Monday Joe, tonight Bachelorette

I don't know if I am as fired up to see this one. Maybe if she dresses like this.

Rejection becomes 'Bachelorette'

By Ann Oldenburg, USA TODAY



She swears it isn't about revenge. But Trista Rehn is a woman scorned. She was No. 2 on the first installment of The Bachelor. She was the one not picked by Alex Michel.


"Even though I was sad," she says now, "you have bad relationships every now and then, and you live and learn and move on."

We saw the humiliation of a six-week public courtship and watched her dab at tears as she sped away in the limo. So did producers, who spotted an opportunity and called her two days later with the idea for The Bachelorette.

Now, the 29-year-old is in the driver's seat. Starting tonight (9 ET/PT on ABC), she'll play the dating game over six weeks, picking Mr. Right from 25 single men.

In the first episode, she eliminates 10 with red rose boutonnieres. Take that, fellas.

"It wasn't about revenge at all," Rehn says. "That didn't enter into my mind when I made the decision to do it."

And how tough is it anyway to surround yourself with hunks?

"It was difficult. They're all fantastic guys."

Rehn is not at all coy about reporting the results of the show, which was taped in October and November.

"I definitely found the one that was most compatible with me. If nothing else comes from the show, I found my man. I'm really happy."

And what did she find?

"I'm attracted to confidence, someone who knows who he is and who is very family-oriented and is looking to have a family. I love kids and want to have kids in the future. Somebody who's fun, fun-loving, trustworthy."

And if anyone has a problem with the time-honored tradition of using a TV show for matchmaking, she says she doesn't care.

"A lot of people think too seriously about these shows. I didn't do it to change society."

She did it to change her own life. After The Bachelor, she realized she liked television. In June, the former Miami Heat dancer gave up her job as a physical therapist at Miami Children's Hospital and moved to Los Angeles.

"It wasn't that I was desperate. I just looked at it as another way to meet somebody."

And a way to be in the spotlight. She'd like to "do some hosting" and is in talks with VH1 and The View.

"I would love to do something like that. If nothing happens, I'm perfectly fine with using my master's — I can always go back to physical therapy."