SEASON PREMIERE

AN ITALIAN PRINCE WILL TRY TO FIND HIS GRACE KELLY AMONG 25 BEAUTIFUL AMERICAN WOMEN IN THE ENCHANTING CITY OF ROME, ON THE TWO-HOUR SPECIAL PREMIERE OF �THE BACHELOR: ROME,� MONDAY, OCTOBER 2 ON ABC

Two Gorgeous Italian Cinderellas Crash Prince Lorenzo Borghese�s Cocktail Party; The Rose CeremonyTakes Place in the Daytime for the First Time Ever

Prince Lorenzo Borghese, a handsome 34-year-old cosmetics entrepreneur, will take on the challenge of finding a Princess to share his life and a modern fairy tale ending, as well as centuries of royal tradition dating back to 1604, when �The Bachelor: Rome,� the popular romance reality series, returns to ABC with a special two-hour premiere on MONDAY, OCTOBER 2 (9:00-11:00 p.m., ET).

Lorenzo is an American citizen who has resided in Manhattan since 1997. He was born in Milan, lived in Rome and outside Paris, and moved to Connecticut when he was five years old. Proud of his genealogy, his storied paternal ancestors include Pope Paul V (Camillo Borghese) and Cardinal Scipione Borghese, both of whom had an enormous influence on Italian art and on beautifying Rome in the 1600s, and who helped finish St. Peter�s Basilica. The Borghese family name and crest can be found on the fa�ade of the famous basilica.

In this premiere episode, �901,� of the ninth edition of �The Bachelor,� the 25 bachelorettes are enchanted by the Princely castle, and their handsome host, Prince Borghese. Cardinale Taverna built the sprawling castle in the picturesque countryside of Italy in 1604. Among frescos and centuries-old oil paintings in the grand ballroom, the cocktail party is interrupted when two stunning Italian women crash the party and quickly plot to steal Lorenzo�s heart and attention. The jealous and already competitive American ladies step up their game to pull Lorenzo back into their fold, but the Italian beauties don�t give up. The tug-of-war over Prince Borghese continues through the evening, and some of the women pull extraordinary stunts to win his affections. One woman theatrically sings an aria on the balcony overlooking the amazing fountain and outdoor sunken courtyard, while another tells the Prince that she is a �tree-hugger� and lures him into a wooded area to hug a tree with her.

The end of the evening is marked with a two �firsts.� Lorenzo presents a rose, plus a very special sparkling token to one woman who has captured his attention and who is now already assured of continuing on in the chase to make an enchanted match. The party continues through the night and the rose elimination ceremony takes place in the morning, which allows the Prince much more time to get to know each lady individually. The morning rose ceremony is another first for �The Bachelor.�

With the sun rising, the stakes have never been higher, as Lorenzo must eliminate 15 of the 27 women, leaving 12 eligible to become Princess Borghese. It�s �arrivederci Roma� for over half the ladies.

The list of the bachelorettes will be released shortly.

The challenge to find the woman of his dreams will be set against a backdrop that is both spectacular and familiar to Lorenzo, including impressive Roman sites such as the historic Forum, Colosseum and Pantheon, the romantic Trevi Fountain and the lush Villa Borghese, the largest park in Rome, which bears his family�s name.

The new Bachelor will get to know the 27 women in a series of fun, exciting and exotic dates in Rome that will elicit real and raw emotions. As in the past, women will continue to be eliminated each week, but if, at any point along the way, a woman should decide that she�s no longer interested in the Bachelor, she can reject his invitation to continue dating. Some lucky women will meet his family, and he will visit their hometowns for a slice of their life in an effort to determine the woman with whom he is most compatible.

At the end of the journey, the Bachelor may quite possibly have found true love. But the big question is: After all of this, will he pop the question, and will she say yes?

Hosted by Chris Harrison, �The Bachelor: Rome� is produced by Next Entertainment in association with Warner Horizon Television. Mike Fleiss and Lisa Levenson are the executive producers. David Bohnert and Martin Hilton are the co-executive producers.

�The Bachelor: Rome� is broadcast with Spanish subtitles via secondary closed captioning. A TV parental guideline will be posted closer to airdate.