After finding moderate success casting celebrities in the role of THE BACHELOR and BACHELORETTE, 10 has turned to an old Channel 7 format this year, revealing Matt Agnew, a “dashing astrophysicist” as this season’s new Bachelor for 2019.
When 10 announced Sophie Monk as The Bachelorette in 2017 it was considered brilliant casting. Monk had made a public statement she wanted to take on the role as she was looking for love. 10 reacted quickly and Business Affairs Manager Toni Scafe pounced. The entire deal was done over a few days in time to be announced for the Logies. It was inspired casting that generated great headlines.
10’s relationship with Monk ended badly though when questions were raised over whether she was still with her chosen beau Stu Laundy. As is typical, Monk and Laundy appeared on The Project after the final episode, but the questions put to the couple were considered inappropriate by Monk’s people. What was supposed to be a ‘soft’ interview turned into a grilling. It resulted in Monk canceling any further appearances on 10 and vowing never to work with the network again.
After the success of Monk’s season, 10 looked for another celebrity and found The Honey Badger. With Nick Cummins the network thought it had struck gold, but he failed to choose a mate and caused major grief for the franchise.
So this year the network has gone for stunt casting that does not involve a celebrity. Taking a leaf out of Channel 7’s Beauty and the Geek franchise, the network has cast its own geek as The Bachelor for 2019.
Matt Agnew works at the Centre for Astrophysics and Supercomputing at the Swinburne University of Technology and holds a Master of Science in Astrophysics from Sweden’s Lund University.
Speaking to News Corp’s CONFIDENTIAL, he says;
“You’ve got to give it a go, give it a chance and put your heart out there,”
“I’ve got a real ‘do it once, do it right’ mentality so I’ll be making sure I throw myself into it, be vulnerable and enjoy what comes from that.
Production on the new series began in Sydney this week, with the show to air later in the year.
THE BACHELOR AUSTRALIA is coming soon to 10 and WIN Networks.
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This is a poorly written headline and quite rude.
Why Ken? It appears the new season of ‘The Bachelor’ has taken some inspiration from the TV show ‘Beauty and the Geek’, as outlined in the article.