Sir, with love
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Dr. Andy Baldwin talks about his time in Hawai'i |
By Mary Kaye Ritz
Advertiser Staff Writer
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Will the 10th edition of "The Bachelor" be any less cheesy, now that it features Hawai'i's attractive and accomplished Dr. Andy Baldwin?
In often-repeated commercials on ABC, he's seen stretching his sculpted torso against the scenery and walking off into the sunset with a babe in arms, the way Richard Gere did in "An Officer and a Gentleman" — so would-be viewers can draw their own conclusions.
Baldwin himself, who spoke to reporters in a conference call from L.A. last week, says he wanted to "really shape a very virtuous and genuine experience" on the show. Scenes were filmed in Hawai'i, as well as Los Angeles and other locales.
Producers promise all sorts of high jinks — such as the bodybuilder who challenges Baldwin to a push-up contest in the series premiere, according to advance PR.
And in the tradition of the show, more action along the lines of "let's pit women against each other and see them behave uncivilly" can also be expected: "Sparks fly between two tipsy bachelorettes when one falls down," publicity materials boast.
On the plus side, Baldwin does have more down-to-earth pursuits than, say, tire heir Andrew Firestone or Prince Lorenzo Borghese. Hawai'i's "Bachelor" raises money for pancreatic cancer research and provides free care for uninsured patients here.
There are other things you might NOT know about the triathlete/undersea medical officer, too:
The two have been spending time together and on the phone since the show was recorded, Baldwin said. (He won't say if he's proposed, though: "You have to watch and see.")
That's not always the case. The failure rate for previous "Bachelor" love unions is even higher than the U.S. divorce rate. While only about half of U.S. marriages go the distance, producers say three couples remain together, but that math is a bit skewed: Besides Season 7's Charlie O'Connell and Sarah Brice, and Season 6's Byron Velvick and Mary Delgado, they're counting Trista Rehn and Ryan Sutter of "The Bachelorette."
Baldwin's televised adventure began Feb. 2 — his 30th birthday — when he met 25 potential mates, including three attorneys, a hedge-fund analyst and a medical student. Several hail from the South, including five Texans.
Stationed at Pearl Harbor, where he works with a special-operations dive unit, Baldwin is looking to do another tour.
It was a fellow serviceman who turned him on to "The Bachelor."
"One of my guys handed over my digits to a casting agent, unbeknownst to me," he recalled. "My phone rang one day. 'You serious?' "
He heard more about the production, then his commanding officers gave him the OK.
"I was glad I took the risk," said Baldwin. "I came out very happy on the very end."
The professional screening process has its perks, Baldwin said: "Never have I met such an amazing pool of women before."
Though he'd seen early incarnations of "The Bachelor," "I never imagined I'd be the guy on," he said, adding, "When I watched it in early years, I was younger, not at a point of time I was ready to settle down and get married. I was definitely skeptical."
But not enough to decline.
"Where do people find the love of their life?" said Baldwin. "How are the odds of finding it at the nightclub, at a bar, library, the grocery store? The way this is set up, it's very possible to find something meaningful and loving."
Though never engaged, he has been in relationships. He dated someone for two years while in college and more recently had a yearlong relationship. "What it really came down to, she wanted to put her career in front of having a family," he said.
Family is a priority for this bachelor, who grew up in Lancaster, Pa., in Amish country. The timing is right, too, he said: He set up his younger brother with a woman, and he had plenty of time to think about marriage during their wedding last year.
"I'm definitely at that point. I see my little cousins running around," Baldwin said. "I really want to have kids. I'd love to have at least three, maybe four, maybe five. ... I just adore 'em. I can't wait."
He got called into action at the series finale wrap party at Turtle Bay, "Bachelor" producer Mike Fleiss revealed.
"One of the guests, a man in his 50s, had fallen and really done severe damage to his face and head, bleeding profusely," Fleiss recounted. "We didn't know what to do. We were in a remote part of the island, sort of scared. We realized, we know who can save the day here. ... Andy basically saved the guy."
"That's what I'm trained to do," Baldwin said. "I saw this pool of blood, wanted to make sure his airway was intact. I cleared his airway, got pressure on the bleeding. I was able to get some words out of him."
Putting an IV in a stranger is hard in any circumstance, "but I was not expecting it after the most emotional day of my life," Baldwin added.
