Shayne Lamas and Matt Grant: Kaput!

"Another one gone, another one gone; another one bites the dust. Hey, hey!" This queen classic could be the "Bachelor" break up song. In case anyone was thinking the Bachelor curse had been broken and, Brit, Matt and his little 'monkey' Shayne Lamas, were going to hop a lorry and ride off into the sunset; let me disavow you of that notion. Shayne and Matt have decided to call it quits. They issued a joint statement on People.com. "We tried hard to make it work but we realized that we were both heading in different directions, we truly care about each other and will remain close friends".

Practically from the moment Matt dropped to one knee to ask for Lamas's hand in marriage, the naysayers have been raining down doom on the relationship. Though Lamas and Grant worked hard to deny the rumors of the demise of the relationship, the first clue came when Grant moved out of Lamas's Century City, California digs, citing a need for space. According to Christopher Rocchio, of Realitytvworld.com, the final straw may have been an alleged tryst, in Las Vegas between media mogul Justin Wenerger and Lamas after which she allegedly ended her relationship with Grant via telephone.

With the marriage of Trista Rehn and Ryan Sutter and the impending nuptials of DeAnna Pappas and Jessie Csincsak, The Bachelorette has fared decidedly better than The Bachelor in the relationship department. This begs the question as to why. My take on this question is this. If a man has decided that he's going to throw his hat in the ring with 25 other guys to vie for the affection of one woman, whether he knows it our not, he's ready to settle down. On the flipside, when faced with the prospect of dating 25 women at once and having ABC foot the bill; well you do the math.

Of all The Bachelor couples, only Mary Delgado and her Bass angling sweetheart, Byron Velvick from Season 6, are still together. However, late last year, Mary Delgado was arrested and booked on battery charges, when it was alleged that she hit Velvick in the mouth so hard that she busted his lip. It is presumed in the media that said 'head knocking' stemmed from the couples appearance on a Bachelor finale show where Velvick joked about not wanting to marry Delgado. Despite this unpleasantness, the couple say they are still in love and happy together.

The second longest relationship was, Season 7 bachelor, Charlie O'Connell, brother of, actor, Jerry O'Connell. His relationship with nurse, Sara lasted from 2005 to 2007. Season 9's Prince Lorenzo Borghese, cosmetic heir and founder of Royal Treatment Italian Pet Spa, chose Jennifer Wilson during the final rose ceremony. However, in one of the more sordid Bachelor displays, after only seven weeks, Borghese threw Wilson over for the rose runner-up, Sadie Murray. Murray and Borghese broke up after several months of dating.

As Matt Grant and Shayne Lamas decide what's best for their 2.85 carat Tacori engagement ring, Chris Harris has announced via People.com that Jason Mesnick is on the short list to be next seasons Bachelor.

The enduring popularity of The Bachelor, despite its inability to produce a marriage, aside from The Bachelorette, speaks to our enduring need to believe in romance. It allows us to hold out hope, that love is not an illusive and unknowable quantity.

Sources

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Byron_Velvick

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Bachelor_%28TV_series%29

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Charlie_O%27Connell

http://www.realitytvworld.com/news/bachelor-lorenzo-borghese-i-decided-two-hours-before-ceremony-4437.php

http://www.people.com/people/article/0,,20214906,00.html