By Phil Kural

January 30, 2003

Many of the women on Joe Millionaire - both past and still present - have had that certain "gold digger" quality to them. But one has continued to stand out by, well, not standing out. Zora seems to be there for all the right reasons, and she isn't going to put on an act just to win.

Joe Millionaire has swept the nation. Many viewers are tuning in each week to find out which gold digger Evan will boot next. However, since the beginning, one contestant has made it quite clear that the money is really not that big a deal, and if anything, it makes her a little uncomfortable. She has sat in the background fidgeting for most of the episodes and many did not expect her to get as far as she has. This woman is the beautiful Zora. From the opening scene in the first episode when we saw Zora riding up to the château I knew I liked her; and I would love to see her find true love. What has Zora done in order to gain my applause? Read on, my friends….

Like I just stated above, it is nerve-wracking wondering who Evan will not give the jewelry too that week. The anticipation of wondering if the evil stepsisters (Sarah & Melissa M.) will get to the next round, or if the sweet contestant who is not there for the money (Zora) will see another day. Zora has hung around from the beginning never really drawing that much attention to herself. Unlike some of the other girls, when Zora found out that Evan had money she was not about to try and suck up to him like some of the others had. She had gone there to find love and keep the integrity that she had. As far as I am concerned at this point, that is still intact. There has not been an incident yet where Zora has tried to seduce Evan or try to make a move on him. She is letting things happen as they do, and not worrying about being catty with the other girls.

From the beginning, I actually picked Zora and Melissa M. as my two favorites. I could not be further than my original opinion about Melissa M. than I am now. It seems that all she does is talks about how great she is and there is never really a time that when she is in the presence of Sarah that they are not trashing one of the other girls. Granted, Melissa is a very cute girl, but I'm surprised that Evan has not seen through her yet. She didn't really want to pick grapes, she was not a big fan about the picture he gave her, and to top it all off she did not want to cook when they hung out at the chateau for their date. Now, in saying this I have to admit that Zora did not have fun on her second date with Evan either. They could not find anything to talk about and she said she felt awkward the whole time. That could be a good thing. Although Zora may be a little shy, she is honest. She was not trying to impress Evan with lies the way that Melissa and Sarah do. Even if they don't feel that they are connecting with him they act as if they are. Zora is not that way, and that is what I like about her. If she is not having a good time, or if the situation is not her thing than she shows that. She will not lie and make it look like she is having a good time. If Evan is looking for honesty, than Zora is his girl.

Then I start to worry. I'm not sure I want Zora to win because I will feel really bad watching her find out that the man she may be falling in love with was telling her a lie the whole time. Will she take it badly? I would sure hope not, but if she wins and is upset about the fact that Evan was lying to her, I think she has the right to be. I mean, she was lied to, but was starting to fall in love. That is why a part of me wants Sarah or Melissa to win. They are so conceited and pompous that watching their hearts (or wallets) shatter when they find out that Evan does not have any money would just make my day. I don't think I would be able to handle it if Zora won and had to hear the bad news. However, maybe she won't care at all. That would be even better because she would have won the game and have Evan too. I can almost bet that if Sarah or Melissa wins and they find out he does not have any money that they will act like they don't care. (If there's one thing we have recently found out, it's that Sarah can act - at least in certain types of movies.) The only thing about that is nobody will believe it because of all the times they said right to the camera that the money was an issue for them. I would love to see Evan burst their bubble by telling them there is no money. In the end though, I would love to see good triumph over evil by seeing Evan choose Zora as the one he loves.

I'm going to try and keep this as short as possible because I don't want to ramble on and on about how much I love Zora and what a great person I think she is. I hope that even if she doesn't win, eventually she will find love. She does things for the right reasons. Zora is there for love, not money. That is just a bonus to her, if she even cares at all. If you are reading this, Zora, there are plenty of guys out there that would love an honest, caring, giving woman like yourself. Good luck in the future and good luck on the show. I wish you the best.