Helsinki-based model and children's instructor Monica Tor joined Bachelor Finland with an open heart – and walked away with the coveted final rose. Here, she shares her story
Call it fate or not, but there must have been some higher powers at play in how Helsinki-based model and children’s instructor Monica Tor ended up on Bachelor Finland, fell in love and received the final rose from this year’s bachelor – filmmaker and photographer Joonas Kenttämies.
“I have this Sudanese friend whom I visited a year and a half ago. We prayed together, and I told her what I was looking for in life,” Tor, 33, explains. “She’s also a very spiritual person – I told her that I wished to find a partner and that I was open to all possibilities. Before that, I had been limiting myself, thinking I had to marry a Sudanese person [Tor herself hails from South Sudan]. But then I decided to expand my horizons – you can find love anywhere.”
Monica Tor and Joonas Kenttämies, all smiles after Tor accepted the final rose.
A little while later, it was as if the universe itself had dropped a sign. “I received a message, which was followed by a phone call,” Tor recalls. “They said that a new season of Bachelor Finland is coming and asked if I was interested in participating.” Her response? “I was like, ‘Hold up – I am single, so why not?’” she says. While Tor admits that the thought of joining the iconic reality TV show was daunting, she wanted to stick to her promise of broadening her perspective on finding love.
Although Tor describes herself as “not one to jump quickly into a relationship,” she trusted the production team to create a “safe” experience and that the bachelor in question was serious about forming a real connection. Upon watching introductory clips of Kenttämies – and doing a little par-for-the-course online stalking – Tor’s first impression was that “he was good-looking and well-spoken.” “I noticed that he was empathetic and sensitive – like a man should be, in my opinion,” she adds. “Even back then, I saw a part of myself in him.”