The Bachelor and The Bachelorette have combined to create an off-screen love-match that has already outlasted many of their on-air relationships.
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Fred Greif, a former suitor of DeAnna Pappas on last summer's edition of The Bachelorette, and Noelle Drake, who courted Matt Grant on The Bachelor: London Calling last spring, confirmed they are dating during an interview segment shown on Monday night's broadcast of The Bachelor: The Women Tell All special on ABC.
During the special, Greif said that he met Drake immediately in Los Angeles following last summer's taping of his own The Bachelorette: The Men Tell All special when he and the special's other rejected bachelors went out with a group of former The Bachelor bachelorettes.
"Noelle and I met after The Men Tell All in Los Angeles at a bar there. I remember Noelle walked in and right away I did a double take, turned to my buddy and said 'Is that Noelle? She's gorgeous," Greif said in a joint interview with Drake.
"Yup, and I heard [my name] and I was like 'What'd you say about me?" Drake chimed in with a laugh.
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"She did, she called me out right across the table," Greif continued. "And I looked back at her and I said 'You're gorgeous,' and she [thanked me], and the next thing you know I was over there talking to her and it went from there."
The relationship is now "very serious," according to the couple.
"I love Noelle, I love her with all my heart," Greif said in an additional solo interview.
"I totally love that guy," Drake said in her own solo interview.
The couple also added that they had already met each other's parents, with successful results.
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"I met Noelle's family, they were a blast we had a good time," Greif said.
"And his family is just awesome,' Drake added.
Both Greif and Drake also said that despite their respective ousters -- Greif was eliminated by Pappas during a two-on-one date with her while Drake was cut following her hometown date with Grant -- they both believe that what transpired on their shows had happened for a reason.
"I think it was a blessing what happened to us on each of our seasons," Grief said. "That brought us together and I couldn't be happier. I don't want anything else in the world."
"We are reality show rejects that found love," Drake said with a laugh. "But that's what we are."
About The Author: John Bracchitta