Fans of trashy TV and those with erstwhile crushes on General Hospital’s Jagger may be interested to know that former soap opera star and underwear model Antonio Sabato, Jr., 37, is seeking love and the spotlight on My Antonio, VH1’s so-called reality TV show set in Hawaii. Two of the 13 women vying for his heart and screentime are desis — Anju and Tania. I caught the first episode of this series online and noticed that Anju was probably the most outspoken cast member.
Anju is a brash New York party planner with a literal and figurative barbed tongue who only runs to catch the subway. She does not do well in the first challenge designed by Antonio, a race up a mountain against other women also wearing cocktail dresses. The winners gain extra time to mingle at the top with the self-proclaimed “hunk with a heart.” Anju comes in last.
But when it comes to screentime and making a lasting impression with her comments and attitude, she probably comes out ahead. At the end of the first episode, after Antonio’s mother makes a dinner appearance to vet the competitors for her son’s heart, he decides that Anju will join Nathalie, a woman whose hands and feet somehow disqualified her within the first two minutes, in leaving the show. He doesn’t really decide though, as much as Anju decides by telling him off for basing his decision on the one challenge. She also declares them incompatible because unlike Antonio she doesn’t want to “restrict herself” to one person.
From her exit interview: “He wants to spend time climbing mountains and s*, and that’s not my style.”
Though Anju is gone, her words will live on. The producers use her soundbytes about other contestants (she tells one young woman prone to tears to “suck it up”) in clips to promote upcoming episodes. Those clips suggest that Tania from Philadelphia, a model from a “strict Indian family” will be around a bit longer to advise Antonio regarding which contestants should stay. So future episodes may feature more of Tania. Not that the first episode didn’t feature a good amount. Like the rest of the women on the show, Tania sports a skin-baring outfit that prompts Anju to compliment her cleavage, in a brief moment of somewhat sisterly bonding between the two desis on the show.
More: The show’s site, cast bios, and a full recap which, true to reality-TV form, is better than the episode.
