 |
| CLICK
TO ENLARGE |
CALGARY SUN MARCH 28, 2005
Love is a battlefield
by Tara Merrin
Calgary Sun
All is fair in love and war. That's why ABC's new Bachelor Charlie
O'Connell is making no apologies.
LOOKING FOR LOVE ... Charlie O'Connell, the less famous brother of
actor Jerry O'Connell, sets out to find love on the premiere of The
Bachelor airing March 28.
He says he's not sorry for breaking hearts on his way to finding love.
He is also not guilt-ridden about breaking-up with his girlfriend of
one year to take a turn on the reality dating show.
"We broke up about four months ago, and on and off for a while
before that. After about a year you have to decide if it's right, so
I broke up with her," he says.
"What better way to break up with a girl than to tell her you're
going on The Bachelor?"
His ex could probably think of a few, but O'Connell says he's confident
he made the right decision.
The New York native is currently dating his final two choices and will
chose one during the show's live finale in May.
"I may have hurt some feelings, but in the end I am proud of the
girls I have," he says "I am really looking forward to settling
down."
O'Connell, a real estate investor and actor who has long cherished
his carefree single lifestyle, was chosen for The Bachelor after his
famous brother Jerry O'Connell (Crossing Jordan) suggested it to a ABC
producer.
"(In high school) he was always setting me up and my mom was always
making me go on these dates," he says, adding many of those ended
badly. "But this one I'll thank him for."
Premiering March 28, this season's The Bachelor is being hailed as
an unplugged version without rules.
Roses (the way to invite a woman to stay) are handed out randomly,
there's a rapid dating session and the once-coveted individual date
is now feared. (At the end of the date, the woman either immediately
gets a rose or is sent home.)
So what type of women is O'Connell looking for?
"If I knew what I was looking for, I'd go get a mail-ordered bride,"
he says.
"I like a pretty girl, but they have to be able to make me laugh
and be willing to have fun. I'm not looking for someone who's a stick
in the mud."
O'Connell is also not interested women who are rude or have a fondness
for a certain relative.
"An immediate turnoff is if they like my brother. It has happened
in my life before that someone likes him because he's on things, but
... I don't know why," he says. "He's just a smaller, uglier
version of me."
Although he had no say in the 25 women chosen for the show, O'Connell
says the producers did a bang-up job.
In the end, there are two amazing women — one of whom he plans
to build a future with.
"I really tried to find a good girl and at the end I am hoping
our relationship does last," he says.
"That's the main goal, but I'm not trying to rush into marriage
because I plan on only doing it once in my life."
The Bachelor airs March 28 at 9 p.m. on A-Channel and 10 p.m. on ABC.
Article Obtained from calgarysun.com
