Lesina Nakhid-Schuster has been unveiled as New Zealand’s first Bachelorette. Video / TV2
After months of secrecy, New Zealand's first Bachelorette has finally been revealed.
Lesina Nakhid-Schuster – an Auckland-based doctor – has been unveiled as the single lady looking for love when the upcoming series premieres on TVNZ 2.
The 32-year-old brunette beat out more than 2000 rival applicants to be the one who hands out the roses, and says she's thrilled to have the chance to meet her Prince Charming.
Lesina Nakhid-Schuster has been unveiled as New Zealand's first Bachelorette. Video / TV2
"I'm so excited to be New Zealand's very first Bachelorette, what an incredible honour!" she said.
"The journey to finding love can be nerve-racking and hard at times, but it is also rewarding and absolutely worth it, so I'm really looking forward to potentially meeting someone – my person."
Nakhid-Schuster's identity was kept a tight secret last year before TVNZ teased a glimpse of her silhouette to kick-start the show's official marketing campaign last month.
The US-born beauty was in a serious relationship throughout her time studying medicine at Auckland University, but has since been unable to find a long-term companion.
After putting romance on the backburner while she focused on her career, Nakhid-Schuster feels the time is right to find that special someone.
A press release from TVNZ details how she is on the hunt for someone driven, nice, kind, and who's not bad around the kitchen because she "can't cook".
Nakhid-Schuster works as an Auckland-based doctor. Photo / Supplied
"I was in a really long-term relationship through all of med school, for like seven years and that ended," she explained.
"After that I've had boyfriends and I've dated, but nothing super serious.
"I've been single for a while now."
From romantic dates to cocktail parties and rose ceremonies, she will be joined by some of New Zealand's most eligible men on the show.
Lesina Nakhid-Schuster has been unveiled as New Zealand's first Bachelorette. Photo / Supplied
Nakhid-Schuster is ready for plenty of tears and laughter and hopes her journey will help her find her very own man to take home to the family.
TVNZ hasn't yet announced when the highly anticipated show will go to air but we can expect it to be over summer.
Internationally, The Bachelorette is a top-rating format that has attracted a number of high-profile women, including Australian pop star Sophie Monk.
In New Zealand, Three delivered three seasons of The Bachelor NZ, before dwindling ratings resulted in the network dropping the series.
Matilda Rice and Art Green. Photo / NZ Herald
But not before it gave the country one of our greatest national love stories - Art and Matootles.
Art Green met Matilda Rice on season one of The Bachelor NZ in 2015, and the couple married and welcomed their first child last year.
It also delivered some less successful pairings, including the season two shocker, when Jordan Mauger dumped Fleur Verhoeven just 72 hours after she was named the show's winner, beating Nazanin Khanjani.
In 2017, Zac Franich chose Viarni Bright as his love match, but the pair split a year later. Franich is now married to former children's television presenter Erin Simpson.
The Bachelorette New Zealand, coming soon to TVNZ 2.
