Rachel Truehart, a 2002 graduate of Hampshire Regional High School, is among the 25 female contestants vying for the affection of a male bachelor in the reality TV show.
Rachel Truehart and Ben Flajnik in a scene from the Season 16 debut episode of "The Bachelor." Truehart, a Southampton native, is one of 25 women competing on the show. The season premier will air locally on Monday, January, 2, 2012, on WGGB-TV, abc40SOUTHAMPTON – Will she get a rose and a chance for true love, or will she go home single and frustrated?
Those are questions Pioneer Valley TV viewers surely will be asking when one of their own appears in the new season of the "The Bachelor," which premieres Monday at 8 p.m. on ABC.
Rachel Truehart, a 27-year-old New York fashion industry professional and 2002 graduate of Hampshire Regional High School in Westhampton, is among the 25 female contestants vying for the affection of Ben Flajnik, a 28-year-old winemaker from Sonoma, Calif.
Each week, Flajnik – a loser on last season's "The Bachelorette," a companion show to "The Bachelor" – will winnow down a pool of potential female mates until he finds the so-called girl of his dreams. Those who make the weekly cut in this elimination contest receive a red rose, which means they survive for another round.
Truehart is a 2006 graduate of Rhode Island's Roger Williams University, where she earned a bachelor's degree in marketing and psychology.
Though she now works in New York's high-pressure fashion industry, she's expected to watch Monday's season opener at the family homestead on Lead Mine Road in Southampton.
Truehart said someone recommended her for the TV show after her last relationship ended, according to the Daily Hampshire Gazette.
"I was nominated for it by a family friend after I got out of my last relationship, and then I went through the interview process and was chosen," she told the Northampton newspaper.
A signed confidentiality agreement with ABC prohibits here from discussing details of the show.