Local man moving on after missing out on ABC’s the ‘Bachelorette’
Okay I admit it, I watched the Bachelorette on ABC Monday nights. Hey, when one of Kirkland’s own, Jason Mesnick, showed up on a major network show in search of love, it’s the right thing to do. Right? And I wasn’t alone. Women from across the state were, and still are, abuzz about the handsome and down-to-earth single father who each week remained in the running for the hand of DeAnna Pappas.
Unfortunately, in the end, Jason wasn’t the bachelor chosen, but he did make it to the final two. After talking to him on the phone, it is easy to see why.
If you missed the show, the concept is simple: One girl looking for love meets 25 men looking for… ? Honestly, I had to know, so when the paper asked me to do an interview with Jason, I said “H…l Yes!”
“I went on the show for two reasons,” Jason told me during our phone interview last week, “to meet DeAnna and to have a new experience.”
And new experiences were plenty! Starting in Los Angeles, where the majority of the show was taped, Jason shared a helicopter ride with DeAnna to Griffith Park Observatory where the two romantically peered through the Zeiss refracting telescope and kissed under the stars. There were stock car races at speeds Kirkland’s police would have frowned upon; ATV-ing in the deserts of Palm Springs; a visit to Atlanta to meet Deanna’s parents; and then, finally, several days in the Bahamas, which included swimming with the sharks and the final rose ceremony.
But Jason’s new experiences weren’t only the travel, adventures and dates with DeAnna, whom he remains friends with (along with the bachelor who finally won her heart, Jesse Csincsak). He also formed new friendships with the other men on the show.
“We all agreed in the beginning that we wouldn’t get in the way of each other spending time with DeAnna,” said Jason. “So it really wasn’t about competing.”
If you’ve ever watched the bachelor, where the girls all live together competing for one man, this is a switch from the regular cat fights and ousting that takes place.
What I also learned from Jason was that all the men were banned from talking to each other once they were “sent home” until after the final show aired on July 7. Like us, none of the other bachelors knew who the winner was until the last moment. In fact, Jason had been home in Kirkland for almost two months before viewers knew the results.
“That was the tough part,” Jason told me. “I had really fallen for DeAnna and I was hurt, but I couldn’t show it. However, when you have a three year old, life just goes on.”
For Jason, going on meant coming back to Kirkland, a city he loves. “You live here, you know how much there is to love about Kirkland,” he told me when I asked him what he likes most about our fair city. “We have everything here. I can take my son down to the baseball park to watch a game, go to the lake to feed the ducks and grab a piece of pizza.” He also mentioned his love for Santorini’s Greek Grill on Central. Jason said the owner, Stavros, “is a great guy and I love my Gyros and Moussaka.”
So what’s next for Kirkland’s most famous bachelor? It’s quite possible that he’ll return next season as the star of the next Bachelor, this time choosing between 25 potential brides.
“Anything’s possible.” Jason told me.
But if you ask me, that won’t happen. This Kirkland bachelor will be snapped up by some local girl who knows a great catch when she sees it. If I was a few years younger, I’d be first in line!
~Susan Burnash writes a regular business column for the Reporter. She owns Purple Duck Marketing in Kirkland. Her company focuses on marketing, public relations and video production for businesses and nonprofits. Contact her at (425) 896-8959 or susan@purpleduckmarketing.com.
