The Bachelor

S09:É01 - S09:E01 - Episode 1

Prince Lorenzo Borghese, a handsome 34-year-old cosmetics entrepreneur whose storied family background reaches back to the 1600s in the enchanting city of Rome, takes the opportunity of a lifetime as he begins a fairytale adventure to discover if love is waiting for him in Rome. The challenge to find the woman of his dreams is set against a backdrop that is both spectacular and familiar to Borghese, including impressive Roman sites such as the historic Forum, Colosseum and Pantheon, the romantic Trevi Fountain and the lush Villa Borghese, which is the largest park in Rome and which bears his family's name.The new Bachelor will get to know a group of hopeful women in a series of fun, exciting and exotic dates in Rome that will elicit real and raw emotions. As in the past, the ladies will continue to be eliminated each week, but if, at any point along the way, a woman should decide that she's no longer interested in the Bachelor, she can reject his invitation to continue dating. Some lucky women will meet his family, and he will visit their hometowns for a slice of their life in an effort to determine the woman with whom he is most compatible. At the end of the journey, the Bachelor may quite possibly have found true love. But will he propose marriage? And if he does, will she accept? In the two-hour ninth season premiere of "The Bachelor," 25 bachelorettes are enchanted by the sprawling castle--built by Cardinale Taverna in the picturesque countryside of Italy in 1604--of their handsome host, Prince Borghese. In the princely castle, among frescos and centuries-old oil paintings in the grand ballroom, Borghese hosts a cocktail party to meet the ladies, but the fete is interrupted when two stunning Italian women crash the party and quickly plot to steal the prince's heart and attention. The jealous and already competitive American ladies step up their game to pull Borghese back into their fold, but the Italian beauties don't give up. The tug-of-war over Borghese continues through the evening, with some of the women staging extraordinary stunts to win his affections: One bachelorette theatrically sings an aria on the balcony overlooking the amazing fountain and outdoor sunken courtyard, while another tells the prince that she is a "tree-hugger" and lures him into a wooded area to hug a tree with her. Meanwhile, Rosella, a sweet and vulnerable Italian-American makeup artist from Chicago, describes the trials she had to overcome to make it to Rome. Not only did she sell her car in order to afford the trip to meet her Italian prince, but she felt that learning about the show in the first place was a sign from her deceased father showing her the way to true love. Unfortunately, Rosella is ultimately not invited to remain in the competition. In a first for "The Bachelor," Borghese presents a "first impression" rose to one woman, Lisa, signifying that she has captured his interest, long before the actual rose ceremony, assuring her of continuing on in the competition to make an enchanted match with him. He also gives her a very special sparkling gift: two-carat diamond earrings. Then the party continues through the night, allowing the prince much more time to get to know each lady individually, and the rose elimination ceremony takes place in the morning--another "Bachelor" first. With the sun rising, the stakes have never been higher, as Borghese eliminates 15 of the 27 women (the 25 original contestants plus the two Italian newcomers), leaving 12 of them eligible to become Princess Borghese. It's "arrivederci, Roma" for over half of the ladies.