The Bach flashback: Jenni Croft

Season 11 of The Bach was Brad Womack's first go-round, the one where he earned the distinction of being the only Bach in the history of the show to reject both finalists. Poor DeAnna Pappas and Jenni Croft expressed their love for the bar owner and told him they'd love to be married to him, but on September 24, 2007, Brad chose... no one. Dun dun dun.

After leaving both DeAnna and Jenni in tears on the season finale, Brad received a great deal of public backlash and became the most hated man in Bach history. He even said he developed "social anxiety" from it. We all know DeAnna went on to be the Bachelorette and Brad returned for a second journey as The Bach in 2011 (messing up again, as his final woman was soon-to-be-Bachelorette Emily Maynard), but what happened to my season fave, Jenni?

The former Dallas Cowboys cheerleader, Miami Heat dancer and Phoenix Suns dancer seems to be doing just fine, enjoying life as a new mommy. She is now Jenni Croft Badolato after tying the knot with cosmetic dentist John Badolato in Bora Bora in October 2010. The two have a baby boy, Gio William Badolato, who was born on September 6, 2011. 



You can follow Jenni on Facebook http://www.facebook.com/jenni.croft or Twitter at: @jennicroft, where she frequently posts cute pics of her baby boy, like this one:

The Bach flashback: Jesse and Jessica

Looking back at all 15 previous Bach seasons, I think Jesse Palmer’s might actually be the most dramatic of them all! Chris Harrison should have retired that phrase when the season ended on May 19, 2004.
 
There was the token villain (remember Trish and her gold digger T shirts?); an actual house spy in the form of his buddy’s wife (Jenny, who kissed Jesse on the lips, causing a little drama of her own); Jesse calling out the name “Katie” instead of “Karen” during a rose ceremony (OOPS!); and runner-up Tara, who was not shy about telling Jesse that his actions with her on their last day were “inappropriate” since he ended up with another girl. Hmmm, I wonder what that meant.

Jesse ended up giving Jessica Bowlin, a 22-year-old blondie from Huntington Beach, the final rose and… a one-way ticket to join in him New York, where he was back-up QB for the Giants at the time. No engagement — not even a promise ring a la the Bach before him, Bob Guiney. Just a plane ticket that she ended up not even using. She decided to stay put in HB and finish law school (good girl!) and less a month later the couple announced their break up, making the Bach relationship record 0 for 5.

But the most dramatic (and awkward) part of the season was the final rose ceremony. My Bach girls and I were holding our breath as the first limo pulled up, Chris opened the door and out walks… JESSICA! This means he chose Tara, right? Doesn’t the first girl get dumped and spend the rest of her day crying in a limo and packing up her formalwear? Not this season. Jesse shocked America by telling Jessica that she’s the one (kind of) and then dismissing her to watch from a window above (see 2:15 in the video clip below) as he dumps sad-eye Tara for good.

Top that, Ben!

The Bach flashback: Matthew Hickl

The Bachelorette, Season 2 
I loved this season! Even took the day off work to be an audience member for After the Final Rose... so much fun.

On Feb. 25, 2004 when I was 23 and skinny, Meredith Phillips shocked Bach fans by choosing “vagabond” Ian McKee over my boy Matthew Hickl, the pharmaceutical rep southern gentleman. I was rooting for Matthew from the beginning, especially after Ian chose not to introduce Meredith to his parents during his hometown date and told his brother there was no way he would ever propose on TV. (He ended up eating his words and getting down on one knee during the finale.)

Despite the helmet head, Matthew won me over even more after he was rejected by Meredith and proceeded to tell her he was a better man for having known her. Later that year, he was featured as one of People Magazine’s most eligible bachelors where he said The Bachelorette made him a “better communicator,” and then pretty much fell off the Hollywood radar.

One year later in 2005, Meredith broke the Bachelorette lucky streak set by Trista and called off her engagement to Ian. But Matthew ended up finding his own happily ever and married a fellow Texan and model/dance teacher, Ellen McMillan, on March 24, 2007. 

Their wedding was featured in Weddings in Houston Magazine.

Side note - it's pretty funny searching for video and even photos from the early seasons of The Bach.  Thank you France for the little video of this season that can be found on YouTube!