by Thinus Ferreira
"All we could do was just suck it up and do what we had to." So says Alan Santini, the South African actor, writer and eligible bachelor who suddenly had to take part in a sperm test challenge on the very first day of filming and seen in the first episode of the reality show Labor of Love currently broadcast on on Lifetime (DStv 131).
In the reality show, hosted by Sex and the City's Kristin Davis, 15 eligible men compete in various challenges - including a sperm count in the first episode - to test their personal and potential parenting skills as dads before Kristy Katzmann who wants a baby.
Kristy Katzmann (41) who is on a journey towards motherhood, was a contestant of season 11 of the American version of The Bachelor, and in Labor of Love she whittles down the men across 8 episodes to find the one to be her "baby daddy" so to speak, with the South African Alan Santini as one of the bachelors.
The episodes of Lifetime's Labor of Love are available on MultiChoice DStv Catch Up and the big finale is broadcast on Tuesday 13 April at 21:00 on the channel.
Alan Santini says he was actually approached through Instagram to be a part of Labor of Love. "At the time it was 2018 and I actually turned them down the first time. And then going into 2019, I made a New Year's resolution to follow what I call a 'Year of Yes'."
"So if anyone approached me with anything, or an offer or something like that, I would say yes to it as long as it didn't cause me any hard or tarnish my name - I would say yes to it. So they reapproached me in January and so I said yes."
Alan who is a writer, is an actor by trade and has been living in Los Angeles for 11 years.
He had a big motorcycle accident and over the last 3 years he "kind of drifted into poetry" as he explains it, "and it just seems such a natural fit for me".
"For whatever reason, I think the accident knocked some sense into me and since that day I've been writing poetry. I really love acting and I love theatre but for whatever reason, I just feel myself called to write."
After Alan said yes, but before production and filming of Labor of Love started, did he have any second thoughts?
"Going into something like that, sure. Any normal human being is going to have some second thoughts and doubts and concerns," he says.
"You're effectively putting your life on display for the world to see. What made me more comfortable going into that situation was knowing that if I was to be myself, there's nothing to be worried about. As long as I wasn't trying to be something other than who I am, it should go well."
When Alan Santini and the rest of the group of men are introduced and mingle, one asks him in the first episode of Labor of Love if he speaks Afrikaans after he says he's from South Africa, and Alan responds in Afrikaans.
Does he think the guys responded or reacted to him differently after they discovered that he's not American but in a sense the "exotic South African"?
"I don't know if I would use the word exotic when it comes to South African," says Alan, "but you know, I cut a very particular figure, you know, so coupled with an accent and a physical representation, and I know what I bring to the table and I have a confidence in what I bring to the table, so I think for some men that may be threatening".
"For some men that might be cause for creating a good friendship. There were definitely some people that were triggered by it, but there were definitely some people who were more confident in who they were and we ended up making good friendships."
Pecking order
The first challenge in Labor of Love is an unexpected jaw-dropper for the guys, when a mobile collection "centre" trailer pulls up and Kristin Davis orders all 15 men to climb up the steps to little port-a-potty-like cubicles in the type of trailers you often find at large outdoor music festival events, for them to provide a semen sample for a sperm test.
Kristin tells the men that "fertility tests are greatly impacted by activity levels", and asks them to raise their hands "if you have done something like this in the past 5 days" - after which a few sheepishly raise their hands.
Then they have to go in - 5 at a time in tiny cubicles next to each other - to masturbate and then ejaculate into a cup for samples. To see who's the winner of this challenge is and where Alan ranks in his sperm count, you have to watch this Labor of Love episode.
"It was a complete curveball," says Alan. "No-one was expecting that. No one was expecting a challenge on the first day of filming. That was our first day of meeting Kristy. It was our first day of just being on set with just all these cameras."
"And then to have that curveball thrown at us, and the challenge thrown at us within about one or two hours was a big one. But you're in it. At that point, all we could do was just suck it up and do what we had to."
"Remember, there are like 20, 30 cameras on set and it's this tiny trailer, and all of the men are standing outside the trailer, and we're asked to go in there and do our business. It's a lot to expect."
When the results of the sperm tests come back, there is a big surprise. "I don't think any guy there expected to get what they got," says Alan.
"For me, it was a complete curveball to get the results that I got. I had no idea what I was going to get. I had no idea where in the pecking order of those men I would be."
"So, it definitely was a huge shock to me and it was a huge shock to everyone around me. We were all sitting with bated breath every time she announced a result. I think viewers will be pleasantly surprised by that first challenge."
Building campfires and Argentinian tango
"Certainly being in front of cameras 24/7 can be a little bit of a challenge, especially when you're trying to get settled," says Alan when asked what was awkward about the show.
"You're every reaction, you're every movement, you're every spoken word is caught on camera."
"So it's that - coupled with entering a house with 15 other guys, living in close quarters with 15 other guys and all the while you've got this huge daunting task ahead of you of meeting and getting to know this woman and vying for her attention."
"It's hard to say who appeared to be the biggest competition," says Alan. "You can go for obvious things like looks or character but at the end of the day it comes down to the woman and what she's looking for."
"We all had our assumptions from the beginning but if I look at the challenges - they all put us in situations that were a little compromising or challenging but there was one where we had to build a campsite in the outdoors and we were given very limited items."
"Viewers don't get to see much of it in the actual episode but that for me was one of my favourite challenges."
"One of the least favourite ones and most difficult ones was learning the Argentinian tango where we had to do that in a really short space of time, with a lot of pressure and the dancers who only knew the female moves and not the men's moves."
"There are a few others - like where we go up against each other in a general knowledge test against these genius kids and they really made us look stupid," says Alan as he laughs. "It also gives the audience an idea of whether we are team players and how we work with one another and how we work with Kristy."
"It was an interesting experience in that regard. There were so many interesting challenges that viewers will enjoy."
About fatherhood and wanting kids
Asked about fatherhood, Alan Santini says "I want to be a father".
"I've got two younger brothers both of whom are fathers and they are two of the people I admire most in this world. And t see how they've adopted that role in such a beautiful way - I've always wanted to be a dad. I've always wanted to have kids, so it just brings me closer to that experience for myself."
"I don't know if Labor of Love really helped me to appreciate what fatherhood would really be so much," says Alan.
"I think it was more in line with helping Kristy choose what type of man she would want to be with in certain situations. As far as preparing me for fatherhood - not so much. In short, I would love to be a father and I can't wait. Righ person. Right person first though!"
Enjoying the experience
About what he enjoyed about taking part in the show, Alan says "the experience itself".
"Having been given the opportunity to meet great guys, to go through those experiences, to get a taste of that kind of world - those are the opportunities that not a lot of people get and I relish those opportunities because they are few and far between."
"For me it was just great to have gone through that, to meet great people, and to come out with just having learnt a few things for myself about myself, about other people, and for that I'm grateful," Alan says.
Labor of Love is on Tuesdays on Lifetime (DStv 131) at 21:00 with the finale on Tuesday 13 April 2021. Episodes are also available on DStv Catch Up.
