'The Bachelor: London Calling' star Matt Grant: 'I definitely found love'

The Bachelor: London Calling star Matt Grant said he made a transatlantic love connection via the ABC reality dating series' upcoming twelfth installment.


"I definitely found love.  It was incredible.  I'm still buzzing from it now," the 27-year-old global financier told reporters during a Monday conference call.

Grant represents the first international star in The Bachelor's history, something he was worried about prior to meeting his 25 American suitors for the first time.

"I was really concerned -- really, really concerned about how that would go down," he said.  "Overall, it went down really well.  But I won't lie, I was concerned about it for sure."

One thing Grant wasn't concerned about was The Bachelor's recent trend in which the show's bachelors have proposed to their final selected suitors only once in the last five seasons and twice in its last eight editions.  And if hasn't been bad enough, last fall's The Bachelor edition ended with eleventh-season star Brad Womack rejecting BOTH of his final suitors.


"If you were to go by track records, life would be pretty dull," said Grant.  "Those previous guys weren't me.  I was confident that I could come onto this and be myself and I was hoping therefor that there would be that one person that would standout -- someone who has those unique qualities.  I'm not too fussed about the track record of the show... As far as I'm concerned, it didn't bother me in the slightest."

Despite hailing from the other side of the Atlantic, Grant said that -- going into the competition -- he had no plans of making his selected suitor relocate to the U.K. for him.

"I didn't ever expect that.  That would be a bit presumptuous," he explained.  "I made it quite clear from the start that wasn't necessarily a prerequisite."

Now that there's a possibility for real-life romance since filming for The Bachelor: London calling concluded earlier this month, Grant said a decision on where the couple will reside has still yet to be determined.

"It takes two to tango," he said.  "We'll discuss it later.  Either country's great, they've both got their selling points... Just need to discuss it."


Ironically, the self-described "British gentleman" was first approached about appearing as a The Bachelor star while on a date.

"I was out with a British girl," he said.  "I'd lost my wallet and left my coat there in the coat room.  It was one of those nights where you're just thinking, 'Oh geez.  Get me out of here.'"

Despite everything going wrong, Grant took his lady friend to a central London club where he was approached by a casting agent and asked if he had heard of The Bachelor.

"I was like, 'No.  It might ring a bell, but I don't think I have,'" he said.  "She reminded me of the format and it did kind of ring a bell, but it's not big in the U.K.  It's not a household name, where in other countries it is -- they're a lot more aware of it -- but the U.K. is not."

Grant said he thought it was a "prank" until the casting agent handed him her business card.


"I didn't think too much more of it for a while and then [the casting agent] gave me a call," he explained.

Grant said he had never seen The Bachelor before and even once he knew he was going to appear on the show, he still decided against watching it.

"I got handed a load of DVDs by the casting agent.  I didn't watch it.  I didn't want to let that change my view on it or change me, how I was going to take it," he explained.  "I think -- to be honest with you -- overall that was a good thing.  I will say I think that when it came to that first night, it probably was a little bit harder because it just hit me like a cannonball... I think if I had watched and had a real understanding of it, that would have been softened.  But I'm really pleased that I didn't."

While he may not have been familiar with The Bachelor -- it's not like Grant had never dated an American woman, and he said he's romanced several foreign women in his life.

"I've had some great relationships in the past, they just haven't worked out for different reasons really," he said.


Grant said he's had a fascination with American women since he was a young boy and was introduced to a teenage girl from the States.

"She was very fun and outgoing -- very attractive -- great with the family.  I think from that point on, I just had a bit of fancy for American women," he explained.  "The reasons really are that they seem to be a little bit more outgoing than European women... I love that balance of that fun, flirtiness."

Despite being "always reluctant to stereotype a nation," Grant offered some insight into why he likes American women more.

"I think American women are a little bit more confident -- I mean the good confidence," he said.  "I think they're a little bit more confident to speak their mind and do what they want to do."

Grant has previously stated he's a sucker for a woman with a sense of humor, and he reiterated that while talking to reporters.


"The one thing I was really interested in is someone who's going to make me laugh," he said.  "Someone that would standout.  Someone that you look at them and you just think you've got something a bit different.  That's what I was really looking for."

It's a good thing Grant likes humor since during his first night meeting the 25 bachelorettes vying for his attention, one of them demonstrated her ability to bite a tin can in half.

"It just reminded me of Jaws... I have to say she was a lot more attractive than Jaws," said Grant.  "I was very appreciative of what she was doing.  That's really true.  I was having a conversation with someone else that I was getting a bit bored with and she did that and it cracked me up."

Another one of the bachelorettes took a different approach to making herself standout in Grant's mind.

"The craziest is someone handed me their thong. I've never gotten that before... a bit weird," said Grant.  "I was having a discussion with someone and she just tucked it into my pocket. Then two or three minutes later I pulled it out and that's what it was."

Grant said he knew some of the suitors might not have participated in The Bachelor for the right reasons, looking to further their careers instead of to find love.


"I was really worried about that before it actually started," said Grant.  "I was just myself.  I hadn't watched previous [seasons] and I just thought, 'I'm going on TV as myself.'  I'm aware of the pressure on the women to kind of mold themselves into something for me."

Once filming started, Grant said he realized everyone was having fun -- including himself.

"That was the most important thing," he said.  "I took it from there really."

In addition, Grant's suitors weren't the only ones romancing him during his time in America.

"The most surprising thing was simply how much I enjoyed my times in the States," he said.  "I guess how much I fell in-love with the U.S. really."

The Bachelor: London Calling will premiere on Monday, March 17 at 9:30PM ET/PT on ABC.






About The Author: Christopher Rocchio