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The Bachelor: 2022 star announced as filming kicks off
After weeks of speculation, the leading man set to star in this year’s season of The Bachelor has been revealed.
Professional basketball player Felix Von Hofe from Melbourne will be handing out roses in the show’s new location of the Gold Coast, according to The Wash.
The Instagram page shared photographs of the 27-year-old sports star filming his first single date with a mystery blonde woman on Monday.
In the snaps, Felix is seen playing football with the bachelorette in a park before handing her a red rose.
According to LinkedIn, Felix studied at Eastern Washington University in the United States for four years before playing professional basketball with Melbourne United.
In 2018 he worked as a broadcaster at Crocmedia, before moving to Sportsbet where he is currently a brand ambassador.
He also had a basketball podcast with Sportsbet in 2021 titled Trash Talk alongside fellow ex-professional basketball player Peter Hooley.
Shortly after The Wash posted the photos, plenty of followers rushed to the comments to share their opinions on the future reality TV star.
“Damn I should have applied,” one person said, followed by another who replied, “I wish I was on this season”.
“The guy from the Sportsbet ad,” a third remarked, with someone else joking, “Is that Sam Wood’s brother?”
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Meanwhile, others were left disappointed by the choice and called for a more diverse Bachelor.
“He’s cute but we need diversity! Can’t just give us Brooke [Blurton] and call it a day,” one follower wrote, referring to last year’s Bachelorette who made history as the franchise’s first Indigenous and bisexual lead.
“Why are all the guys they choose prim and proper? Get a bad boy Bachie with some tatts,” another added, while a different user replied, “They always look the same”.
“Sorry what?! They cast a 27-year-old? Please for the love of love cast someone in their 30s who is actually ready to settle down!” someone else commented.
Channel Ten recently announced that this year’s season of The Bachelor was moving from Sydney to the Gold Coast in an attempt to shake up the franchise.
The series has received extremely low ratings in recent years, with last season’s premiere receiving only 482,000 viewers compared to 681,000 the previous year.
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