make it look very, very different to every other season.”
The Bachelors at TikTok’s For You Fest
Whilst Summer has long been the home of I’m A Celebrity… Get Me Out Of Here! on 10, this year The Bachelors will be stepping up to the plate to kick off the 2023 slate for the network. Ali says that “To be honest, I think it’s a really, really good spot for the show.”
Ali: “I’m feeling really good about it. I think we have enough of a family show to engage our audience – we have heaps of content, and heaps of storylines in the show that is going to encourage a lot of conversation on the couch for families watching at home. We also have heaps for under 30s and over 50s as well – I think it’s a really broad appeal.
“There’s really something for everyone, I couldn’t be happier. It’s in a really clear spot, we’re promoting it heavily because we really believe we’ve got something amazing. We can’t wait to bring it to the audience.”
Overall, for Günsberg one of the draws of the show is that the team have inadvertently created “a time capsule of what it means to be a single person in their 20s in Australia right now.”
Günsberg: “You might watch it and see the kind of person you want to grow up to be, or you watch it and see the type of person you think you are, or you watch it and you see a bit of a clue into the lives of your children.
“I really think that we have this quite unthreatening way of saying ‘you might not realise it, but this thing is really quite okay with people who are around 26-27 years old. You might be a bit confronted by it, however, everyone here is quite cool with it and it’s ok’.
“Having those kinds of conversations in primetime is really important, because you can’t be what you can’t see. Our country is slowly moving away from its conservative nature around sex and sexuality, and I’d like to think we’re doing our part to nudge it a little more.”
The Bachelors: Monday, 9 January 2023 on 10 and 10 Play