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.)