Shades of Alex Michel. Since Alex chose, but didn't propose to, Amanda Marsh at the end of ABC's initial The Bachelor, three straight series of The Bachelor and The Bachelorette had ended with proposals of marriage. But then came Bob Guiney.
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In the finale of ABC's The Bachelor 4, Bob, a 32-year-old mortgage broker and rock singer from suburban Detroit, presented the "final rose" to 28-year-old Beverly Hills mortgage broker Estella Gardinier, spurning 24-year-old Illinois native Kelly Jo Kuharski. However, consistent with Bob's serial smooching throughout the show, the only ring that he presented to Estella at the end was a "promise ring," symbolizing his promise "to see where we can go." (We think he may have had the bedroom in mind.)
The final outcome may have resulted from the visits that each of the finalists paid to Bob's parents. Bob's mother Nora, with whom he is extremely close, clearly didn't bond with Kelly Jo, noting afterward that "she didn't try to get to know me and I wanted her to." Then again, perhaps Kelly Jo had concluded that she didn't want to be married to a thirtysomething man if he couldn't think for himself. However, we also note that Bob and Estella share the same profession and that Bob gave Estella the first rose after his visit to the bachelorettes' families, so the family visit may not have played much of a role in the final selection.
On Thursday, November 20, ABC will air a special edition of The Bachelor 4 entitled "After the Final Rose." Considering that Bob never used the "L-word" in his final non-proposal to Estella, and that Bob still acted like he wanted to make out with Kelly Jo as he was rejecting her at the end, we would not be surprised to learn that Bob has decided that he's not ready for monogamy ... a conclusion with which several of the posters on the Reality TV World The Bachelor message boards would agree.