Channel 5's new reality show The Bachelor gives 25 young womenthe opportunity to vie for a date with Gavin Henson. You couldn'tmake it up.
What's next, a dog dancing contest to win a shooting weekend withColonel Gaddafi?
The Bachelor sees a rivalrous group of glamour girls, models,beauty therapists and other bikini-friendly businesswomen fight forHenson's attention using any means necessary while they all share aluxury villa for five weeks.
Henson, a part-time Welsh rugby player, says he can't wait to getstuck into the challenge as he feels "the time is right for me afind a girl to hopefully spend the rest of my life with".
It's wonderfully cheering to hear Henson so optimistic about loveafter last year's (surely) painful break-up with his fiancee andmother of his two children, Charlotte Church, after a six-weekengagement.
And I'm sure he'll throw himself heart and soul into theexperience, probably upping his body-waxing and double-dip bronzingsessions to three times a week in anticipation.
He certainly makes a good catch, so long as his pathologicalvanity, regrettable dim-wittedness and penchant for getting drunkand fighting doesn't put you off.
Henson's enthusiasm aside, I can't help feeling queasy -- orshould that be strongly contemptuous -- about the prevalence of theidea that single men are a prize that women should be willing torelinquish their self-respect to secure. It's a premise that modern-day TV execs seem to like, having used it for Mr Right (the one thatsaw presenter Ulrika Johnson nab a [brief] husband), Farmer Wants AWife, and ITV's Take Me Out, in which a deeply uncharming PaddyMcGuinness invites a panel of intellectually-challenged famegroupies to impress a man with banter, flirting and hints of ashared interest ("My favourite telly show? The Only Way Is Essex!""Shut up! Me too! Let's make babies!".)
Ladies, the availability of young men willing to take you for adrink in the hope that you'll have sex with them is not low. There'sno crisis, we're not talking Atlantic cod here. So let's notvolunteer to be lined up like fattened hogs for distinctly averagechaps to choose their favourite from.
There may be no swaying you from the guarantee of a moment'sworth of TV spotlight and a few months of being verbally abused onthe nation's internet chatrooms but surely the issue of personaldignity still has some currency, even among the TOWIE generation?
As for you Gavin, while I acknowledge that most single young guyson a promise of this nature would pirouette over hot coals for thego-ahead, have you given much thought to your future YouTubingdaughter?
You've evidently decided that the integrity of your relationshipwith your ex -- who's unlikely to retain much respect for you afterthis particular rebranding exercise -- is of little consequence.
But doesn't it bother you just a tad that your kids will grow upknowing that dad liked to choose his soul-mate from a queue of celeb-hungry blondes paid to share a camera-furnished house with him?
In the week that 14 men were arrested in Manchester withsuspicion that they plied vulnerable young girls with booze anddrugs. then whipped them off to 'sex parties' to be passed from manto man like a late-night kebab, perhaps we should think again abouthow our media presents eligible women to eager men.
And maybe go easy on the meat market angle. Just a thought.
CAPTION: Bachelor boy : Gavin
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