Love was in the air — or perhaps on the air — in Santa Barbara on Wednesday evening as The Bachelorette TV series descended on the Paseo Nuevo shopping mall for a filming session.
The ABC reality show, which features men and women looking for love and marriage in some of the world’s most beautiful places, has been spending the week in Santa Barbara for an episode of the series, which kicks off in May.
A large and enthusiastic crowd turned out at Paseo Nuevo to see this season’s bachelorette, Andi Dorfman, on a “group date” with several of her hunky suitors.
Dorfman, a 26-year-old assistant district attorney from Atlanta, was a finalist in last season’s The Bachelor, who sent herself home after deciding that bachelor Juan Pablo Galavis wasn’t the man of her dreams.
On Wednesday, she went on a group date at Paseo Nuevo with several of her would-be mates, and the group was treated to a mini-concert by the band Boyz II Men.
Part of the date involved two groups of her suitors partaking in a singoff to the Boyz II Men song “I’ll Make Love to You.”
Word had spread quickly about the date at Paseo Nuevo, and those who showed up reportedly included people who had traveled from Los Angeles and other distant areas to get a glimpse of the would-be bride and her collection of eye candy, along with the evening’s entertainment.
Chris Harrison, the show’s host, also was on hand for the evening’s festivities.
Noozhawk has been told that the show’s men have been staying at the Bacara Resort & Spa, although that could not be confirmed.
There also were reports that Dorfman had a one-on-one date Tuesday night with one of the men at the Santa Barbara Courthouse — a dinner near the Sunken Garden.
Dorfman also reportedly had a one-on-one date last week on a beach in Ventura County.
The new season of The Bachelorette will debut on ABC on May 19.
— Noozhawk executive editor Tom Bolton can be reached at tbolton@noozhawk.com. Follow Noozhawk on Twitter: @noozhawk, @NoozhawkNews and @NoozhawkBiz. Connect with Noozhawk on Facebook.