The fever of royal romance hasn't been in short supply this past year. So imagine the furore that's erupted over the prospect of a descendant of the last Russian Tsar looking for a bride!

­Well its happening. And it seems the Scottish former stunt man, photographer and Bollywood actor Francis Mathew knows just where to look. Ukrainian girls are famed for their stunning looks and that's where he's going. But having had a Ukrainian girlfriend before, he's not content just to go speed dating in Kiev.

Mathew is the star of Ukraine's version of the hit American TV show, 'the Bachelor'. He's certainly made it easy for himself with no less than 16,000 Ukrainian ladies vying for his attentions. Both the women contestants and Mathew have to navigate the perils of romantic dinners, helicopter rides and Mathew fighting a 350kg bull as a matador. By far the most bullish are the girls though, with the reality show's makers reporting shouting matches and even fights between them over who gets to spend more time with him.

So how does a Scottish former stunt man claim royal Russian heritage. Mathew's sixty one year old mother is Princess Olga Andreeva Romanov. Her father was Andrey Alexandrovich Romanov who was the nephew of the last Tsar, Nicholas II. Mathew's grandfather managed to escape Russia after the 1917 revolution as communism and chaos engulfed the country. His uncle Tsar Nicholas II and his immediate family weren't so lucky. They were shot in a church basement by their Bolshevik captors.

Thankfully Mathew won't face any such tribulations. However language has proved a big barrier with earpieces and translation necessary for any communication between him and his hoard of hopefuls. Will the Romanov find Romance? You'll have to wait until the series comes out in March to find out.