From Valentines Day on M-Net (DStv 101) there will be anguish, tears and disappointment but also hope, happiness, dazzling romance - and who knows, maybe even real love - in The Bachelor SA when Lee Thompson starts his journey seeking a possible soulmate.
TVwithThinus had a heart-to-heart with the guy who will bring roses and romance after he gets introduced to 24 single women from across the country in the local South African version of the TV dating reality series.
Lee Thompson talks about his biggest concern going into this, why he decided to be the bachelor, how he'll figure out who's there for the right reasons, the latest American bachelor's virginity, what he's really hoping to get out of the experience, and how vulnerable he's willing to be.
Find out if he's a romantic, how he's preparing himself psychologically, and what the mistakes are that he's learnt from out of previous failed relationships that have moulded him into being a better bachelor.
What is your biggest concern going into and doing The Bachelor SA?
Lee Thompson: Well my concern is going having to let some of the ladies go. It's never easy for me to hurt anyone, or disappoint someone.
And I know there can only potentially be one at the end and having to not offer everyone roses - that's something that I am fearful of and concerned about. I don't enjoy hurting people so I those are my main concerns.
Share a few your internal thought processes, why are you doing this and on TV. Obviously, as a model you have a slightly better sense than the average Joe of being comfortable in front of cameras but it's still a big thing to go on national television looking for love. What do you think TV will add or subtract or bring to the experience of trying to find love?
Lee Thompson: Yeah, I've been in front of cameras before but that's more in terms of modelling and this is a totally different level.
What happened is that M-Net and the production company, Rapid Blue, called me up and asked me if I potentially would like to be the bachelor of The Bachelor SA, if I could fly to Johannesburg and meet with them, to see if they want to work with me; and also if they're someone I wanted to work with.
I wasn't fully sure what the whole The Bachelor concept was about, so after the phone call I did research, and googled The Bachelor and I thought about it and I decided to go through with the meeting.
They flew me to Johannesburg and that went really well. And I thought, you know, it's quite a bizarre and unique way to do meet someone on TV on such a big stage and platform like The Bachelor. But it's an opportunity that I just couldn't turn down.
I've been so busy and focused on building my career and laying the platform for my businesses and my future that I have kind of pushed my love-life aside. I saw this opportunity as the perfect opportunity to fully focus and concentrate on finding the one - and that's the reason I decided to do this.
And I just think it's an opportunity that not many people will ever get to have and I just think it will be a great story to tell one day to my children and my grandchildren. I trust that M-Net and Rapid Blue will have a great selection of ladies for me to choose from.
I'm just confident and trust the process and that's my mindset going into this whole journey.
And how do you think you will figure out who's there for love and for the right reasons and who's there for fame and just to be on TV, and for whom it might just become a competition that they don't want to lose or have to leave the mansion?
Lee Thompson: I think that's going to be the tricky part.
I like to think that I'm a very good judge of character, so I did think about that before accepting the offer to be the bachelor of The Bachelor South Africa on M-Net. If I wasn't a good judge of character, I wouldn't see those things coming.
I think that I am a good judge of character and going into this journey I will be able to suss out who's there for the right reasons which is love and to find a soulmate and who's there for publicity. I know my intentions are to find real love and to start a family with that person.
Then, what are your hopes from this experience? Are you looking for marriage - that's such a loaded word and a heavy "goal", or would it be an engagement or just the beginning of a relationship that can grow? Do you have a preset idea that it must be "this" or "that" or "that"?
Lee Thompson: Well, all of the above.
I mean, going into it, I'm going in with an open mind. I'm not sure if I'm going to find the one, or if I'm going to find someone I can commit to, or find my wife - that's the whole point, that's what I'm looking for!
And whether it happens, I'll have to see what opportunities present themselves and if I do find my soulmate. But I'm confident; I'm a very optimistic person, so I do think that I will find someone that I could spend my life with and start a family with. I mean, that's my core reason for being a part of The Bachelor SA.
I've been so busy and committed to other projects in my life that my love-life has taken a backstep, so I just want to go through this journey and give it my all. My biggest goal in life is to have a happy family one day and I see this as a step to that and I'm going to do my best to find the right person to be my partner.
How open and vulnerable do you think you will be? Because it not just you looking for love, it's the South African viewing public following and watching it all on M-Net. So, I would think you want to be open but you can't be that open. To what level do you think you will allow yourself to be vulnerable and exposed and to share your private life?
Lee Thompson: Well in the past the reason - one of the reasons - why I'm still single is because I've been shut-up and closed-off quite a bit because I've been through a bit of heartbreak in the past and then you tend to build this "wall".
I promised myself from day one that I accepted this role in The Bachelor SA that I will go into the show and be the bachelor and give it my all and lay my heart on the line. That's my mindset going into it.
Only once you can fully lay your heart on the line and give your all, will you be able to get that in return. That's maybe a mistake I've made in the past and I've learnt from that and being in the public eye - it's something that I'll just manage and take it as it comes.
I think it's very important to be just yourself and through this journey I plan to be just myself from day one and just be Lee Thompson; that's who I am.
Then I want to ask you, in the latest season of The Bachelor in America that just started earlier this month, scheduled to start in May on 1Magic (DStv 103), the bachelor is Colton Underwood (26) who said that he's a virgin. And I want to ask your thoughts on what you think of that?
Lee Thompson: Well, I think that's fantastic, we all have different morals and values in life and he's chosen to be a virgin and that's his personal choice.
I can't really answer that on his behalf but I think it's a wonderful thing if you decide to save yourself for someone special. It's a wonderful thing that he's done I think.
How are you preparing yourself psychologically because the chance is that you're going to be a heartbreaker because there might only be one person left at the end if there is one left at the end - or that your heart might be broken? Do you think you will be fine if you perhaps start crying, and it's on television? Or if some of the women are crying?
Lee Thompson: I don't think you can ever prepare yourself for something like The Bachelor SA and something of this magnitude.
It's just something you have to go through and handle each situation in the moment with sincerity, honesty and kindness. It's going to be tough and challenging - there's no doubt about that. But I'm ready for it.
As I've said I don't enjoy hurting people but I think we all know, going into this process and this journey, there could only be one at the end potentially, and I think going into it, I'm going to let each of the ladies know that as much as I'm offering them a rose, they need to accept it.
So it works both ways and I want to find someone that I connect with and that I have a possible future with and that's how I'll be approaching the whole journey and experience.
What relationship lesson did you learn from previous romantic or friendship relationships that you will not repeat or will remember to bring into this process?
Lee Thompson: I've been through a couple of relationships in the past and it's never nice to go through a breakup but with each relationship, I've learnt something and taken something from it and I'd like to think that it's moulded me into the bachelor and who I am today.
I think the mistakes I've made in the past is not fully committing, maybe focusing my time and not managing my time well enough. I like to think that I've rectified that now through learning from past relationships.
I've also had distance be an issue in the past. With my career and my international modelling career there were times where I had to travel and distance became a factor but not that I'm solidified in South Africa and Cape Town, I want to make sure that distance isn't a problem anymore.
So those are the two things that I'll be taking into this journey and what I've learnt from the past not to do and that has made me a better person today.
How romantic would you say you are and does that matter, or is that not really a thing for you?
Lee Thompson: I'm very romantic.
I think it's very important to show the person that you're with how much they mean to you.
You can do that by being romantic through setting up awesome dates and in The Bachelor South Africa I plan to hopefully do some extreme adventure stuff and some very, very romantic dates that I plan to arrange and that will hopefully be the epitome of a romantic true love story.
The Bachelor South Africa starts on M-Net on Thursday, 14 February on M-Net (DStv 101) at 19:00.
