In promoting its new season of The Bachelor, ABC has been seemingly forthcoming about the background of its star, titular single guy and "Italian prince" Lorenzo Borghese. Stories about the show, which premiers tonight, have noted that Borghese actually grew up in Connecticut, and barely speaks enough Italian to order dinner at Olive Garden. Not exactly what those 25 would-be Cinderallas signed up for.

But Borghese's life story is even less fair tale-worthy than anyone has let on thus far. A member of the Borghese clan tells Radar he doesn't know of Lorenzo, who calls Rome his "second home," ever having made a pilgrimage to the Eternal City before signing on for The Bachelor. As for that charmingly self-deprecating revelation about speaking only "menu Italian," it seems producers had been hoping for a bit more authenticity: they enrolled Borghese in an intensive Berlitz Italian language course before filming began, according to the source—who adds that the family is deeply embarrassed by Lorenzo's participation in the show. (A spokesman for ABC denies knowledge of the course.)

Then there's the question of where the 34-year-old Borghese is really from. Though ABC's website claims he was born in Milan and raised in Connecticut, his parents, Princess Amanda Borghese and Prince Francesco Borghese, have lived in the tony New Jersey suburb of Short Hills since 1979, and his permanent addresses from before 2001 all list him as a resident of the Garden State. You can take the Prince out of Jersey, but you can't take the Jersey out of the prince.

The title, at least, is legit—though it doesn't translate into a castle and throne (Throw a cannolli in the Piazza San Marco and you'll hit someone with a "royal" bloodline.) Although titles haven't even been recognized in Italy since 1947, Lorenzo is certainly milking his for all it's worth. When he decided to get into the family business of cosmetics, it was with a line of doggie grooming products, including the Stinky-B-Gone odor fighting kit, the Pumpkin Patch spritz, and the After Bath Pet Robe. Its name: Royal Treatment Pet Care.