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Most guys would agree that finding love in a bustling environment like Kuala Lumpur is a challenging task to accomplish. Even blokes who are deemed to be good-looking or blessed with a good personality find that they really have to pull out all the stops to ensure that they get the girl of their dreams.
This eternal quest for romance is the premise for Cornetto Love? Perhaps, Ntv7’s new reality show hosted by model/actress Stephanie Chai. Having made her TV debut playing a vixen in the comedy-drama KL Lights earlier in the year, Chai, who juggles her successful career as a model in the Asia region, is now poised to further establish herself as a TV personality.
“We’ve had Malaysian Idol and Akademi Fantasia, which are all based on singing. This is the first local English show of this type to deal with love,” said Chai who is helming a TV series for the first time.
“I was attracted to the show because I thought it was a very interesting concept. The reality show concept has really exploded all over the world but I think in Malaysia it’s just started to come up more in the last one or two years. I think it’s always more interesting to see your fellow countryman on television than someone halfway across the world.”
Touted as “Malaysia’s first ever-dating reality TV show”, Love? Perhaps, produced by Illusions SKA, features 15 guys competing for the attention of three hot babes in a bid to find their one true love.
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Stephanie Chai with some of the contestants of Cornetto Love? Perhaps. | The bachelors still in the competition are dance instructor Derrick Cheong Kuan Chern (22), businessmen Jonathan Robert Seevaratnam (27), Darren Raj Sivanathan (25), students Arthur Tan Kok Leong (22), engineer Sin Khai Tzer (24), executives Keegan Lim (25), Sherman Lee Boon Guan (25), Poh Wee Hon (27), management associate Vuitton Pang Hee Cheah (25) and teleport business manager Teoh Yew Aun (29).
“Ruling” over the guys in the show are the young, single and available trio of Hannah Lo and Joy Nakrin (both working in the media) and chambering student Sheree Jeiyalachmee Appadorai.
“On Love? Perhaps, everyone stays at a secret location and they are faced with both physical and mental challenges each week,” explained Chai. “The show’s interesting because it looks at the context of human behaviour when you are put in a situation where your social circle has suddenly been reduced to 15 guys and three girls. All the guys have one goal, which is to impress the girls because at the end of the day, they will decide who gets sent home each week.
“It’s funny to see how the quiet ones will normally suffer while the talkative, more confident guys make greater inroads with the women.”
For Chai, one of the more interesting things about the show is the way it is able to make a strong connection with viewers.
“For me, the show definitely relates to who we are as Malaysians. Whenever we watch American reality shows, there’s always a difference between the way we think and the way they think. When you watch something that is homegrown, you can always connect with it more. Perhaps it will remind some viewers of people they have dated in the past.”
According to Chai, viewers can expect to see passions running high, confrontations and maybe even a bit of true love developing on the show.
“Even though the contestants may act like friends on the show, at the end of the day, they are all competing against each other. There are prizes worth over RM200,000 so there is quite a lot on the line. The show gets very dramatic and spicy with lots of twists and turns.”
Apart from the possibility of winning the heart of the woman of his choice, the male winner will also walk away with a Mitsubishi L200 Auto, a handphone and one year’s supply of Cornetto ice-cream. The female counterpart will get a Mitsubishi Lancer, a handphone and a year’s supply of Cornetto ice-cream.
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The three female contestants of Cornetto Love? Perhaps: (from left) Joy Nakrin, Sheree Jeiyalachmee Appadorai and Hannah Lo. | The way Chai tells it, the show – which is still in the process of being filmed – has already thrown up a few love triangles and alliances within the group.
“Of course, it’s what happens when girls like the same guy and jealousy arises,” reckoned Chai. “When people are put together in a group, you find that they tend to act differently. I think when you take away people’s normal social structure, they will always resort to their instincts.”
In keeping with its promise of reality TV, Love? Perhaps aims to show everything that goes on among the contestants and the three bachelorettes, warts and all.
“Yeah, it’s very real and you can tell the emotion is real because you’ll have people crying and people shouting. There’s real tears and real anger. They are normal people after all, not actors.”
Joy says the show is an eye-opener as it has taught her so much about guys and their characters.
“I have gotten to know 15 men with different personalities. Some are funny, smooth, tough, shy, spontaneous and confident. It is interesting how the candidates use their personalities to socialise,” said Joy, who is of Chinese-Russian parentage.
Hannah explains that the candidates are put through fun tasks to impress the girls. If they fail to impress, they will be eliminated.
“I’m unlike other girls. I’m not impressed if a guy is too chivalrous and doesn’t have an opinion. I’m hoping to find someone who is compatible and treats others with respect.
“In each episode, the contestants must partake in various activities such as dancing and interactive games. It is interesting to see how one’s nature comes out when put in a competitive spot,” said Hannah, who is the production manager of Jojo’s Ticket to Wellbeing.
Sheree chipped in: “It’s a show about the type of guy we would date. If there’s no chemistry, then it won’t work out.”
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