Olympic bronze medalist Monica Aksamit is a contestant on Fox's reboot of "Joe Millioniare."
Tamara Beckwith, Fox
In 2016, saber fencer Monica Aksamit gained a bronze medal on the Rio de Janeiro Olympic video games. Now, she’s making at lunge at love as a contestant on Fox’s “Joe Millionaire: For Richer or Poorer.”
The 31-year-old New Jersey native and Brooklyn resident was first approached final winter by producers who slid into her Instagram DMs providing to play cupid in entrance of a slew of cameras.
“It sounded actually attention-grabbing. And I assumed, ‘Properly, love hasn’t actually labored out for me,'” Aksamit — who ended an engagement in 2020 — instructed The Submit. “And I don’t know anyone who finds love on relationship apps. I really feel like I'm digging by trash to search out the one diamond.”
But Aksamit, who calls herself a “romantic” seeking to get married, was nonetheless hesitant.
“I didn’t need individuals to guage me or say ‘She’s empty.’ I believe relationship exhibits have a nasty repute at this level. [Producers] stated, ‘Pay attention, it’s going to be higher than “The Bachelor.” We’re not all in regards to the drama. We need to give you a chance to fall in love. Are you down?'”
But it surely was her mom who forged the ultimate vote.
“I used to be going backwards and forwards and she or he was like, ‘I don’t know why you might be hesitating.’ My mother is Polish. She’s Japanese European and has very excessive requirements. She was like, ‘Who cares if persons are speaking. That is an expertise for you,'” stated Aksamit, who can also be a mannequin and influencer.
For love or cash
The present, which premieres Thursday at 8 p.m., options 18 girls vying for the love of two bachelors: Kurt, a 32-year-old building CEO from Charlotte, North Carolina, and Steven, a 27-year-old farming CEO from Gallatin, Michigan. The twist is that certainly one of these two gents is wildly rich whereas the opposite … Properly, he’s cute, too. The love-seeking girls don’t know which ones has the fats checking account.
It’s a reboot of the wildly widespread 2003 iteration that featured Evan Marriott, who was masquerading as a hunky millionaire whereas in actuality he was a building employee bringing in $19,000 a 12 months.
Aksamit, who had by no means seen nor heard of the unique present, stated the cash angle wasn’t a part of the attract, although she’s beforehand spoken out about how monetary struggles have figured into her general story. In a 2019 profile in The Submit, the fencer opened up about utilizing GoFundMe to assist her Olympic aspirations — a follow that has turn into extra widespread for elite athletes in much less marketable sports activities than, say, gymnastics or swimming.
On the time, she was dwelling together with her mom in New Jersey and dealing quite a few jobs in between coaching periods to make ends meet.
Her struggles struck a chord. Aksamit instantly surpassed her aim by greater than $10,000. Whereas she narrowly missed making Staff USA for the Tokyo video games after the final qualifying competitors was nixed because of the pandemic, she signed with Ford Fashions, which additionally manages her digital endeavors. With 100,000 Instagram followers, the 6-foot athlete is now making a dwelling working with firms like AT&T, Garmin, Physique Armor, Bandier and Nobu Motels.
When producers instructed the ladies in regards to the monetary twist, Aksamit stated she wasn’t fazed by the prospect of falling for a mean Joe.
“My mother all the time stated, ‘I by no means need you to place your self in a state of affairs the place you must depend on a person for cash or no matter.’ Do I would like somebody I've to depend on? No, I would like to have the ability to make my very own cash.”
The deal breakers
There may be one requirement, although. Her dream man “should love canine,” stated Aksamit, who has two valuable pups named Pongo and Oro.
The sweetness can’t say if she discovered love with both bachelor, however she did hit it off with the opposite contestants, together with Suzette James and fellow New Yorker Annie Jorgensen.
“I’ve made some actually good pals,” stated Aksamit, who can be flying again from Poland simply in time for the premiere.
“We're planning a watch occasion at [Annie’s] residence … if my COVID take a look at is unfavourable.”
MEET THE OTHER NY LADIES HOPING TO LAND A MILLIONAIRE
The sweetness queen
New Yorker Annie Jorgensen, 25, is a long-time magnificence pageant champ. She competed for the Miss America title in 2019, was topped Miss Georgia in 2018, gained the Miss College of Georgia pageant in 2016 and was named Miss Wisconsin’s Excellent Teen in 2011. A College of Georgia grad, she’s now a digital artistic strategist at Small Ladies PR, which has labored with manufacturers like the favored relationship app Hinge. She additionally based I Bought This Consulting, which gives teaching to construct confidence amongst women and girls.
The skilled dancer
Doris Josie Cano is from Bethpage, New York. Cano, 32, is of Ecuadorian and Mexican descent and is a former NBC and NFL dancer. She was a New York Jets Flight Crew cheerleader from 2008 to 2009 and a dancer for the Philadelphia 76ers from 2010 to 2011. She now owns a dance firm referred to as Diamond Divas Leisure, which gives dancers, promotional fashions, hostesses and greeters for varied occasions. — Lauren Sarner
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