Renaissance man Ben F is back on ABC trying to find love. Earlier in the year he was rejected by Ashley Hebert on The Bachelorette on ABC. Now Flajnik is on this season of The Bachelor, which began filming in September 2011. The down to earth California winemaker and business person is hopeful that he can find true love this season. But will the American viewing audience fall in love with him? If you are eco-friendly, here’s one good reason to show support for gentle Ben by watching the new season and sharing good news about him with your #EcoMonday friends and family who talk about the #BACHELOR on Twitter. He is a sustainable agriculture enthusiast!
Wine and romance go hand in hand say most romance experts. A talented musician, the Sonoma, California-based winemaker Ben Flajnik (the notoriously dumped Ben F from the Ashley Hebert season of The Bachelorette) studied music production and business in college. Starting out with a successful internet advertising business in San Francisco, he exudes a laid back Cali vibe. Now, he’s taken on the role of playing The Bachelor in 2012.
He was crafting beers and wines on the side when he realized that he couldn’t quite get away from his love for wine. With longtime friend and fellow wine connoisseur Michael Benziger, Flajnik agreed that, as long as they were going to enjoy fine wines, they might as well make some themselves.
In 2008, Envolve Winery was born from their alcohol-infused bromance, an organization that promotes making eco-friendly products.
The devoted wine-o (not whiner) Ben F was an odd choice for the Bachelor in some long-term viewers opinions because of his whiny attitude about how badly his relationship with Ashley H ended. After kissing and telling (supposedly to break up Ashley Hebert from her new fiance JP while humiliating her in tabloid press the same way he had been on reality TV) he was not America’s favorite guy, really.
But, in his defense, he did shut up about her fairly quickly when they started courting him to be the new Bachelor. Using his post-breakup time wisely, he threw himself into his work. Ben F has been studying eco-friendly techniques in winemaking at UC Davis, according to a website for art and wine festivals. He was shown on the first night of the season looking sweaty and doing lots of the manual labor himself that is required to tend his vineyards.
According to the eco-friendly reality TV star, his company Envolve Winery has committed to using only the most quality fruits from “sustainable, organic, and biodynamic growers,” making Ben Flajnik an up and coming green celebrity as well as a smart businessman.
Partner Michael Benziger comes from a family in the wine business, and that family business is certified Biodynamic, which has given Ben a great deal of insight into organic winemaking as he continues his study of the craft. Both men are eager to take bold new steps using sustainable agriculture growing techniques that are better for the health of the planet and the promotion of their eco-friendly products for human consumption in the future.
As for past history, Ben F admits he has fallen in love three times. Little Ashley Hebert from The Bachelorette he says was his third love, but he was less than charmed. The brutal marriage proposal rejection hit him pretty hard, but now that the season is officially underway he has said he intends to remain friends with her and now calls their relationship an overall good experience.
He claims to be coming to the latest season of The Bachelor with an open mind and open heart, saying the previous experience of getting shat on by Ashley and the series producers (essentially) has helped him grow as a man. He expects his romantic experiences this season to help him continue to grow even if he doesn’t find love.
[From the look of the new field of crazy women he picked out, he will certainly have to man up quick — as it looks like by the end of the first night and the first impression rose ceremony he already had his hands full.]
Ben spoke to Good Morning America, says ABC:
“This forum [The Bachelor] oddly enough kind of works for me. I like the way you’re able to exercise your feelings, [you’re] encouraged to get there quicker than you normally would,” he explained. “I thought long and hard about it but ultimately it was the right decision… I learned a lot about myself and pushed myself in ways that I never did before.”
In a blog on People, Ben Flajnik wrote:
It took me a few months to decide whether or not I wanted to try and find love this way again, and after thinking long and hard about it, I ultimately thought it would be another positive experience. Guess you’ll have to wait and see just how positive it turns out to be.
What are your thoughts about Ben F being cast as the new Bachelor? Does he make the cut as an All-American hunk able to keep ratings for the reality television show up? Will he find love or again pick a loser and be dumped?
Let other readers know your thoughts about him in the comments section below.