BRIEF BRUSH WITH FAME
Calgarian recounts experiences on The Bachelorette
While the whole experience was a whirlwind, Rob Howard says he did give some serious thought to the possible implications of participating in ABC’s the Bachelorette.
For those few who aren’t in the know, the Bachelorette is part of a long-running reality-TV franchise where guys or gals fight for the hand of an eligible bachelor or bachelorette, often in exotic locations across the world. The contestants are eliminated one-by-one until the star of the show — in this case Bachelorette No. 13, lawyer Rachel Lindsay — chooses a soulmate.
The idea is that the two then get married and live happily ever after.
“Little details, right?” jokes the amicable Howard, a Calgary-born law student currently working and studying in Houston. “You know, like being engaged ... and married ... for the rest of your life, allegedly.”
But while the premise of the show may be somewhat “goofy”— Howard’s word — he did think hard about how the result could have life-altering ramifications. He was game.
“When you’re married, it’s the story you’re going to be telling for the rest of your life and I thought that would be a pretty neat way to do it,” he says. “Where you guys meet? We meet on TV in L.A. in front of America. That’s pretty cool. So, yes I did, I did think of the implications.”
It was all for naught. As fans know, Howard’s time in the reality-TV spotlight was decidedly brief. On Monday, May 22, Howard was introduced to America as one of Lindsay’s 31 potential suitors. By the end of episode 1, he and seven others had been shown the door.
Of course, the reality of reality-TV is a lot different from what we see at home. Filmed back in March at the Bachelorette mansion in Los Angeles, it was an exhausting all-night af- fair and Howard was forced to keep the details to himself until the show aired earlier this month. On that night in March, contestants were driven from a hotel to the mansion after being sequestered for a few days. Once there, the game was on. They were miked the entire time — “You’re even miked when you go to the bathroom,” Howard says — and cameras roll throughout the night. This gives producers a whole lot of footage to choose from but also requires the 31 contestants to compete with each other for precious airtime and Lindsay’s attention. By the time of the rose ceremony — where contestants find out if they will move onto the next round — the sun was coming up.
Howard’s screen time was limited, to say the least. While some commentators have suggested he was among the best-looking of the contestants, others pointed out that his slightly dishevelled look and decision to wear glasses may have worked against him. During his brief exchanges with Lindsay, he said something about her being his “first-round draft pick,” a line that some bloggers and critics found more confusing than endearing.
He did do an exit interview, although none of it was aired.
He admits he was perhaps a bit jaded at the time.
“I was caught off-guard by being sent home in front of every single person I had ever met, potentially, on TV on the first night,” he says with a laugh.
The elimination likely came as a surprise to those who know him. It was a Calgary friend and her mother that actually wrote up the application for him. After all, Howard seems like a perfect candidate for a dating-game show. Obviously easy on the eyes, his lawyerly ambitions also seemed to give him common ground with this year’s Bachelorette. He is working toward his Juris Doctorate law degree and speaks four languages: Spanish, French, Mandarin and English. After graduating from the University of Calgary he spent most of his 20s working and studying abroad, including stints in China, Taiwan, Peru, Spain, and the Amazon.
Not that any of this interesting background was revealed in much detail in episode 1 of The Bachelorette. Howard admits that some of the problem may have been jitters. He had received mixed messages after asking advice from mentors, law professors and fellow students about whether appearing on reality-TV was wise for someone who wants to practise law. Part of him remained leery about the series producing less-than-flattering clips that would live forever on YouTube.
“In the end, I think part of the reason I couldn’t click with Rachel was that I was so concerned with them making me look like a goofball,” he says. “I walked in probably a little too suspicious of what they were doing and just couldn’t be myself.”
Still, Howard says it was a positive experience. He hasn’t ruled out trying out for other reality shows. He’s also using it to his business advantage. While studying at Houston’s South Texas College of Law, he also launched a new business that will at least partially play off his brief TV stardom. Canada Robby’s Amazon Shop (www.canadarobbys.com) is ostensibly focused on selling a handsome leather valet designed for corralling “random loose items like keys, phone, wallet and change.” But those who purchase this item will also get to chat with Howard, via Skype, about “life, love, relationships, business ... anything within my confidentiality agreement with the show.”
When he agreed to go to the auditions in Houston last summer, he had no idea this adventure would last so long.
“I had two roommates at the time, was in law school doing summer classes and didn’t tell anybody I was doing this,” he says. “I just thought I’d jump in the Uber, go down to this casting call, have some fun with it, get cut right away and move on with my life. Now here I am talking with Eric from Postmedia about it almost a year later. It’s pretty wild.”