| Runtime: | 60 minutes |
| Starring: | Mark Consuelos (Host) Mark Philippoussis |
| Creator: | J. D. Roth |
| Country: | United States |
| Language: | English |
| Network: | NBC |
| Executive Producer: | Todd A. Nelson |
| Num Seasons: | 1 |
| Num Episodes: | 8 |
Age of Love is an American reality television dating series that ran for one season in 2007.
The show featured 30-year-old Australian tennis star Mark Philippoussis as he looked for love among a group of women ranging in age from their early 20s to their late 40s.
Hosted by Mark Consuelos, the series aired on NBC, premiered on Monday, June 18, 2007.[1] The last episode aired on August 6, 2007, in which 25-year-old Amanda Salinas was chosen as the winner.
The contestants were divided in two age groups. The "kittens" were the women in their 20s, while the "cougars" were the women in their late 30s to late 40s. Each week Philippoussis would accompany one or two of the women on a private date, and at the end of each episode would ask all but one of the women if they would continue to see him. The rejected woman would be eliminated; this continued each week until just one remained. For the show's season finale, the final three contestants flew to Philippoussis' hometown of Melbourne, Australia to meet his family.
| Name | Age | Hometown | Occupation | Eliminated | Notes | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Amanda Salinas | 25 | Nashville, TN | Hockey team dancer for Nashville Predators | Winner | Attending Middle Tennessee State University | |
| Megan Klehr | 21 | Chicago, IL | Loyola University student | Episode 7 () | At the time of taping, ended a 10-month relationship | |
| Mary Sanks | 24 | Albuquerque, NM | Hemodialysis Technician | Episode 5 | Last serious relationship was at the age of 20 | |
| Tessa Walker | 23 | Peoria, AZ | Surgical Sales | Episode 4 | ||
| Adelaide Dawson | 26 | Manhattan Beach, CA | Editor for Esquire magazine | Episode 3 | Born in Australia | |
| Lauren Bryant | 27 | Greenwich, CT | Lighting consultant | Episode 2 | Avid indoor rock climber | |
| Name | Age | Hometown | Occupation | Eliminated | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Jennifer Braff | 48 | Carson, CA | Executive assistant for the owner of the Los Angeles LakersSpokesmodel, Amore Fashion | Finale (Runner up) | Was married twice (1979, 1999), 25-year-old son |
| Maria Rangel | 42 | Playa Del Rey, CA | Actress, Photographer | Episode 7 () | Married once, May 1989 |
| Jayanna Howeton | 39 | Newport Beach, CA | Mortgage loan officer | Episode 6 | Married once |
| Kelli Brook | 40 | Oceanside, CA | actress, legal secretary | Episode 4 | former Los Angeles Raiderette |
| Lynn Borges | 40 | Nashville, TN | Makeup artist | Episode 3 | Never married |
| Angela Harrington | 40 | Lakeside, MI | Property manager | Episode 2 | Married twice (1987, 1993), 21-year-old son |
| Jodie Fisher | 46 | Dallas, TX | Vice president for a commercial real estate company | Episode 1 | Married once June 1996, 8-year-old son |
| Order | Episodes | ||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | ||||
| 1 | Adelaide | Amanda | Megan | Maria | Jennifer | Jennifer | Amanda | ||||
| 2 | Tessa | Mary | Amanda | Megan | Amanda | Amanda | Jennifer | ||||
| 3 | Amanda | Megan | Mary | Jayanna | Maria | Megan | |||||
| 4 | Megan | Tessa | Tessa | Amanda | Megan | Maria | |||||
| 5 | Mary | Adelaide | Maria | Jennifer | Jayanna | ||||||
| 6 | Lauren | Kelli | Jennifer | Mary | |||||||
| 7 | Kelli | Jayanna | Jayanna | Jayanna | |||||||
| 8 | Jayanna | Jennifer | Jennifer | Kelli | |||||||
| 9 | Maria | Kelli | Maria | ||||||||
| 10 | Lynn | Maria | Lynn | ||||||||
| 11 | Jennifer | Lynn | |||||||||
| 12 | Angela | Angela | |||||||||
| 13 | Jodie | ||||||||||
The contestant is in her 40s.
The contestant is in her 20s.
The contestant won the competition.
The contestant was eliminated by Mark.
The contestant decided to quit the competition.
The contestant was automatically eliminated as her fear of flying prevented her from going to Australia for the finale.
Critics noted Philippoussis was closer in age to the twenties than the forties. He was only three to nine years older than the "kittens", while nine to 18 years younger than all of the "cougars".[2]
After the last episode of the show, Philippoussis refused to comment on the outcome of the relationship, stating that he was "concentrating on tennis".[3] However, in a radio interview which aired on November 28 in Australia, he did state he was "currently single", and in February 2008 had been seen with model Siobhan Parekh.[4] [5] It was announced on October 26, 2009 that Philippousis was engaged to actress Jennifer Esposito,[6] but had split by August 2010.[7]
In 2009 it was revealed that Salinas and Philippoussis had stayed together for five months after meeting on the show. They split amicably in September 2007.[8]
The opening episode of Age Of Love in Australia, screening at 8:30pm in NSW, ACT and QLD, and at 9:30pm in other states, only managed to rate 849,000 mainland capital city viewers,[9] rating behind both Channel Nine and ABC. Two weeks later, it was moved to a later timeslot of 10:30pm as ratings dropped to 545,000 viewers.[10] The rights for the show in the UK were snapped up by E4, the digital channel from Channel 4 and is shown as part of their "No-Brainers" season along with other American reality TV shows like The Simple Life and Beauty and the Geek.