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Interview - DeAnna Pappas
Love It, Like It, Hate It had the opportunity to interview DeAnna Pappas, ABC's newest star of the reality series "The Bachelorette". Pappas told reporters that she had just finished filming the new season, and that even though the 26-year-old from Georgia couldn't tell us if she fell in love, she did give us a few tidbits.
"I am very happy with the way the show has ended. At this moment, I will just say I'm very happy with the way the show ended," Pappas told reporters during a Wednesday conference call.
When LLH asked Pappas what she is most excited for the audience to see this season, she replied, "I want America and all the people that supported me to hopefully see a love story, to hopefully see happiness, to hopefully see people connect, and know that the show, it works. People really do find love. People really do fall in love."
Last year on "The Bachelor", Pappas was one of two girls left broken-hearted by Brad Womack at the end of the final show. "I was really confused when it happened," Pappas told reporters about Womack rejecting her. "But after it was all over, said and done with, I was actually very happy that Brad stood up for what he believed in and didn't propose to someone just because he was under pressure. I'm thankful that he didn't propose to me. Everything happens for a reason, and I'm where I am today because of all of that, and I'm very happy for that."
"I do have a newfound respect for Brad and all the other bachelors and bachelorettes," she said. "It's definitely a tough process. I don't think I realized how hard it was going to be sometimes. I have a newfound respect for what all of those people went through."
But Pappas told LLH she did go into the new season with a little fear and reservation that things might not work out for her. "Given my past relationships and given what happened with Brad, obviously I wanted to make sure that I wasn't going to get my heart broken again," she explained. "I went into this 100%, put my heart on the line, and hoping that somebody wouldn't take it and run away with it and crush me."
"The Bachelor" also taught Pappas a huge lesson about love and loss that she will always be grateful for. "I realized that it's okay — people get their heart broken everyday," Pappas told LLH. "But you get up, you smile, it's a beautiful world, and you get over it. That just means that there's somebody that much better out there for you. If you never fall in love, what's the point of being in a relationship — ever?"
Even though Womack broke her heart, and payback towards the male race might sound good to some of us, Pappas said it never entered her mind. "I'm not one of those people that tries to get revenge," she said. "It's kind of hard with such a great group of guys to be tough on anyone. It's all about everyone having fun and finding love."
Pappas told reporters that she never considered not picking one of her suitors like Womack did the year before. "My thoughts on [not picking one at the end] is that I find it hard with them finding 25 great guys with all the qualities that I look for and me not finding at least one that I would like to further a relationship with," she explained.
The producers for the show picked 25 wonderful guys for Pappas to choose from. Pappas said the cast for "The Bachelorette" "really far exceeded my expectations — they are great, wonderful, beautiful men."
When asked what Pappas was looking for in a man, she said, "I wanted to make sure that these guys were family-oriented, goal-oriented, career-driven, that they were happy, that they loved to travel, and that they're always open to new things. The fact that they're tall, dark and handsome doesn't hurt."
Pappas told reporters how different it was for her to be "The Bachelorette" on night one, since she knows what it feels like to be in there place. "It's funny because when you're one of those 25 girls, and you're coming out of those limos, you're just so nervous you don't even know what you're saying," she told reporters before clearing up how she approached the first night. "For me, I was a little nervous because out of 25 people, hopefully one of them is the one. So I was a little bit nervous. But once the limos started arriving, I was so excited because here I am with 25 almost perfect guys showing up just to date me. I was so excited."
When asked what Pappas thought of all the crazy things the men did for her on night one, she said, "I know what it's like to be one of those people on night one — just trying to stand out, trying to make sure you get your point across, trying to make sure that one person notices you. So I was completely flattered that these guys were doing things like this to catch my attention."
On this season of "The Bachelorette", there are a few twists. For one, the men will live in a home that is much more humbling then those of previous contestants. They live in what is being referred to as the 'bunker house' and is more like a dorm than a mansion. And second, Papas will get to ask a trio of men at a three different times throughout the season to live with her. "I was so excited that I got that option," Pappas told reporters.
"Early on in the show, everyone's number 1 complaint is, 'I didn't get enough time! I didn't get enough time to get to know her!' With this, if you were one of the three guys living in the house and you didn't take the time to get to know me, then that was your own fault. We had endless amounts of time. So I was all about it because it gave me the extra time to get to know these guys — to see which one was best for me."
When asked what Pappas' thoughts of Trista Rehn's experience and success with "The Bachelorette" (Rehn married her suitor Ryan Sutter, and they now have one child), Pappas replied, "She's like the poster child for 'The Bachelorette'. I saw her actually when they revealed I was going to be The Bachelorette, and she gave me some pretty good advice: to just follow my heart and be true to myself. I could only hope to have a successful relationship like she has."
Rehn might have given her some great advice but according to Pappas, The Bachelorette is an "odd situation."
"I'm a one-man kind of woman. I don't date multiple guys at one time," she explained. "So it was tough trying to sit in a room and make sure I'm not paying attention to one guy more than the other six guys that are there. It was definitely a different situation for me."
When LLH asked what Pappas how "The Bachelorette" changed her life, Pappas said, "This has been the craziest yet most amazing experience of my life — doing 'The Bachelor' and 'The Bachelorette'. I've learned so much about myself and life and love and people and everything."
"The Bachelorette's" fourth season will premiere this Monday, May 19 at 9PM ET/PT and then it will move to its normal time of 8-10PM ET/PT beginning Monday, May 26.
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