Ready for Love premieres tonight at 9PM ET/PT on NBC and will feature three successful bachelors looking for love with the help of three matchmakers and social media.
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Produced by actress Eva Longoria and hosted by Giuliana & Bill stars Giuliana Rancic and Bill Rancic, Ready for Love will give the three bachelors -- Benjamin "Ben" Patton, an international financier from Dallas, TX; Tim Lopez, a Plain White T's band member from Santa Barbara, CA; and Ernesto Arguello, an entrepreneur with a social vision from Miami, FL -- the opportunity to potentially find their match amongst 36 women, 12 bachelorettes per man.
During a recent conference call with reporters, Ben, Tim and Ernesto talked to Reality TV World about how they were cast on Ready for Love and why they wanted to do the show to begin with. Check back with Reality TV World soon for more from their call.
Reality TV World: So this question is for all three of you. How exactly were you cast on Ready for Love? Was it the type of situation where you approached them or they approached you, and I guess, what made you decide to do the show?
Ernesto Arguello: Okay. Well I actually joined this process very, very late in the game. I was vacationing in Europe when they reached out to me. So I, at the beginning, was a little hesitant.
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And when they told me and they explained how the show worked, what was the concept, and they told me about matchmakers, I was instantly sold. I mean, working with the three of the world's best matchmakers was a luxury I was not about to pass up.
Benjamin "Ben" Patton: And my -- I guess I was put up for The Bachelor a long time ago but because I was living in Dubai and Abu Dhabi, it didn't seem like something that made a lot of sense, moving back stateside. And then I moved home in 2011 mainly because I was just basically working all the time and I was trying to bring balance to my life.
And I coincidentally got an email from the same casting company that had cast for The Bachelor so far in the past, and they said, "Hey are you still in the Middle East?" And I said, "No I just flew back." And they said, "Oh, well we'd love to talk to you about this."
And I think had it been The Bachelor, I probably would have just passed because I think all three of the guys, you're all [venturing] and trying to find somebody, you know, to bring kind of that completeness to our life. And when this came up with the matchmaker component, I was actually intrigued because I was already thinking about, "Okay, how am I going to meet someone as a finance guy, like a numbers guy?"
So I was even thinking, "Oh I'll go on eHarmony or Match and I just want to meet someone in my life." So this was kind of like, "Hey that's the creme de la creme of matching services." And how can you say no to that kind of a pitch -- an opportunity to meet someone? And they're going to go through thousands and thousands to find the right compatible match.
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Tim Lopez: It kind of came about in a really strange way. I was in Austin for South by Southwest and I was hanging out with my buddy who works our record company, and we were just going to cruise around downtown. And I had met [Brad Womack], one of the Bachelors, the last couple of years -- I forget how many seasons back that was.
And I was walking with my record exec and we were cruising down the street and we walked past one of Brad's bars and, you know, I said, "Hey this is Brad from The Bachelor's bar, let's go in and say hi."
And he started kind of [riffing] and saying, "You know, this is something that maybe you should do Tim, like I think you'd be great for it." And, you know, he was a really close friend when I was going through my divorce and he knew how rough that was on me. And I had been single for four or five years at that point and he was like, "There might be this -- the type of chance that might be good for you," you know?
So it really started as like a really -- I want to say like a goof. Like, "Tim, I think you'd be good for this," and I was just kind of joking around with him saying, "You know what? If you can get a meeting, I'll take the meeting and we'll just see how it goes from there."
And that's how I met [Jason Ehrlich] who produced this show. And I guess it started with an email saying, "Hey I've got this guy. He could be good for [a show], either The Bachelor or something new." And I ended up meeting with Jason and it was about a year before I actually got asked to be a part of the show.
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So really, I didn't go out seeking it at first. It was just kind of, you know, maybe this would be a fun experience and maybe it'll take you way outside your comfort zone, and maybe that's what you need in your life, so.
Reality TV World: So Brad actually had positive things to say about reality dating? (Laughs)
Tim Lopez: Yes he did. It was a pretty funny thing. I met him a couple of different times, one of which was him sitting alone in a bar, and he just looked really dejected and was like hiding out. And I walked up to him and said, "Hey what's up man, I met you before and I'm Tim and I'm thinking about doing this show with NBC."
And, you know, he had good things to say and then reservations too. I think he kind of, you know, coming from a band that's successful, he didn't know how that would affect everything. And that was one of my main concerns at first too is, you know, how will this affect my career? But ultimately, my personal life kind of took the lead.
Above is what Ben, Tim and Ernesto had to tell Reality TV World during a recent conference call with reporters. Check back with us soon for more.
About The Author: Elizabeth Kwiatkowski