Chad Ochocinco's upcoming VH1 reality dating series was apparently delayed due to his Dancing with the Stars success, and soon the NFL star will have to focus on football instead of filming.
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"As unluck would have it, the Bengals recently scheduled a mid-June mandatory minicamp," Bob Horowitz, the reality dating series' producer, told USA Today in a Friday report.
"We'll turn it into a positive. We'll just work the minicamp into the show. There'll be a Bengals layer to it."
Ochocinco and his professional partner Cheryl Burke were the eighth couple ousted from Dancing with the Stars last week, and Horowitz said the NFL star could have already begun filming Ochocinco: The Ultimate Catch weeks earlier if it wasn't for his run on the show.
Despite the production delay, Horowitz said the remaining five or six female finalists -- who will still be in contention by mid-June -- will simply have to travel to minicamp so Ochocinco can pull double duty.
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Even before Ochocinco waltzed into the heart of mainstream America via Dancing with the Stars, Horowitz said he became a "breakout star" when HBO's Hard Knocks documented Cincinnati Bengals training camp last summer.
"It was a highlight reel for Chad," Horowitz told USA Today, adding Ochocinco had already agreed to do The Ultimate Catch before Dancing with the Stars presented itself.
"If X people knew Chad before Dancing, now its 100 times X!"
VH1 ordered The Ultimate Catch in March under the working title The Tournament, and it will follow Ochocinco as he travels across the country to select 85 initial bachelorettes before narrowing the field down to his "sweet sixteen" -- four women each from the northern, western, southern and central regions of the country -- during the first episode.
The actual competition for his heart will then begin and follow a bracket-type format as the bachelorettes will have an opportunity to vie for his affection on double-date face-offs. The winner of each double-date face-off will move to the next round of the tournament, while the loser is eliminated.
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The 16 bachelorettes will subsequently be narrowed to two, who will compete on a "championship date" that will conclude with Ochocinco awarding one of them a "Championship Ring."
Ochocinco: The Ultimate Catch is currently slated to debut July 11, according to USA Today.
About The Author: Christopher Rocchio