Tonight, in the seventh episode of Age of Love, NBC’s new Reality TV show, Mark Philippoussis, 30, will continue his quest for romance as he dates two different groups of women. The first group, Cougars, which are our “older women” with ages ranging from 39 to 48. The second group of women, Kittens, are our younger women and range in age from 21 to 27 years old. With Mark caught somewhere in between it’ll be an interesting season to see who he picks and if he can answer, “Does age matter?”

This week things have really narrowed down as there are just four women left and after tonight there will be only two! Of course things won’t all go smoothly though or this wouldn’t be any fun! If you remember from last week Amanda turned on Jayanna and blabbed to Mark about her “advice” to not believe that Mark had unique feelings for her. That was enough for Mark to give Jayanna a surprise boot and left her behind at the campsite. So a big first for the show happened and it was pretty funny. The remaining four girls gathered around the TV and watched a video message from the rejected Jayanna. Jayanna preached to the ladies that they needed to watch their backs and to keep their mouths shut around Amanda. I was really surprised the producers gave her this chance. Maybe they liked her as much as I did. Alas, we must move on.

The Dates:
The first date up for grabs was a duo date between Maria and Amanda. These ladies join Mark for an evening of salsa dancing which none of them had done before. Maria picked it up pretty well as did Amanda, but Mark seemed to struggle through it. That was okay for Maria who took over and did as much wild dancing with him as she could. Amanda did a decent job, but mainly focused keeping her skimpy outfit covering her behind. The date ends with only limited awkward moments from Maria.

The second date is a solo date and Mark chooses Megan to join him for “high tea” which turned out to be a lot less illegal than it sounded. Poor Megan didn’t seem to know what to do and was confused by things like sugar cubes and the word “partition.” Ahh Megan, you’re cute from a distance but I don’t know how I could deal with you up close. In the end the date concludes with little fanfare and many words left unsaid on Megan’s side.

The final date is of course another solo date and Mark has selected Jennifer to take a Cinderella style carriage for a late night ride around the city. It’s a very beautiful and peaceful date where they have lots of time to talk and enjoy each other’s company. But the real date fireworks start later as they return for a swim in the pool and even a very, very late night massage in the darkened bedroom. Jennifer later retells her adventure to the other women and describes the events as mostly not safe for TV consumption. Considering what Jayanna said about being careful what you say in front of Amanda I think Jennifer should have reconsidered this discussion.

The Elimination:

It’s time for the elimination round and one by one the ladies come to visit Mark in his suite. Everything goes smoothly with Megan, Jennifer, and Amanda. But, of course, Maria starts to lecture Mark on his behavior and how he’s been treating her. Apparently Maria feels unfairly treated by Mark. Yeah, okay Maria. So finally, after weeks and weeks of promises Maria eliminates herself from the competition. Mark confides that he was going to ask her to stay. That’s strange as he had already told the other three women he wanted them to stay. Perhaps there was not going to be any elimination this week in a build up to a big finale next week. But wait, there’s still one more surprise elimination left.

Mark returns to the ladies’ suite and informs them of Maria decision. He also lets them know they’ll all be traveling that night to meet his family in Australia (okay, apparently that was where the family aspect came in, my apologies for the confusion in our preview). This is exciting news for everyone but Megan. Turns out that Megan is terrified of flying and has never really traveled. She’s excited for the chance, but as she puts it she says she’d rather “drive in a van than fly in a plane” to Australia. Ohh Megan. While she’s willing to give it a try she breaks down in the terminal and tells Mark she can’t join him on the trip and is therefore eliminated from the contest. Yikes! That’s two self-induced eliminations in one night! I bet the producers were pulling their hair out in fear of one more walking and ruining the whole project.

Next week the remaining two women, Jennifer and Amanda, will continue the fight for Mark’s heart in the season finale set in Australia. This should be a big event and I’m excited to see how it turns out. Both ladies seem to be doing very well, but remember that Jennifer has had more “big dates” with Mark than Amanda so I’m really confused on who to pick at this point. We’ll find out who Mark picks next Monday in the finale, so be sure to check back in here at Wild Bluff Media for all the details.

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