One of the two season-29 “Bachelor” finalists, Juliana Pasquarosa, is from West Newton.
The 28-year-old Pasquarosa is a client service associate for Winthrop Wealth, a wealth management firm, and manages social media for both La Beautique Salon in Newton, which her sister owns, and Honda Village, where her father is General Manager. Pasquarosa graduated from Lasell College (now Lasell University) in 2018 with a bachelor of science in marketing.
In Week Six of the show, Pasquarosa and the “bachelor,” Grant Ellis, traveled to Newton for her hometown-date, where she introduced Ellis to her family, including her parents Carl and Donna Pasquarosa.
According to ABC, “[Pasquarosa] comes from a big Italian family and aspires to find a lasting love like her parents have — they were high school sweethearts.”
During Pasquarosa and Ellis’ date in Newton, they visited local shops in Nonantum that highlight Pasquarosa’s Italian-American heritage. They made their own pizzas at D & A House Of Pizza and filled cannolis at Antoine’s Pastry Shop, arranged a bouquet for the Pasquarosa family at Busy Bee Flowers, and had espresso martinis outside of Olivia’s Bistro.
Before the hometown date, the producers of the show approached Carl Pasquarosa asking the Pasquarosa family to be the highlight of the hometown date. Carl Pasquarosa said he responded to them, “‘You should be very careful what you ask for. […] I could probably, get 30 people at a moment’s notice.’” As seen on the show, Pasquarosa and Ellis are greeted by her large family at the end of her hometown-date. Carl Pasquarosa said several relatives traveled from as far as Florida to support Pasquarosa on her Bachelor-journey.
“We’ve made our bones here in the city of Newton,” said Carl Pasquarosa, who is Vice President of the Saint Mary of Carmen Society, known for its annual Italian-American festival. Carl Pasquarosa said his parents moved to Newton over 72 years ago. “I think [the producers of the show] have shown the family in a positive light, and that we’ve represented the city well in terms of who we are and the Italian heritage that we have, and the closeness that we have as a family,” he said.
Pasquarosa did not sign up for The Bachelor; her older sister, Dominique Pasquarosa, did that for her. Both sisters were fans of the show’s prior seasons. “They’d watch it with their girlfriends,” said Carl Pasquarosa, who had never seen the show until his daughter’s season. “What prompted Dominque to sign [Juliana] up was Juliana’s lack of love life […] Juliana had no idea that [Dominique] had signed her up,” he said.
“Jules has a good head on her shoulders, and the instructions she received from her parents was just two traits going there […] grace and composure,” said Carl Pasquarosa. “She’s followed those instructions pretty well,” he said.
Terry Sauro, Head of the Nonantum Neighborhood Association, said she knows the Pasquarosa family through Olympia Pasquarosa, Carl Pasquarosa’s mother, who died in November 2021 at the age of 101. Sauro, who speaks highly of Olympia Pasquarosa and her bond with her grandchildren, said she has been watching the show every Monday to see Pasquarosa on TV.
When The Bachelor was filming in Newton last year, Sauro said she had seen the cameras, “Everybody was like, ‘What’s going on up there?’[…] and seeing [Pasquarosa and Ellis] walk around,” she said.
In the most recent episode, aired March 17, Pasquarosa received a rose from Ellis, progressing as one of two women who could win the show and become engaged to Ellis. Ellis must decide among the remaining contestants, Litia Garr and Pasquarosa. All will be decided in the finale that will air later in March.