The Bachelor bachelorette Selma Alameri got her first one-on-one date with Sean Lowe during Monday night's broadcast of the ABC reality dating competition.

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Selma, a 29-year-old real estate developer from San Diego, CA, overcame a difficult rock climbing challenge with Sean to prove she wasn't a "prissy" or strictly "glamorous" girl during their date. And while they enjoyed a romantic evening together, Selma opened up to Sean by telling him she couldn't kiss him out of respect for her Muslim culture and traditional mother. Sean appreciated and respected Selma's decision, intensifying their mutual physical attraction.

During a conference call with reporters on Thursday, Selma talked about her The Bachelor experience thus far. Click here to read what she had to tell Reality TV World. Below are some additional highlights from her call. Check back with Reality TV World on Monday for more.

Do you think the fact your family didn't want you kissing a guy on TV put you at a disadvantage in the competition? And if it did put you at a disadvantage, then does that mean Sean wouldn't be the guy for you?

Selma Alameri: See now, I did feel like it might put me at a disadvantage. I was afraid of that coming into it and I explained that to my family also. I was like, "I'm going there to win someone's heart, so all these other women can show their affection and I can't. I'm afraid that he's going to take that as an, 'I don't really like him.'"

But at the end of the day, Sean is just an amazing man that he totally understood and it really didn't matter. So I did feel it would put me at a disadvantage, but at the end of the day, no. I don't think it did.

How did you feel about having to deal with all the drama in the house, especially with Tierra LiCausi, who seems to be at the center of it?

Selma Alameri: I honestly, being there, I kind of kept myself out of the drama because I was trying to stay focused on one thing and one thing only. But there was so much drama with her, and now looking back at it, I'm like, "Oh my gosh. There was so much drama. Like how did I even tolerate this so much?"

But for the most part, I kept myself out of it. But I did feel bad for all of us, to be honest, because it was a daily dramatic episode. It was so crazy. (Laughs)

With the morals and values you exhibited on Monday night, some people are wondering whether this is the right place for you -- that maybe The Bachelor is kind of a weird spot to put yourself in considering you don't want to kiss a man on television, etc. Did you ever regret going on the show or find yourself saying, "This is not the right place for me?"

Selma Alameri: Well, my thoughts on that were my family didn't say, "Don't show emotion. Don't fall in love." They simply said, "Do not makeout with someone on television." So to me, I don't need to makeout with a man to know whether I like him or to know whether our lives are going in the same path and whether I can see a future with him.

It's more so his touch, his caring, the way he looks at me -- that's really what matters at the end of the date, not making out with him. So, no. I was like, "I can easily fall in love with a man without having to makeout with him," you know?

And really, I feel like he thought, "Yeah, I could tell whether I could be with this girl for the rest of my life or not without having to makeout with her either." Because I saw it in his eyes, you know? He could easily see himself falling in love with somebody without having to physically do it.

If you do end up with Sean in the end and fall in love without kissing, is he someone that could even fit in with your family? Do you think he'd be accepted because he's obviously grown up fairly differently from you.

Selma Alameri: Yeah, you know what? It's funny because yeah, my brother-in-law is actually blonde hair, blue eyes, Catholic, very American. Our family is American. We do live the American culture. We do date. It's not like we don't. My mom clearly knows we do. My mom knows I kissed a boy before and she's very goofy and loving and we do very normal things.

But it was more so just for the people that are in our Arab circle. She was like, "I just don't want them to have to talk about us. I don't want to give them ammo and for them to think that you guys are bad girls."

But in our family, clearly we date. My sister is married to an American boy and it's not -- he would fit right in. And all my other sisters, they have boyfriends. They're all American. Every guy I've ever dated is American. So he would've definitely fit right in. It's just, he had to stand the test of time for that moment.

Did you know The Bachelor star was Sean going into the show?

Selma Alameri: Yeah, I went in with the hope that it was Sean, but we didn't find out until the night before that it was. I was definitely happy about it because he is, at the end of the day, just a perfect human being. 

What was the rock climbing experience like for you? You seemed afraid at first but then really took the bull by its horns.

Selma Alameri: It's so funny because they don't show a whole lot of how scared I really was. I was like freaking out. I was so nervous because I really do have a fear of heights and I've never been rock climbing before.

I do love adventure and I hike all the time, but to go climb a vertical 100-foot rock, I was at the bottom of that thing staring at it like, "I don't even know where you want me to start." (Laughs) And I was looking at him like, "If I survive this, you would be lucky if I still like you after this." (Laughs)

But at the end of the day, it was like survival mode and I literally just hauled ass up that rock. I was like, "I can't even think about anything. I can't think about where I am, what I'm doing" -- I just blocked it out of my mind and started crawling. (Laughs)

It was like, "Go team, go!" And when I got up there, I never loved Sean so much, because he really did, at that moment -- everyone's like, "Oh, he should've given you the glamour date."

And I'm like, "No way. He really gave me a chance to prove to the world that I'm more than just a glamour girl," because I am. I'm in gym clothes my whole life, you know? So I was really, really happy and I really did love him so much for giving me the opportunity to prove myself that way.

Did you think the variety of dates makes it unfair for some of the girls, meaning like some bachelorettes get glamorous dates while others have to jump off buildings and stuff like that?

Selma Alameri: I think it's totally fair. I didn't mind it one bit. I loved it as a matter of fact, because for him to have taken me on a glamour date, it would've been so cliche. "Oh take the glamour girl on a glamour date," please, like think of something more exciting -- be a little more clever than that. But I mean, taking an Iraqi to the desert, I don't know. (Laughs) I was like, "Okay."

But I honestly do think it's fair. I think that he picks certain girls for certain things just to kind of test them, and that's the whole point of the dates. You want to test the person you're with. You want to see if this is going to work for them, because these are probably things he would do on a daily basis.

And he wants to see, "Can this girl handle that? Let's take this girl on a glamour date and see if she could handle that. Is this something she would like doing?" So honestly, I think it's very smart that he takes them out of their element and kind of tests them a little bit.

Click here to read what Selma had to tell Reality TV World. Above are some additional highlights from her call with reporters. Check back with Reality TV World on Monday for more.


About The Author: Elizabeth Kwiatkowski

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