La Jolla Woman Looks for Love on ABC's 'The Bachelor'

Two San Diego County women will be among 27 bachelorettes vying for Juan Pablo Galavis' affection in the two-hour season premiere of The Bachelor, which begins at 8 p.m. tonight on ABC.

Chantel Forrest, a 27-year-old account manager who lives in San Diego, said she hopes to have a relationship with Galavis.

"This is a once in a lifetime experience so I do hope for an amazing experience, meet new friends and travel, but most of all I want love," Forrest said.

Forrest said she considers herself a romantic "because I've watched too many love story movies."

"I believe in a 'fairy tale' love and fall hard for someone I really like," Forrest said.

Lacy Faddoul, a 25-year-old nursing home owner who lives in La Jolla, said she loves it when her date "is polite, opens the door for me, greets me with a hug."

The field of bachelorettes will be reduced to 18 by the end of the episode.

Galavis, a 32-year-old professional soccer player-turned-sports-and- entertainment-consultant, was eliminated in the sixth episode of the 2013 season of The Bachelorette.

The Miami resident is the first Latino bachelor and said "there's going to be a lot of Latino things in the show... a lot of food, a lot of dancing."

Galavis said he is looking for a woman "that is smart, that is honest ... that knows how to dance because I love dancing."

Galavis, the father of a daughter named Camila who will turn 5 on Valentine's Day, called being on The Bachelor "a great opportunity for me to find the person that I've been looking for many years."

"It's very important for me to find true love," Galavis said. "It's what I'm missing in my life right now. I'm willing to take that risk and come to L.A. to find a wife and a stepmom for Camila. Finding a wife that understands and appreciates family is what I'm looking for."

The season will include trips to Salt Lake City, Seoul, South Korea, Vietnam and New Zealand.

The Bachelor has resulted in one marriage—Jason Mesnick, the bachelor in the 2009 season, married runner-up Molly Malaney.

Sean Lowe, the bachelor in the 2013 season who appears in tonight's episode to offer advice to Galavis, is scheduled to be married this month to Catherine Giudici, who he presented with the final rose.

—City News Service