Many Bachelor skeptics already find the idea of getting engaged in 60 days a little far-fetched, but the creators of the ABC franchise have thrown them another curveball — how about 60 minutes?
The Proposal, from Bachelor creator Mike Fleiss, premiered Monday night on the network. The show features an hour-long set of“pageant-style” rounds in which 10 men or women aim to capture the heart — and hand — of the mystery suitor or suitress, whose identity is purposefully concealed until the very end.
The host, former Bachelor and NFL star Jesse Palmer, revealed that while his old-fashioned beliefs about finding love entail a little more time, he believes that there’s “magic” happening on the set.
“Anything is possible, and there is a very real chance that two people that didn’t even know what the other person looked like coming on set could be engaged after 60 minutes,” he tells PEOPLE.
He adds: “This show is essentially Bachelor on steroids, where there are hopeful people who are romantics at heart hoping that they find a potential soulmate, maybe a potential fiancé, over the course of 60 minutes. And there’s a lot of trepidation, and they’re being forced to expose themselves and really open up for that chance at love.”
As the contestant progresses, the rounds get more intense — from first impressions, to stripping down to beachwear, to opening up about romantic issues — and end with a final stamp of approval from a family member.
Palmer recognizes the intensity of it all.
“I’m trying to look natural and calm in the midst of it, where really on the inside I’m thinking, ‘Are you kidding? What’s happening right now?’ It’s wild,” he says.
Palmer appeared as The Bachelor in season 5, airing in 2004, when he proposed to Jessica Bowlin. The relationship ended one month later, but that hasn’t stopped him from finding love; he’s been dating a Brazilian woman named Emily, whom he met during a boxing class, for 10 months.
“We recently went down to Brazil and met her parents,” he says. “She’s everything I could hope for and wish for and more.”
As for the future stars of The Proposal, Palmer says to keep an eye out for some familiar celebrities.
“There will be faces people at home recognize,” he says. “They could be from The Bachelor or Bachelorette, or other industries at well.”
The Proposal airs on Mondays (10 p.m. ET) on ABC.