Hopeful bachelors and bachelorettes flocked to the in their finest open-collared silk shirts and miniskirts, respectively, on Denver’s 16th Street Mall on Thursday afternoon, hoping to dazzle Los Angeles-based casting directors with their looks, personality or some winning combination of both.
The 4-8 p.m. auditions for Season 21 of “The Bachelor” and Season 13 of “The Bachlorette” who were at least 21 years old, U.S. citizens and “not involved in a committed, intimate relationship at the time of the casting call,” according to , which airs both shows.
“I’ve never dated before, so I think it would be fun to do it in an organized, safe manner,” said Leah Rae, 26, a Denver native who was one of a handful to arrive at 9 a.m. for the audition. Rae scored the No. 1 spot.
“Doing it on TV would be a lot of fun,” Rae said. “I’ve been on my own since I was 13, got my GED when I was 15 and just finished my college degree, so I’m ready.”
Like Rae, at least two dozen others were hunched over tables on the second level of the Hard Rock filling out applications nearly an hour before auditions were scheduled to begin. Casting producers, who manned five curtain-separated interview booths complete with lighting and cameras, opted to start auditions a half hour early due to the dozens of people already on site.
“We come to Denver every year, and we always have a really great turnout,” said Carli Jo Bidlingmaier, a casting producer for the shows who has held auditions in New York, Chicago, Honolulu, Detroit, Charleston, S.C., and Fort Lauderdale, Fla. “This season has been especially popular because of Ben and then Chase, who are from Colorado. You have really great people, especially men, here. Down-to-earth, nice. Really great qualities.”
Bidlingmaier said Colorado casting events for the shows have been drawing about 200 to 300 people on average the past few years. At Thursday’s event, however, it was overwhelmingly women who showed up for a shot on “The Bachelor.”
So what exactly drives people to audition, quit their jobs (if selected) and compete for brief if national fame via a romance-based reality-TV show? We talked to five of them to find out.
Name: Melaina Marquez, “The Bachelor”
Age: 23
Occupation: Makeup artist, Denver
Why she’s doing it: “Dating can be very hard at times, and the thought of finding love and settling down with the right one brought me here. I’m willing to do whatever it takes.”
Name: Wil McCauley, “The Bachelorette”
Age: 34
Occupation: Medical device salesman; author, Castle Rock
Why he’s doing it: “The dating world’s insane right now, more so than it used to be. Social media and internet dating takes the human component completely out of it. You can swipe left or right and it’s ‘See you later!’ and that person doesn’t even exist — even if they had an amazing personality.”
Name: Grace Jacobsen
Age: 22
Occupation: Nanny, Denver
Why she’s doing it: “Me and my sisters grew up watching it all the time, and now I’m finally of that age where it’s a possibility it might happen, so why not?”
Name: Haley Juarez
Age: 24
Occupation: Certified nursing assistant, Longmont
Why she’s doing it: “Dating’s very hard in this day and age. I’m willing to do whatever it takes to find a relationship. When you go on the show, you get a chance to not only meet someone you could potentially date, but if you have the right mind-set you can meet a lot of friends as well.”
Name: Danny McKee
Age: 30
Occupation: Finance for an oil and gas company, Denver
Why he’s doing it: (McKee showed up with co-worker Sydney Brock, 23, also auditioning) “It’s a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to find a partner. And hey, (being on national TV) works too. It’s a side benefit.”
