Jeri Hall: Go Along for the Ride

I was skeptical when I heard that Jeri Hall, ex-wife of Rolling Stones singer Mick Jagger, was taping a reality show.  What could a girl from, Mesquite, Texas, who's turned heads and made millions as a high fashion model, have to share that I would be interested in?  "Kept," a VH 1 presentation in Thursday prime time (2006), has it's second show on June 9th. The Englsih estate which serves as backdrop, is elegant and noble.  The young lads seem to be neither, though the each have redeeming characteristics.

Jeri Hall, her private secretary, and several of her girlfriends-- so far including Mrs. Pete Townshend and Bill Wyman's beautiful grown daughter -- are interviewing a dozen young men, to find one worthy of being "kept."

Ms. Hall has had drinks at the pub with two of the young men, while the remaing contestants figured out sleeping arrangements in the house, with built in room cams watching.  There were more boys than beds, "to keep it interesting," Jeri grins with her sensuous Texas drawl.

Prima donna you say?  Yes, everybody is.  Two of the young men are gorgeous male models.  The competition is serious famong these young studs, but some of these guys haven't a clue about what a sophisticated woman wants.  To referred to Jeri's gal pals as "old ladies" was one young man's mistake.  The girls get together and analyze each young man's successes and dreadful failures, letting us in on the workings of the the women's minds.

One male contestant introduced himself by breaking into song, on bended knee, doing a bad Jagger impersonation.  No brownie points for him.  The next challenge was for the young men to buy Ms. Hall a 20 pound personall gift at the famous Harod's in London.  "I like presents," Jeri explains.  The camera followed their excursion, and later, after dinner, the gifting.  What can twenty pounds British purchase--gifting is not measured in value but in preparation.

The "lodge" is a mansion.  The first challenge was for the boys to swim across the "moat" to Ms. Hall, in the cold water, in a speedo, to prove their desire for this opportunity to be kept.  The divers only had to rescue one lad that went under for the full count.  That broke the jovial attitude of the bunch.  The surroundings in this English estate are lavish and exquisite.  The boys all are out of their culturally casual American environment.

With all the chivalry expected of a knight of the Round Table, along with attractive physique and features, a good personality, brains, and manners, the twelve hopefuls have already been illiminated down to nine.  The formal and fully elegant hotel dinner, with tablecloths, multiple eating utensils, and drinks, produced hungry boys who stuffed their mouths, and otherwise proved themselves unworthy of accompanying Ms. Hall to her numerous social functions across continental Europe.  There is alcohol, and adjusted attitudes, and the actions of those who drink too much providing entertainment.  One gentleman (?) did know how to hold a wine goblet.  These boys take credit where they can.  These Americans haven't lived in the same life as the woman they admire, and wish to serve.  The chasm they wish to span is deep and wide, and Jerry has plenty of pitfalls planned for them.

What a woman over 40 wants is not to pass dinner conversation making small talk about philosophical nonsense like "stars are like nipples, you know."  Jeri's rejections make sense, if you accept the premise.  A woman of fortune and estate ought to be able to keep a man ready for if and when she wants him, and he should treat her like a queen.  After looking over the beginning bunch, Jeri laughs, "I don't know how some of them got in."

Tune in to VH 1 next Thursday evening, and find another, definitely alternative, perspective on the male-female relationship.  Not yet over-the-line, it's entertainment for the female demographic, though men will be interested in Jeri's long legs, long blonde hair, and her elegant fashion wardrobe.  Next episode has Jeri taking the boys for a makeover.  I predict the pierced ones will soon be gone.  Do women enjoy viewing men get waxed?  We shall see.

More info on the individual male contestants, and the competition, can be found at the VH 1 web site.

The VH 1 web site indicates a showing on Sunday, June 5th.  Check your local listings for the time in your area.