Cape native hopes to win over 'Bachelor'

Amanda Peterman was a cheerleader at Central High School in Cape Girardeau and graduated from Southeast Missouri State University in 2005 with a 4.0 GPA and a double major in journalism and fashion design.

Last August she began studying law at the University of Nevada at Las Vegas.

She's smart, enthusiastic, persuasive and knows how to dress. But will those qualities lead a 27-year-old global financier with a British accent to choose her over 24 other women?

Peterman will be a contestant when the first episode of the new season of "The Batchelor" airs at 8:30 p.m. today on ABC.

The producers are careful to assure nobody finds out what happens in advance. Peterman and her family couldn't tell anyone she was involved with the show until now. She is prohibited from giving an interview until she has been eliminated from the show.

Her mother Hope said used to watch the show with her daughter when Amanda lived in Cape Girardeau. Last fall Amanda phoned and said she and her roommate were going to interview for "The Bachelor" "for the fun of it." She got in, and a wall of secrecy went up.

"We couldn't tell anybody," Hope said. "We've been sworn to silence."

The show's publicists promise plenty of tension in the all-important first-impression episode. Ten of the women will be gone by its end.

The object of their attention is Matt Grant, a 6-foot, 5-inch businessman who claims to be crazy about American women. He says he's looking for his soul mate. Of course, according to a "Bachelor" blog, none of the previous bachelors has stayed with the woman he chose.

And the women have their own ways of getting noticed. Shayne is the daughter of actor Lorenzo Lamas. Marshana made her own dress. Chelsea arm wrestles Matt. Ashlee sings Matt a song she wrote for him. Carri bites a tin can in half. Stacey removes her underwear and puts them in the bachelor's pocket.

The publicity also singles out "Amanda, a stunning, all-American girl with a few tricks up her sleeve." Of course, both Amandas on the show are stunning and all-American.

Hope said she'll be nervous watching tonight's show because she doesn't know any more about what happens than any other viewer. She's also proud of her daughter. "I am thrilled that she would go for it," Hope said.

sblackwell@semissourian.com

335-6611, extension 137

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