‘The Bachelor’: Monkey lands Londoner

I’ve been so busy I just got around to watching Monday night’s finale of “The Bachelor,” and amazingly, I didn’t hear which applicant for his affection Matt Grant had chosen until I did watch. (You might call buzz on this show silent, although Ellen DeGeneres did have the happy couple on Tuesday, I understand.) If I’m surprised Matt wound up with Shayne Lamas, it’s only because “Bachelors” typically pick the wrong woman, and they especially like the chilly, hard-to-get types, which in this case would have been Chelsea. But he waved off Chelsea (who was unusually surly about the rejection) and went for Shayne, a 22-year-old actress and daughter and granddaughter of actors (Lorenzo and Fernando Lamas), proposing to her by using his nickname for her, “Monkey,” which I guess is … er … cute. At least viewers had payoff this time, as the proposal, presentation of the ring/rose and declarations of love suggested that this was more than a showmance. Time will tell, but it’s certainly a positive that they hadn’t broken up before the finale aired.