[imagesource: M-Net / YouTube]

Last Thursday night, President Cyril Ramaphosa gave his SONA 2021 address.

It was full of all the usual promises, never to be fulfilled, using the resilience of fynbos as a metaphor for how South Africa can triumph in the face of the tough times that lie ahead.

I made it through about 10 minutes, and then flipped over to the night’s second-worst offering – the first episode of The Bachelorette SA.

Ahead of the show’s debut, we’d met five of the chaps competing for the attention of Qiniso van Damme, but now we have the complete picture.

M-Net has a profile of each of the bachelors, which you can view by clicking the image below:

As is customary, the show kicked off with some red carpet introductions. They were, to be kind to all parties involved, a tad cringeworthy.

There was Ten, flicking his hair out upon arrival like a shampoo model, but perhaps the night’s most awkward moment came when John Snow lookalike Ruan revealed himself to be ‘Johan Sneeu’ the second he opened his mouth.

M-Net was kind enough to put together a supercut showing some of those moments:

I’m being unnecessarily harsh, aren’t I?

Have a look at #TheBacheloretteSA on Twitter, and you’ll see a great deal of cringing:

This is actually the personification of the dating scene in SA 😂 Beeeeautiful, dynamic women and then… the men #TheBacheloretteSA pic.twitter.com/Punc5sePN7

— Lesego Tlhabi (@LesegoTlhabi) February 11, 2021

#TheBacheloretteSA .. So far, I’m just cringing 😂 pic.twitter.com/rIO7tjPTSN

— Robyn Amy (@Bobs_AmyD) February 11, 2021

Me to the producers if I were Qiniso #TheBacheloretteSA pic.twitter.com/h5lCgP3xbT

— Lesego Tlhabi (@LesegoTlhabi) February 11, 2021

Me throughout this whole episode #TheBacheloretteSA pic.twitter.com/TSpmWz8o8K

— carissa cupido (@carissacupido) February 11, 2021

Are these the only singles in South Africa? #TheBacheloretteSA pic.twitter.com/VOoVVHOWZF

— Dylan Niemand (@TheDylanNiemand) February 11, 2021

Those aren’t even the worst of the lot.

Shall we give Johan Sneeu, AKA Ruan, a shot at redemption?

Once the red carpet introductions wrapped up, Qiniso headed to the bench in the garden, and was joined by Ruan.

Skip to the 50-second mark:

It’s not often you hear that accent described as ‘cute’, but it’s Qiniso’s show, so alright then.

Finally, if you fancy a tour around The Bachelorette SA mansion, you’re in luck:

Bunk beds – how fitting.

I regret to inform you that I am likely to watch the second episode, this Thursday at 7:30PM, which I’m not at all proud of.

[source:mnet]