The Bachelor Canada Auditions Come to Vancouver

Credit: Lana Mador

Hundreds of lovely local girls were looking for love at The Bachelor Canada auditions

Hundreds of Vancouver women audition for the chance to find love on The Bachelor Canada

Maybe Vancouver men really do suck. At the very least, pickings are slim enough that over 200 single women came from across the lower mainland to audition for The Bachelor Canada. The new Canadian reality dating show is based on the hit American series, now in its 16th season of rose ceremonies and romantic getaways. The premise is seductively simple: 25 women compete for the affections of one eligible bachelor.

Tired of disappointing dates and failed online flirtations, many local bachelorettes have decided to forgo Vancouver’s single scene in favour of the intimate romance that only nation-wide reality television can offer.

The Bachelor Comes to Vancouver

The cross-Canada search for the 25 contestants began at the Loden Hotel, with a lineup that stretched to the end of the block. The group of primped and polished ladies more closely resembled the VIP lineup at a nightclub than a Sunday morning meet and greet. Supervising producer Sean De Vries was thrilled with the turnout.

“We’re excited, not just by the amount of people who are showing up, but by the kinds of people that are showing up. You’re just meeting people and figuring out if they’ve got a great story and are ready to fall in love.”

And these girls know they’re ready. Says wedding planner Laura, “I watch love and happily ever after all day, so it’s kind of nice to have a chance for myself.” Celina, another applicant, agrees: “I’ve been looking for love for a long time and it’s so hard to meet people here, so why not right?”

Aside from love, peer pressure seems to be the driving force behind reality TV recruitment, as many of the applicants were coerced into signing up by friends, family members or in one peculiar case, a local yogi:

“My yoga teacher had a vision,” says Michelle, “she said ‘Bachelor Canada, that’s you, I had a vision that you’d win.’ So I’m here. Yoga teachers are deep, I tell you. You can’t just ignore that.”

The most important qualities for a Bachelor contestant? A passion for finding true love and a complete lack of the need for privacy (Image: Lana Mador)

Mostly, the women are just sick of wasting time with disastrous dates. After a terrible double date on Saturday night, where “the guys were in this bromance world and I was just not involved at all,” Angela picked up her best friend Noelle and together they drove to the audition.

The pair, who were each other’s Valentine’s this year, are confident that even if they were competing for the same man, their friendship would survive.

“We both came into this together and I think both of our intentions are in the right place,” says Noelle, “and I know that if she really cared about this person and I didn’t I’d back off for sure.”

Drama a Key Component for The Bachelor Canada

We all know that drama in the bachelorette mansion is inevitable (and in most cases preferable), and amidst excited squeals and laughter the newfound frenemies make it clear that they can handle the show’s hallmark catfights. Most are adamant that they’ll rise above the bickering.

“I’ve been to Vegas with 11 girls, I can bypass any drama. There’s 25 on the show though, so it will be interesting,” says Bachelor hopeful Joyce.

Others like Natalie warn, “I’m sweet, but I can be vicious if I need to be. If someone was being really mean to me I would never just be a door mat.”

De Vries swears the cattiness isn’t contrived.

“At the end of the day, if you cast 25 women who sincerely want to fall in love and you put them in a room with one man, different personalities are going to emerge.” he explains. “You never cast just to find out if someone is going to be a bad person, but you know it’s going to bring things out in people.” So if you thought Canadians were too nice to be the next Courtney Robertson, think again.

But what does it take to be the Prince Charming these women are looking for? As it turns out, Vancouverites are suckers for tall, funny guys (and failing that, just really tall guys). To resounding applause and cheers from the gaggle of girls around her, Jessica sums it up best, saying, “He has to be taller than me! There are a lot of beautiful women in Vancouver, but there are just so many short guys.”

For you vertically challenged men out there, don’t worry, the crowd also nodded in agreement when bachelorette wannabe Nicole gushed, “A good sense of humour is a huge turn on!”

While the girls and even the producers still don’t know who the bachelor will be, De Vries promises the show will live up to the man candy standard set by the original series.

“We’re not going to pick some unemployed guy living in his mother’s basement,” he says. “You know that for this show we are looking to find a bachelor that’s successful on the inside and the outside; a guy who’s attractive yes, but he’s going to be really happy with what he does and he’s going to be a catch. That I can guarantee you.”

The Bachelor Canada will debut on Citytv this fall.