SHOWBIZ TONIGHT MARCH 28th 2005
BRYANT: The new season of "The Bachelor" premiers
tonight on ABC. This single guy this time around, 29-year-old Charlie
O`Connell. Now, Charlie is an actor. So is his brother, Jerry O`Connell.
And last Thursday, of course, we got to know Jerry pretty well here
on SHOWBIZ TONIGHT when he joined us to talk about his own show, "Crossing
Jordan." Hard-working family you got here. Well, we`re going to
be chatting live with Charlie in just a second, but first a look at
the new season of "The Bachelor."
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
CHARLIE O`CONNELL, "THE BACHELOR": Welcome to my LA
home. That`s my brother.
JERRY O`CONNELL, "CROSSING JORDAN": Hey, what`s up,
little brother? Yes!
CHARLIE O`CONNELL: My brother and I were very close growing
up. We did everything together. And we`ve been each other`s best friends
ever since we were little.
JERRY O`CONNELL: Yes, I mean, I think there`s, like, part of
you that would like a significant other in your life.
CHARLIE O`CONNELL: I don`t know. I think I`m a sucker to fall
in love, so I think there`s definitely a good chance that I could fall
in love.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
BRYANT: Charlie, a sucker to fall in love! You think you`re
going to be successful in the show?
O`CONNELL: Oh, I think it`s definitely working out. Right now,
I`m down to two girls. And it really is working out. But you got to
check them out in real life, too, and see if a relationship can happen.
And so far, so good.
BRYANT: Now, this time, they`ve done things a little definitely.
I saw also that you had a quick speed date type of thing going on, where
you had to make quick judgments?
O`CONNELL: Yes, this thing -- this time around, when I got chosen
to do it, I said I was going to do it, things were going to be different.
And they`re different because I`m a jeans guy. I don`t like to wear
suits. And I didn`t want it to be like a fairy tale thing, you know?
I`m no Prince Charming. So I just thought it should be something that`s
more real. And yes, it was mean of me, but the girls got five minutes
to get dressed right off the bat on the first minute...
BRYANT: Yes.
O`CONNELL: You look like you`re ready to kill me...
(CROSSTALK)
BRYANT: No, I just -- I thought it was amusing that you did
that because they didn`t have the chance to primp and, you know, get
everything ready and...
O`CONNELL: And the first -- and the first thing, I had two minutes
to spend with every girl, and it`s just something to get a spark, whether
it be, you know, just -- you know, obviously, attraction is something
that`s important. But then once you get past that, it`s, like, just
go for it, you know? I`m nervous, you`re nervous. But let`s just see
if we can -- wrong or right, we got two minutes here. Let`s see if this
can grow.
BRYANT: Right. But what I don`t understand is how you can be
nervous. You`re a successful actor. I got to believe your brother`s
hooking you up on dates. You don`t, like, double date with him? He`s
got a gorgeous girlfriend.
O`CONNELL: I`ve double dated with my brother my whole life,
and frankly, it`s overrated.
BRYANT: Is it?
O`CONNELL: He does...
BRYANT: He`s not good wing man or what?
O`CONNELL: No, he`s an OK wing man. He`s an OK wing man. But
every once in a while, there`s a silent one, and you know, he doesn`t
own up to it. He`s got nerve.
BRYANT: OK. All right. All right.
O`CONNELL: Got you nervous there.
(CROSSTALK)
BRYANT: OK.
O`CONNELL: No, it`s (UNINTELLIGIBLE) no, he`s a good wing man.
But I prefer to -- I prefer to just -- you know, this is a great opportunity,
to have thousands of girls try out for it and then narrow it down to
25, and then it`s up to me from there to pick a great girl.
BRYANT: Right.
O`CONNELL: It can work.
BRYANT: Do you think you could have done it in reverse, if there
was a woman who...
O`CONNELL: I couldn`t have -- I definitely couldn`t have done
it in reverse, and I couldn`t have -- and I said that to the girls.
A lot of the girls, obviously, you know, I don`t know how you do it,
being 1 of 25. But they also said that they wouldn`t want to be me.
BRYANT: Right. Well, we`re looking at some of this. This is,
I guess, some footage of your speed dates here. I saw a couple of young
women come in with, you know, drinks, for body shots. Some of them stripped
down into bikinis right away. I mean, this was a tough morning for you,
wasn`t it.
O`CONNELL: It was definitely wild. I didn`t expect it. I didn`t
know it was happening. I was just getting to meet the 25 girls, and
I thought -- and that was overwhelming enough. And then all of a sudden,
bam, they throw you right into two minutes with each girl.
BRYANT: Yes.
O`CONNELL: But after the end of it, I realized that that`s a
great -- that was a great way to do it because I want to spend time
with all of them, and to have a two-minute equal opportunity is -- it
seemed fair.
BRYANT: OK. And this time, though, you`re saying you`re keeping
it more real. There`s not going to be -- you know, because you see women
falling in love, but it`s because they flew to Paris for dinner, do
you know what I`m saying? That`s...
O`CONNELL: Right. No, that`s exactly why I felt that this --
it has to -- it had to be more real because at the end of this, you
know, you`re coming outside this bachelor bubble, and if you want a
relationship to work...
BRYANT: Right.
O`CONNELL: ... you`ve got to...
BRYANT: Got to -- got to keep it real.
O`CONNELL: Yes.
BRYANT: All right. Well, thank you, Charlie O`Connell, for joining
us. You can catch the 7th season of ""The Bachelor" tonight
on ABC.
Transcript obtained from transcripts.cnn.com
