Community Corner

Westfield Coffee Shop Owner Spills On Filming Reality Dating Show

The owner of Ahrre's Coffee in Westfield and Summit dishes on what it was like to be on Lifetime reality show 'Five Guys A Week.'

WESTFIELD, NJ — Not finding much luck on dating apps, local coffee shop owner Ahrre Maros decided to take a chance and join a Lifetime reality show — "Five Guys A Week."

When a casting company from California discovered Maros on a dating site and asked if he wanted to participate in a reality dating show, Maros thought, why not?

"I'm certainly single and hoping to find love and, you know, I've tried everything else," Maros told Patch. "I was like, 'what the hell, let's try this.'"

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But Maros said he was surprised by the amount of vetting that went into joining the television show. The casting company conducted a full background check on Maros, as well as a 90-minute psych evaluation and even STD testing.

"I guess they figured if I'm going to be moving into this house with this woman, they needed to clear me," Maros said.

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The concept of the show is that five guys move into a woman's home and live with her for a week — all at the same time. Each episode features an elimination process, where the woman sends home one man at a time until there is just one left.

Read more: Westfield Coffee Shop Owner To Appear On Lifetime Reality T.V. Show

Maros's episode aired on Aug. 3, but he said the filming took place back in March. He had to submit five "blackout dates" before filming, which took place in the Hamptons, New York.

He was also asked to submit five outfits that he would wear on the show. This included a casual outfit that he would arrive in, a formal outfit and a few others.

In addition, Maros was required to bring a house warming gift for the woman, named Joyce, which he thought was a perfect opportunity to bring a coffee gift basket, allowing him to open up about his business and his life.

At first, Maros said it was hard to get used to all the cameras that would follow his every move. He said there were about 25 robotic cameras on the wall at all times. Outside of the house, there were also three trailers with about 50 people watching and listening in, Maros said.

"Imagine walking into a situation where there's just cameras everywhere," Maros said. "You get used to it, but you know, those first 15 minutes were pretty intense."

Maros said his episode was the best-rated episode of the series so far. He thinks the viewership was high because the age range of the men were higher, and Lifetime's demographic is an older generation.

"I think our group was just a little more mature, the average age of the prior episodes, and most of the ones coming up, is 35," Maros said.

The average age of his episode was 55, Maros said. Maros himself is 62 years old, and he said the youngest man on his episode was 42.

Maros said he got along well with other guys that moved into the house, and they still keep in touch to this day.

"There was this general sense that, yeah, we're in competition with each other, but we're also there to support each other because this was wacky, right?" Maros said.

Maros said one of the men, stock trader Ron from New York City, was a stand-up comic by night and "kept the mood light" throughout the filming.

"He ultimately drove us all crazy, but he ... was constantly cracking everybody up," Maros said.

Spoiler alert: Ron ends up winning the whole show, as Joyce decides to pick him at the end of the episode.

Maros was the first man to walk into the house and meet Joyce, but unfortunately, he was also the first to leave.

"I didn't want to be the first one to go," Maros said. "I was hoping I'd be the third one at least. It was quite a shock. But I am super glad I had the experience, and we've all become really great friends," Maros said.

In fact, the men have become such great friends that they all got together for a watch party in the Hamptons last week for the premier. Maros said Ron wasn't able to attend, so the men thought it would be funny to take a photo in bed with Joyce to "screw with him a little bit."

Check out the photo Maros sent in below:

You can watch the full episode of Five Guys A Week on Lifetime. Maros is featured in the fourth episode of the series.

You can also check out this clip from the episode on YouTube below:

Have a news tip? Email remy.samuels@patch.com.

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