"The Bachelor": Ladies Choice

Mon., Aug. 23, 2004 4:10 PM PDT by Kimberly Potts

If at first (and second and third and fourth and fifth... ) you don't succeed, try, try again. But this time try it a different way.

That's the theory behind the upcoming sixth season of ABC's The Bachelor, when, instead of the producers picking a man to woo 25 bachelorettes, it's the single ladies who'll determine the stud they'll be trying to snag.

With an 0-for-5 track record so far--not one of the previous made-for-TV hook-ups lasted longer than eight months--ABC decided it was time to shake up the formula.

So now, it's up to the women. For the first time, the Bachelorettes will choose between two candidates in the Sept. 22 two-hour premiere's "Lady's Choice Ceremony," and will then spend the next seven weeks trying to get the swingin' single to make one of them his love match.

And the contenders are:

Jay Overbye, a 40-year-old real-estate broker from New Jersey. The never married former model and world traveler started and sold his own computer network company and is a self-proclaimed history buff who is very close to his family.
Byron Velvick, also 40, a California native and professional bass fisherman who was the U.S. Open champion in 1991 and 1996. The divorced Velvick claims to have never seen The Bachelor but was encouraged by family and friends to apply to be on the show.

But wait, there's more! In an effort to increase the ratings that have been sliding with each failed TV hook-up, ABC has other surprises in store for The Bachelor VI:

In addition to the 25 bachelorettes who will be introduced in the season premiere, two "all-stars"--returning contestants from past seasons of The Bachelor--will join the mix later in the season and "compete" for Overbye or Velvick's attention.
Though the two men know they are competing to become the The Bachelor, the women will not initially know they have to choose between the two.
Once the choice is made between Overbye and Velvick, the winner will not know which women voted for him and which did not, but he will have to narrow the pool of bachelorettes from 25 to 15 by the end of the first episode.
Unlike in seasons past, The Bachelor will live in the same house as the bachelorettes this time around.
The ages of the bachelorettes ranges from 26 to 39, skewing older than in previous seasons.
And, in the second episode, Grammy winner Brandy will perform. (Easily the strangest pop star reality show guest appearance since Sheryl Crow played the back yard of the Big Brother house.)

And in case this Bachelor still strikes out with his suitors, ABC can pin its hopes on The Bachelorette. The ladies version of the reality show is 2-for-2 with love matches and the network goes for a trifecta in January with Bachelor III's Jen Schefft looking for l'amour.