The Bachelorette bachelor James Case, a 27-year-old advertising executive from Chicago, IL, is still in the running for Desiree Hartsock's heart.
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However, previews for next week's episode suggest James will become a villain in the house and host Chris Harrison has mentioned he'll "shock" and "blindside" everyone. Apparently, James voices his desire to become the next The Bachelor star to his fellow suitors, leading them to believe he's on the show for the wrong reasons.
During a Thursday conference call with reporters, James talked to Reality TV World about the season thus far and his time with Des. Check back with Reality TV World on Friday for more.
Reality TV World: I'm assuming you can't talk too much about it, but the previews for upcoming episodes and some comments Chris Harrison has made have suggested the show's going to position you as someone who came onto The Bachelorette for the wrong reasons. Do you think that's accurate or were you misrepresented?
James Case: I'm not too sure at how I can answer that question. I just hope people judge me on my merit and who I am and what they see, you know, this far. But you know, things can be said and things can be done and you just have to roll with the punches. I signed up for this and you've just got to roll with it. It's just really hard to answer some of these questions. I'm sure you respect that. Stay tuned, right?
Reality TV World: Why did you originally apply for The Bachelorette? What went into that decision for you to appear on the show and were you truly looking for love?
James Case: I was approached when I walked out of the office here. And at first, I had just taken a job at BankRate and I was actually really scared, because I love what I do. I'm in digital marketing, so I absolutely love what I do, and I'm just very blessed to even be in a position that I am, and so I didn't want to affect that.
So I talked with my parents, I've talked with everybody, I'm single, I'm living in a new city, it's hard to find a woman to date here. It's just, I don't know. It's been difficult for me with work, and I don't know. I just felt like it was a great opportunity. There's multiple reasons why I chose to go on that show, but one of them obviously is to find love. Who says you can't find love on the street, in a bar or on TV.
And the whole experience in itself -- if somebody tells you it's just for love, they have to be crazy, you know? There's a lot of opportunities. I got to travel the world, I got to do a lot of things that a lot of other people aren't able to do, so I took advantage of that and I had an awesome time.
Reality TV World: You opened up to Desiree about how you had cheated on your ex-girlfriend during college. Did you anticipate that Des would forgive that and still give you a rose or did her reaction actually surprise you? Did you go into that conversation thinking, "She's probably going to send me home after hearing this...?"
James Case: No, you know, I'm just a very open person and I'm very truthful. Sometimes, it's a downfall I'm so truthful, you know? But I just was open with it and what do you do? At least I'm being honest.
If she wants an honest person, then I'm being that person. I didn't really think about it. I just was being honest. That's who I am, that's how I was brought up to be, and that's what I was being -- I was just being honest. It came up at the right point, and you know, we were talking about relationships.
RELATED LINK: 'THE BACHELORETTE' COUPLES NOWAnd one of my relationships is that I was with somebody for five years and that was a big part of my life, and she's a great person. I was more hesitant, after I said it, like, "Wow, I hope that my ex isn't like totally shocked or she falls out of her chair when she hears that I admitted that on national TV." But at the same time, all I was thinking about was sharing with Desiree who I am, you know?
It's hard to get one of those moments. There's a lot of guys that are trying to talk to her and you want her to know everything that you could possibly denote to her, and in that moment, unfortunately that's what I spoke about. I say unfortunately, but it's fortunate too, because I did what I had to do and say what I had to say. But I was honest.
Reality TV World: Chris Harrison told TV Guide he thinks the fact your one-on-one date with Des was so intense and emotional regarding the tour of Hurricane Sandy's destruction and such played a big role in why you got the date's rose. What's your response to that? Do you agree with Chris that the special date helped get you the rose or do you feel the gesture was 100% based on your connection with her?
James Case: Oh, absolutely 100% percent on our connection. You only see parts of what's going on, you know? There's a lot of content there and you don't see us kissing at the Dunkin' Donuts or whatever, you know what I mean? We were very -- we had a great relationship. We have a great relationship, you know? So I think that's absolutely bogus. We had a good time together, Desiree and I.
Reality TV World: What kind of terms are you on now with your ex-girlfriend? I know you said on the show she couldn't get over your act of indiscretion and move forward with you, but were you still able to work things out at least on a friendship level or is there bad blood there?
James Case: Oh no, she actually just got engaged and I mentioned to her that -- I had to denote to her what was possibly going to be said, and she's like, "James, I forgave you a long time ago and it was a long time ago, and there's no hard feelings from you saying that. We're buddies."
She used to live a few houses down from my mother, so we're all good acquaintances. Her dad's my insurance agent, so (laughs) we're all very, very -- I wouldn't say close, but we dated for five-and-a-half years. We're fine, it just didn't work out unfortunately. It just wasn't right.
We dated very early in age and we stayed together for a long time, and I started to have a lot of love for her and for her family. I wouldn't say we're buddies, but we're friends, you know? We help each other out. She called me for a favor or I'll call her for whatever. I call her family still. I'm very close with all of my ex's -- well, not close, but I have relationships with them all still.
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James Case: I was friends with everybody. He's not a bad guy. You have to think of it like this too, I mean, these are experiences that you -- like people have to understand you're trying to date one girl and you're trying to date 20-something odd guys. And at the end of the day, I think -- your first few weeks, you don't think of it as a competition, right?
You're there, you're enjoying the moment. But then, people start getting dates and feelings really start to get -- feelings get all over the place. People have their ups and downs and all-around, and they don't know if they're going to be let go or whatever, and then things start to happen.
If you're not strong with your character, if you don't have good character and you don't have a good sense of self, then you can destroy yourself in a certain way. And people might start talking bad about somebody else because it becomes that competition feeling, you know?
They're trying to do anything they can to be ontop, and unfortunately, there's things throughout that whole season that people -- the feelings start to get mixed around. But I can guarantee you this, at the end of the day, it's like every other show that's passed by. Everybody's going to be friends again and it's all good. Everybody's happy at the end of it.
Above is what James told Reality TV World about the season thus far and his time with Des during a Thursday conference call with reporters. Check back with Reality TV World on Friday for more.
About The Author: Elizabeth Kwiatkowski
