Quick scenario: you’re single, employed, work hard to manage your money, and recently met a great guy you can relate to and have mindblowing sex with. A few weeks into the relationship, you discover he’s unemployed, massively in debt and recently declared bankruptcy. Do you: 1) Dump him for being dishonest and not being able to manage his money 2) Listen to his explanation for his debt, (i.e. failed business venture) and proceed cautiously or 3) Try to forget about it and see where things go with him. After all, he’s an awesome catch and guys like him don’t come around often.

Personally, I would do number 2) (ha! sorry) and not dump him right away, but I would look at the guy differently from then on and the relationship would probably end anyway. This sort-of happened to me, on a different level, with a guy I was dating post-college. I found out he had hidden the fact that he was deep in credit card debt (not just a little, like defaulting on several cards and being pursued by creditors) and had fibbed about some other things. After that, I just couldn’t see him the same. It seemed so dishonest. There’s a difference between making mistakes and owning up to them, and trying to hide a big secret from your potential partner.

All of this is preface to the fact that Eva Longoria, a massively wealthy woman, is now dating a guy she met on the failed dating show she hosted, “Ready for Love.” (On NBC, natch.) Eva’s new beau, Ernesto Arguello, recently declared bankruptcy, is $4 million in debt, and was living on handouts from his family before he met Eva, 38. He’s 34 years old.

According to court documents obtained exclusively by The Enquirer, Ernesto filed Chapter 7 bankruptcy in 2012, listing $1,555 in assets and a whopping $4.1 million in total liabilities. At the time, he claimed he had just $5 cash on hand.

He listed more than $60,000 in outstanding student loan debt.

The bankruptcy petition revealed that he was on the hook for a whopping $4 million because he listed himself as a guarantor on a business debt from 2007.

Even worse, the court papers said handsome Ernesto was unemployed at the time of the filing, getting by on $2,000 a month he received from his family. With nearly $1,980 going toward monthly expenses, that left him about $20 pocket cash.

By comparison, Eva is worth an estimated $35 million.

Ernesto has been associated with at least 10 businesses in the last six years. His latest venture, Education Model Towns, LLC, was established in March 2013.

[From The National Enquirer, print edition, July 22, 2013]

They don’t really vet the people they put on those dating shows, do they? I’m like Anthony Mackie. If someone is deep in debt and doesn’t seem to value their credit, that’s nearly a dealbreaker for me. It might not be for Eva Longoria though. She’s loaded beyond belief and can more than afford to bankroll her new man. Maybe that keeps him closer too, you know? It’s not like he’s going to run off with another woman when he’s got a sweet sugar mama like that. At least that’s the plan. Ask LeAnn Rimes how that’s working for her.

I’m not disparaging wealth differences between partners by any means. In my mind there’s a big difference between a relationship like Jessica Simpson and Eric Johnson, where one of the partners was still financially responsible but just made less money. When one of the partners is seeking some kind of lifestyle upgrade after not being able to manage their own money, that’s a red flag.

Oh and Eva recently went to Paris with Ernesto, which is where she just happened to marry her ex husband, Tony Parker, on 7-7-07. She tweeted the photo below on July 7th, what would have been her anniversary. Tony may be engaged now, to his girlfriend of two years, journalist Axelle Francine.

She posted this photo to Instagram on 7-5-13 with the caption “@ernestoarguello and I had so much fun with the old gang last night in Austin!” Quite the whirlwind romance.