ABC Leslie Fhima with Gerry Turner.
“Golden Bachelor is not Leslie Fhima’s first attempt to make it on a reality television show.
Before she was selected as a contestant on the “Golden Bachelor,” Fhima tried out for, and was cut by, the television show “Shark Tank.” The revelation about “Shark Tank” comes in a 2015 article in the publication TC Jew Folk.
“Golden Bachelor” Gerry Turner has narrowed his final two choices down to Fhima, a fitness instructor from Minneapolis, Minnesota, and Theresa Nist, a New Jersey widow who works in finance. Some fans think clues indicate Turner chooses Fhima, 64, but other fans believe that evidence is not conclusive.
Fhima’s “Golden Bachelor” bio doesn’t mention “Shark Tank” or PowerBark, the product that almost got her on that show.
Here’s what you need to know:
Leslie Fhima Revealed in 2015 That She & Her Business Partner ‘Were Supposed to Be on Shark Tank’ for a Dog Meal Bar Invention
According to the 2015 article, Fhima had helped create a product named “PowerBark” that she wanted to pitch on “Shark Tank.”
“PowerBark is my business that I own with a partner that I used to skate with in the Ice Follies. We started it about five years ago. I had the idea and the recipe, but I didn’t really know what to do with it. She took it and made it into a bar,” the article quotes her as saying.
She pitched the item as a “meal on the run for the dog on the go,” the article says. “We’re in about 25 stores across the country. It’s also available online through our website, Powerbark.com, and Amazon.com,” Fhima told TC Jew Folk at the time. That URL links to a website that no longer exists, however.
Fhima revealed to the publication: “We were supposed to be on Shark Tank, but they cut us a week before we were supposed to leave… And then our competitor got on. That was a tough one.”
In the article, Fhima described her interests as spending time with her grandson, snowboarding, live music, being outdoors, and working out. She said she had to work full-time in addition to the PowerBark business.
“I love cooking, and I love having my family over. I also get to make my matzo ball soup, which is famous with my children,” she told the site.
Leslie Fhima’s PowerBark Business Got Some Media Attention at the Time & She Promoted the Product on an Old Instagram Page
In 2016, Fhima was featured in a CBS News article about PowerBark.
“One day I was eating a cliff bar and [Sadie] was looking at me like, ‘I’m hungry!’ And I thought, ‘Why can’t there be something like this for dogs?’ So easy! Just take it, it’s a bar, easy to feed,” Fhima said to CBS News of her dog.
According to CBS, Fhima said, “I made it in my home; pumpkin, oatmeal, banana and honey. Sadie loved it.”
CBS News described Fhima as “a marathon runner and an aerobics champion.”
Fhima’s LinkedIn page still touts PowerBark, “I am passionate about my product PowerBark. A Meal on the Run for the Dog on the Go! As a personal trainer, I’d often take my dog Sadie with me all day. She would miss her meals until we got home later. I was eating a protein bar one day when I thought ‘why can’t there be something like this for dogs!”‘ I decided to forge ahead and develop PowerBark.”
Fhima promoted the PowerBark product on an old Instagram page. However, she stopped posting on that page in 2015. PowerBark had its own Instagram page but hasn’t posted on it since 2019. Her old Instagram page also shows her posing for a picture with Kathy Griffin. The page dates to 2012 and also includes photos of Fhima with an unidentified man she called “my guy.”
PowerBark is now listed as unavailable on Amazon.com, where it garnered mixed reviews.
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Leslie Fhima Was Cut From Another Reality TV Show Before ‘Golden Bachelor’