HOLLYWOOD — In the tradition of 13 bachelors, 5 bachelorettes, Flavor Flav, Tila Tequila and the rest of the copycats, here comes Luke Conley, another young man on a very public quest for love.

Fox’s new “More to Love,” which premieres July 28 and runs for eight weeks, is the TV reality show for people who would never be seen on “The Bachelor” or “Dancing With the Stars.” The casting call was for “curvy and voluptuous” women who would compete for the heart of a “big, broad” man.
Enter Conley, 26, a former college offensive lineman, who wants to find a wife more than he wants to be the next reality star.
In June, Conley speed-dated 20 ladies in 25 days while living in the top-secret bubble of a Bel-Air mansion, without a phone, a TV or the Internet — and in front of 150 crew members, 10 fixed 24-hour cameras and 10 cameras on the move.
Not that being filmed around-the-clock bothers Conley, a real-estate investor from Santa Maria who is prone to uttering lines like, “If she’s got a big behind, she’s a friend of mine.”
Conley says he never watched dating shows. But when he came upon a Craigslist ad seeking men who love full-figured women, he sent an e-mail that began, “Sugar, look no further. I am the man for you!”
By then, production was 10 days from beginning and the search had been narrowed to two men.
“We totally switched,” says executive producer SallyAnn Salsano. “We all fell in love with Luke because he is so genuine. He makes the girls feel comfortable.”
A few days later, Conley, 6 feet 3 inches tall and weighing 330 pounds, moved into the mansion, hoping to meet the love of his life in front of millions of Americans.
Selected from 5,000 applicants, the bachelorettes range in ages from 21 to 37 years and in weight from 180 pounds to 279 pounds. Some are students, a few are teachers, and one is a rocket scientist. Most told producers they seldom date.
Because the women have struggled in the dating scene and Conley has had only one serious relationship, the tone of the show is different from executive producer Mike Fleiss’ other dating shows.
ABC’s “‘The Bachelor’ is about beautiful people living a beautiful life and hopefully finding a beautiful love,” he explains. “This show is like a sporting event. You’re rooting for someone to find love.”
Conley’s dating whirlwind began at the mansion with a mixer, and ended with five women going home and the rest receiving promise rings and an invitation to move in.
“To do this amount of dating and meet this many amazing women would probably take two to five years of my life,” Conley says. “And God knows how much money.”
On Day 9, Conley and six of the women arrived at the St. Regis Monarch Beach Resort in Dana Point for a group date at Spa Gaucin.
The ladies’ last names are not used to protect their privacy.
Conley pours wine and says he wants to enjoy himself without thinking about having to send someone home.
Supervising producer Mark Allen (one of 20 producers on the show) says it’s time for one-on-one spa treatments. Mandy, 26, a fitness instructor, is first. They head for hot stone massages and cozy up on a sofa, holding hands. She brings up Conley’s relationship with God.
“I am who I am because of my relationship with the Lord,” he tells her. “I pray every day, and I read the Bible, and it’s important to me to meet someone that shares my faith.”
Mandy seizes an opening: “Just so you know, not to be competitive, but no other girl in the house has a Bible ... to me, God is a third person in the room.”
Soon, they are passionately kissing. Next door, a dozen people are watching on monitors, including Salsano, who deadpans: “Excuse me, where did God go?”
“I’m amazed at how little the cameras affect the dates,” Fleiss says. “For me, personally, I could never do it. But these people who are in their 20s now grew up watching and understanding reality TV. They grew up with video cameras and cell-phone cameras and being on camera. These are dates on steroids. They get to the specific topics faster and they go harder at certain issues, despite the fact that there are video cameras everywhere.”
The producers decide that Tali, 26, a motivational speaker who grew up in Israel, is next.
“I think there’s been a deeper connection between you and I from the beginning,” Conley says when she arrives. “Whenever we lock eyes, I just feel that something happens.”
What happens next is a make-out session. During a short pause, they discuss religion, and Conley tells her that he’s willing to marry a non-Christian.
“They can talk about intimate things,” says Salsano, founder of 495 Productions. “But everything can’t be about a belief system. ... We have to get her out of there.”
Minutes later, Conley is in a wine bath with Malissa, 26, rubbing her back.
“You’ve got a knot here,” he says.
“I’ve got ’em everywhere,” she says.
“You’re a ‘naughty’ girl.”
Soon, they are making out.
“The stakes are higher (for Luke),” observes Salsano. “He’s really liking a few of the girls.”
Conley next shares hand massages and kisses with Kristian, 26; plays footsies in a hot tub with Anna, 27; and samples wine and cheese with Lauren, 26.
Later, at the mansion, he journals about the day, trying to keep it all straight in his head.
On Day 16, Conley has met the families of the four remaining women, and tonight he must send one home. One by one, he chats with the ladies in the mansion’s expansive backyard.
One of the women says that she wants to be a mother, but she doesn’t like babies. Another tells him that their relationship would not come second to her career. One is worried that cultural differences could get in the way. The last is stressed that her mother told Conley that she needs a lot of reassurance.
After the mini-dates, Conley is called into the interview room to discuss the elimination. He seems worn out and admits he is second-guessing whom he will send home.
“I just wish I could have more time with these four girls,” Conley says.
He can’t. The next morning, Conley is on a flight to Hawaii with the three contestants left. On Day 20 on Oahu, Conley sounds energetic. He has been enjoying longer, individual dates with the women. In two days, he will pick two finalists in a ceremony on Waikiki Beach, and three days later he will make his final choice. During the tense eliminations, he says, he avoids eye contact with the women.
“Coming into this thing, I had hopes of meeting someone special, but I knew it’s such a short amount of time to get to know someone,” he said. “So I’m just blown away to have such strong feelings about three girls at this point and that I’ve gotten so attached so quickly.”
Conley says he’s tried to focus on what he’s feeling — and not that this is all happening within the context of a TV show.
“The difficult part has been having to talk so much about what I’m feeling,” he says. “I usually like to spend a lot of time in thought and process things before I just open and verbalize them. I feel that words are very powerful, so I want to choose them correctly.”
His heart, he says, is pointing toward marriage. But he’s worried that his TV adventure could still lead to heartbreak if the woman of his dreams has a false perception of who he is because of the glamorous bubble in which they’ve met.
“I’m hoping that when I put my heart on the line that I don’t end up being heartbroken because I am planning on making myself vulnerable to a special woman at the end of this whole thing.”
After filming, editors are culling 2,250 hours of footage. Four editors take 12 weeks to complete one episode. If this year’s appetite for dating shows is any indication — the “Bachelor” franchise had a big resurgence — “More to Love” has a shot at becoming a sleeper hit. At a cost of about $1 million per episode, it’s an inexpensive gamble for Fox.
If Conley chooses one of the ladies and she accepts him, they will not be allowed to see each other until the show ends Sept. 15.
As he waits to see how his journey will play out on TV, Conley is back in Santa Maria, reunited with Max, his puppy, trying to re-establish his old routine.
“Cramming so much of ‘life’ into such a short period of time makes the readjustment period a little difficult,” he says. “I have had some trouble getting back into a normal sleeping pattern, but now after a month since the show wrapped, I finally feel like I’m getting back into the swing of things.”
Conley hopes that viewers will understand his decisions and intentions.
“And I hope that people who tune in, maybe at first they’ll just see plus-size women and definitely a plus-size man, but hopefully after they will tune in to the story — that these are sincere people looking for love,” he says.