SEA ISLE CITY — When local viewers tune into the Peacock reality dating series “Love Undercover,” they may see a familiar face.
Jacklyn Romano, 26, a Sea Isle City native and 2016 Ocean City High School graduate, is one of the 20 women on the streaming service show.
The premise has the women meeting and dating five extremely wealthy European soccer stars who are hiding their real identities so they can find women not just attracted to their money and fame.
The 10-episode “Love Undercover” series is billed as “a modern-day fairytale meets buddy comedy about an elite group of international soccer stars who come to the United States on a secret quest for true love. We’ll follow them on an epic journey filled with drama, heartbreak and self-discovery.
“Can they win over the ladies without their fame and fortune? Will they manage to keep their true identities a secret? And will any of them fall for an American princess before inviting them back to their home countries and testing their relationships on the global stage. For these men, finding love is the #1 goal.”
Romano is a young entrepreneur with a fitness center in Ocean View (Jacklyn.fit Studio) and an online swimwear boutique (Bikinisbyjacklyn, jacklynfit.com) who describes herself as a small-town Jersey girl.
“I got a mouth on me,” she laughs, something that is immediately apparent in the first episode, which aired with three other episodes May 9 on the Peacock Network. Episodes 5-7 are on this Thursday, May 16, and the last three, 8-10, air Thursday, May 23.
Romano, who was interviewed Friday by the Sentinel, was born and raised in Sea Isle City, noting she’s one of the few who lives there in summers and winters. She’s a third-generation graduate of OCHS after her father and grandfather, “so we’ve been down here for a minute.” She follows her family’s entrepreneurial spirit.
“We have our seasonal businesses down here in Sea Isle so I grew up working a lot and learning entrepreneurial skills from my parents, and that led me to open my own business,” she said.
Romano is in her sixth year running Jacklyn.fit Studio at 518 Sea Isle Blvd. E.
Romano’s Instagram, Jacklyn.fit, attracted the attention of a casting producer who messaged her.
“They were saying they liked my profile and were casting for a new show and thought I’d be perfect for it,” she said. Romano was open to it. “I hopped on a call five minutes later and that’s how it all started.”
Although that was quick, the process was not. There were months of interviewing, background checks, personality test, different kinds of quizzes and meetings.
“You don’t really know until the last couple of weeks if you’re 100 percent on the show or off the show, so it was a lengthly process,” she said of the producers trying to cast the right women who wouldn’t know the actual identities of the men they were dating.
“It was honestly like nothing I had done before. Social media is a big part of my job and I had never left Sea Isle for more than maybe a week my entire life, so being away from my friends and family was really challenging but I feel like I made the most of it,” Romano said about the production in Los Angeles, where she lived with the other women.
“I had a lot of fun. I looked for love and I’m excited to see whether you guys see if I find it or not.”
Did it live up to her expectations?
“The whole point of the show is that we didn’t know they were professional athletes, so when I got cast they said we’d be dating rich, successful men from foreign countries. I was like, ‘All right. Cool.’ I’m going to go in there. I live in this small town. Everyone knows each other — everyone you could possibly meet and start a family with,” she said.
However, she was surprised when the men told her about their (fake) professions.
“I thought, I’m getting up there (in age) so it’s the perfect opportunity for me, but I come in there (and they’re like) ‘I’m an ad salesman, I’m a construction worker.’ Well, I’m a 26-year-old multi-business owner. I didn’t really sign up for this. But I put my whole heart into it. I felt I stayed true to myself. I am a South Jersey gal, so I got a mouth on me. I’m strong, I’m independent and it definitely comes across in the show.”
She isn’t kidding about that. Viewers will see that immediately.
Romano enjoyed meeting the other women and the men. “It was fun to put the phones away and dive in and get to know both the guys and the girls.”
There was a challenging aspect, which was part of the point of the show.
Although she said being with the other women “was really comfortable and organic … We were all there looking for love and some of us were all looking for love in the same man, so you want to ask for advice from the women because you can’t talk to your fiends, you can’t talk to your family, you can’t talk to the people who genuinely know you.
“Feeling like I was in a competition with other women who were also powerful and great was the hardest part. I just felt like I want my mom. I need my mom’s advice. You want to keep it as kosher as possible. The competition aspect is what felt like the hardest at the moment.”
Romano said she is a fan of reality shows, enjoying “Love Island” and the “Real Housewives.” After her experience on “Love Undercover,” she said she would definitely do it again. Because she’s a successful entrepreneur here at home, she is already meeting her aspirations.
“I think I’m firing on all cylinders. I would just like to, I don’t know, start a family. Maybe that’s my next job,” she said.
Will viewers have to watch to see if that means a man of her dreams on “Love Undercover?”
“Exactly,” she laughed.
– STORY by DAVID NAHAN/Sentinel staff
– PHOTOS by CASEY DURKIN/Peacock