Meet Outback Jack's Bachelor
Here's an unusual recipe for reality TV: Mix Crocodile Dundee, Survivor: The Australian Outback and The Bachelor. And add in a dash of The Simple Life. The result is TBS's Outback Jack (debuting tonight at 9 pm/ET). Basically, 12 unsuspecting city girls are shipped Down Under, where they must reluctantly rough it in the wilderness. Meanwhile, these sexy Sheilas compete for the affection of 28-year-old Aussie Vadim Dale, aka "Jack," the show's rugged bachelor.
"The final girl gets a diamond necklace and, supposedly, me," Dale tells TV Guide Online. "What a crap prize!"
All modesty aside, the down-to-earth construction foreman — "I'm in charge of 100 blokes" — is quite a catch. Dale has done some modeling, but "I am not an actor," he insists. Plus, he's very friendly, funny and knows manly sports from football to karate, so the guy's got a good bod, too. But ladies, is any dude worth enduring Jack's grueling punishment? Consider the environment in which Dale's dozen admirers must live...
"The Outback is always about 100 degrees. At night, it's still bloody hot," he points out. "There's also crocodiles, spiders and snakes. It's a beautiful place, but you can't get carried away by the picture and forget about survival. I'm trained, so I ended up taking care of the cast and crew!"
A creepy case in point: "The girls were out swimming near a waterfall, and a red-bellied black snake — the deadliest snake in Australia — swam towards them and was about to strike. I happened to be there at the right time and catch the little bugger! They had no idea."
As the saga progresses, look for an Average Joe-style twist. "These girls are all uptown, high-maintenance, pampered beauties," he says. "There's no butch women. But halfway through the show, there's an introduction of a few other tougher, outdoorsy women."
During his time spent making and promoting Outback Jack, Dale says TBS agreed to pay him his normal construction salary. "It's only fair, so I can pay my bills," he says. "I wanted the chance for an adventure. I'm not looking for a wife or a $1 million check out of this." If not marriage, what about romance? "There is romance," he grins. "There wasn't any whoopee, but there was a bit of us disappearing off here and there. Males have urges."
