Former UA star talks ‘Bachelorette’
ALBANY, N.Y.» Mike Black was a standout guard for UAlbany from 2009-2013. He started in 94 consecutive games, was a captain, and had nine 20-plus point games. He might be most famous for his game-winning layup in the America East finals vs. Vermont in 2013. It helped the Great Danes make the NCAA Tournament.
He’ll always have that on his resume. But it’s no long what he’s best known for doing. The former Dane was a contestant on season 13 of The Bachelorette. He was in the season premier on Monday, and was eliminated.
He recounted the experience in an interview with The Record, going into great behind-the-scenes detail of his thoughts on the months-long process.
Q: How did you get on the show?
A: The first time I’ve ever watched that show was Monday night. So this happened in September. I’m in the gym working out, minding my business. And I see this guy in the gym. He has jeans on and a polo tee-shirt. And he’s just constantly staring at me. And in my mind, I’m like, ‘What the hell is this guy looking at?’ And I remember texting one of my friends, Jason, who used to play at UAlbany as well. I text him, and I’m like, ‘This guys is checking me out and it’s kind of awkward.’ I see this guy looking at me. So 10 minutes later, I go to the other side of the gym. I turn back around, and he’s still there looking at me. And he’s in his phone, texting. And I’m like, ‘What the hell is going on?’
A couple minutes go by. He
comes up to me. He’s like, ‘Hey, I know this might sound weird. But I’m a recruiter for The Bachelorette. I think you’d be a great contestant. You’re good looking. You’re fit. Have you ever heard of the show before?’ I told him, to be honest, I’ve heard of the show, but I’ve never watched it at all. I know with reality TV, it’s all about drama. That’s not me. He’s like, ‘No, no, it’s not drama. It’s not staged. I think you’ll have a lot of fun. You’ll get to travel. This, that and the third.’ So he took a picture, took down my email address and my phone number. And he submitted it to the casting producers. They ended up calling me a week later for a phone interview. And then they flew out to Chicago in December. We had a phone interview in the hotel. And then a month later, they called me again, flew me out to California for another interview. A couple weeks later they called me again. Flew me out to California for the final interview. And then before you know it, in the blink of an eye, I’m getting out of the limo talking to Rachel.
To be honest, I’ve never watched that show before. People think that I’m a fan of the show or that I watch it. But no. I got recruited by a recruiter. I was minding my own business. Nobody really believes that, but that’s the God’s honest truth. It’s crazy.
Q: They hire people to go to gyms to recruit?
A: I didn’t know that either. I was talking to one of the recruiters and producers. He was telling me that they have over hundreds and thousands of applications.
For me to even just get picked, I felt like that was an honor. Only 30 guys out of 100,000 applications, for me to get picked? I felt honored. I couldn’t say no.
Q: What’s the experience of the night?
A: To be honest, I can’t tell you a lot because we signed a contract. I can’t tell you everything. The experience is something you really have to do it on your own. You can’t really describe it. So much is going on. So much commotion. It’s just too much. To be honest, even in the middle of the night, I’m like, ‘This is not for me. I hope they send me home.’ It’s a once in a lifetime experience for sure.
Q: It seems like a lot of people talk about marrying Rachel. What did you think of that, and what did you want to get out of the experience?
A: It’s just too much. Some of the guys are doing too much. Rachel really wasn’t there. Maybe we saw her for a total of an hour and a half. Whenever she would come downstairs, guys would just be running to her. I’m just like, ‘What the f*ck is going on? Like calm down, relax.’ If those guys acted the way they did in the real world, they’d scare a woman away. That’s what the producers wanted. They wanted them to throw themselves at this girl. And this and that.
And I’m just like, to be honest, on the show I’m not going to be doing all this stuff. I’m not going tell America that I want to marry this girl and that I want to have a kiss with this girl when I don’t know who this girl is. It’s reality TV. That’s what they want. That’s what the people want.
Q: What was your plan for getting out of the limo?
A: I only told a couple people I was going to be on the show. And they were like, ‘Oh my goodness, what’s your intro going to be? What are you going to say to her?’ I told them, I’m just going to go up there, introduce myself. And that’s that. And they’re like, ‘No, no, you can’t do that. You have to do something crazy so you can stand out.’ And I’m like, ‘What are these people talking about?’ So a couple days before, the producers came to my room and they’re asking me what’s my plan. And I told them, to be honest, I don’t have a plan. I’m just going to introduce myself and try to win her over with my charm or whatever.
And they’re like, ‘No, you’ve got to think of something corny. Think of something good. Think of something so you can catch her attention. I had a little brownie, and I was like, ‘The black of the brownie is sweeter.’ It was kind of corny, but still wasn’t me. I know some of the guys came out with a marching band. One guy came out with an ambulance truck. It was a lot going on that night to say the least.
Q: So you didn’t get any alone time with Rachel?
A: Here’s the thing, the night is so long. We were up all night. Cameras were around all night. They only showed an hour and a half, two hours of the show. Everybody got their alone time. They just didn’t show my alone time with her. People think that, ‘Oh you should have done this, you should have talked to her.’ I did all that. But the producers, they pick and choose what they want to show.
Q: Were you disappointed not to be featured?
A: My thing was, I was in the gym minding my business. Some guy came up to me. I guess he thought I was very attractive, good looking. I didn’t apply for this show. And for me to even be on ABC on national television, I don’t care. Nobody else can say that. Was anybody else on this show? Did anybody else get three or four minutes? So hell yeah, I was happy. I didn’t care. I was on the premiere of The Bachelorette for a good three or four minutes. If anything that was a win for me. I didn’t apply for the show or anything. I’m satisfied with it. Other doors are starting to open for me. There’s no complaints from my side.
Q: What doors are opening as a result of the show?
A: Can’t really say, but just my couple minutes of fame on TV definitely helped me out. Let’s just say that.
Q: How do you put your life on hold for this?
A: It was really tough. Like I said before, this process started in September, and I didn’t really tell my job until I would say, mid-February. Because to be honest, I thought it was a joke. I didn’t know who this guy was who gave me his business card. I didn’t know if he was a creep or anything. I told my boss mid-February. And my boss, he’s a big fan of the show. So he was all for it. He was like, ‘Yeah man, go do it. Try it out it will be so much fun.’ I ended up taking a leave of absence. Which was perfect for me. So even when I got eliminated the first night, I came back home and still had a job.
I was talking with some of the guys. I’m still cool with a lot, actually all the guys on the show. At least three or four of the guys who got eliminated in the first round, they quit their jobs. They spent like five or six thousand dollars on clothes. And now they’re out of a job. That’s crazy. To be honest, I wouldn’t have gone on the show if my boss wouldn’t have allowed me to take a leave of absence.
Q: What did you think of the whaboom guy?
A: I don’t know if it was an act or whatever. But he’s going to be famous now off that. I can’t knock him for it. I don’t want to say he made a fool out of himself on national television. But he has over 12,000 followers within a couple of days. And everyone’s doing the whaboom. So if anything, kudos to him. He might get some TV deals and commercials. He might appear in some movies. I’m happy for him. If anything, I really don’t care that he made a fool of himself on TV.
Q: Do people do the show so they can get the attention?
A: Oh 1,000 percent. 1,000 percent. 100, man. Like I said, I can’t really tell you everything that happened or everybody’s intentions. You’ve seen the show. Do you really think people looking for love? Put it like this. Out of the 31 guys, I’d probably say two. Two might have been on that show for the right reasons.
Q: Did you feel like it wasn’t what you thought it might be or should be?
A: I wouldn’t say I wanted to go home on the first night, I was just overwhelmed of the whole process. And the week leading up to me getting out of the limo. It just wasn’t Mike Black. It wasn’t for me, to be honest.
Q: Did you like Rachel?
A: So many guys, they were so thirsty to have an opportunity to talk to her. It’s not a normal situation where you meet a girl. You introduce yourself for a couple of minutes. You might buy her a drink. You might ask her what she does, this and that. Honestly, each guy probably only had like a minute and a half. So I’m probably only talking to Rachel. And we’re having a good conversation for like a minute or a minute and a half. And all of a sudden, a guy just interrupts me and takes her away from me. She can’t say no. She can’t just say no, I’m talking with Mike. She has to say yes to everybody. Our conversation went well. I introduced myself. I knew she liked basketball. I told her I played professional basketball and she liked that. It was just a normal conversation.
Q: Were you surprised to be eliminated?
A: No. I wasn’t surprised. I kind of figured that out in the middle of the night. You can’t say. But yeah, I kind of figured I was going home the first night. That’s why I continued to drink alcohol all night. I was like, ‘Might as well if I’m going home tonight. Might as well get drunk.
Q: So that thing goes on the entire night?
A: If you’ve seen the show, when you get out of the limo, it’s dark. And in the exit interviews it’s daylight. The sun is out. It’s a long flipping night. It’s a long flipping night.
Q: Did you hear from UAlbany people? Other people?
A: I’ve heard from all my friends. My phone is still blowing up. People asking me how I got on the show. Of course everybody’s talking smack about how I got eliminated in the first night. But nobody really knows the situation. They just know what they saw on TV.
Q: Is it overwhelming?
A: At first it’s kind of cool. You decide to text whoever you want to text back. I haven’t heard from people in a while or even in years. It was cool. The last time some people heard from me was playing at UAlbany. And then they scroll on Facebook or Instagram and they seem me about to be on national television for The Bachelorette. They were shocked to say the least.
Q: What are you up to these days?
A: I stopped playing pro last year. I stopped playing basketball after Bulgaria. Now I’m getting my masters (at Concordia) for sports leadership and sports administration. And I’m a manager at Enterprise right now.