Sharon Staebell resigned the teaching position she'd held for eight years for a shot to become Jason Mesnick's wife in The Bachelor's thirteenth edition.

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However, two weeks into competition, the 32-year-old from Batavia, NY left The Bachelor mansion empty-handed when Mesnick failed to give her a rose at the show's second Rose Ceremony.

During a conference call with reporters on Thursday, Sharon -- who began a new teaching position on December 1 -- talked to Reality TV World about whether she was to become a wife and stepmother if chosen by Mesnick, whether or not she had found love since her time on the ABC reality dating show, and what she thought of the first week's twist that had her voting to send home one of the bachelorettes.

Reality TV World: I guess first off, where are you teaching now?

Sharon: I'm teaching [Spanish] in Rochester, NY.

Reality TV World: On the show Nikki, [a 29-year-old administrative assistant from Blue Island, IL,] seemed to make a big deal about how she felt many of the girls weren't ready to be mothers, who do you think she was referring to the most?

Sharon: All of the girls that I talked to said that they were ready to be moms, so I'm not sure who she got that vibe from, but they all seemed like they were there for the right reasons to me.

Reality TV World: [Speaking] personally, what led you to feel that you are ready to get married and become a stepmother?

Sharon: Before I decided to go out and meet Jason I was in a five-year relationship, and I was ready to settle down and get married, and I was ready to start having kids. I'm 32, so I have a house and I have a job and I think it's just that time in my life to start getting going with a family.

Reality TV World: Did you think you were going to be safe from elimination because you were picked to go one of the dates?

Sharon: No. I wasn't 100% confident about anything. I knew that I liked him but I wasn't sure how he felt about me, so on the night I was eliminated I had no idea if I would stay or if I would go.

Reality TV World: Are you dating anyone now?

Sharon: No. I'm currently not dating anyone.

Reality TV World: How did you feel about that twist [in the first week] where you were told you [supposedly] would be voting one of the girls out?

Sharon: I felt really bad. I didn't think it was my responsibility to send another girl home, and I knew that's what Jason's job was there, that's what he was there to do. So I didn't feel comfortable writing down anybody's name but I knew that I had to write down someone's name.

Plus at that point we really didn't even know each other, there were some girls [where] I didn't even know their name.

Reality TV World: You said you voted for Raquel because you thought she might be a threat. Do you most [of the girls] were doing that, or were some [of the] girls looking out for Jason, as [they] said on the show?

Sharon: I think there was both going on. I think there were girls voting for threats and girls voting for whether they thought someone was a good match for him or not. I think it was full of strategies.

Reality TV World: Is there anything that didn't make it onto the show that you wanted to have air?

Sharon: It would have been nice just to show a little bit more of the interactions between Jason and I. I thought we had some interesting conversations. And maybe just some more of the fun stuff that happened around the house would've been entertaining.

Reality TV World: Was there anything that you guys talked about that didn't make it on the show that you could talk about now?

Sharon: Um. I couldn't think of anything in particular at the moment.


Also in the call, Sharon talked about why she chose to vote for Raquel's elimination, what kind of chemistry she felt she had with Mesnick, how prepared she was to move to Seattle, WA if she had won the competition, and why she initially decided to apply to be on The Bachelor in the first place.


What was the reasoning behind when you came out of the limo [and] you did a little salsa?

Sharon: I wanted to do something that stood out, and I knew that he was into dancing -- I had heard that he had done ballroom dancing lessons -- so I thought that would probably get his attention. It was fun, it was a little different.

Why did you vote for Raquel during the Week 1 twist?

Sharon: At that point we didn't know each other very well, so I wasn't sure whose name to put down, and that was the only girl that game me a reason for putting anybody's name down [after she salsa danced with Jason as well] so I put her name down.

Do you really believe that you could have been able to marry Jason and become a stepmom?

Sharon: You know, honestly I feel like I didn't have enough time to get to know him well enough to be able to answer your question if I would have been able to marry him or not. I don't know.

Were you ready to move to Seattle if Mesnick had chosen you to be his wife?

Sharon: If feelings had developed between the two of us, yeah. I like Seattle, it probably would have been a decent move to make. I would have had to think about it seriously [as] I went through the process, but fortunately I didn't have to do that. I would've been prepared to.

Having had this experience, would you do it again if the opportunity arose?

Sharon: I think that if an opportunity like this arose, if it didn't conflict with my job, I would definitely consider doing it again.

What was the chemistry like between you and Jason? Did you have things in common?

Sharon: I was kind of uncertain about the chemistry with Jason. I knew that I liked him, but I didn't know how he felt about me. Obviously there were so many other girls there that I didn't get a ton of time to spend with him, and I didn't know what was going on with those other girls.

But yeah, I think we were both athletic and kind of down-to-earth people. He likes to travel [and] I love traveling, he likes to dance and I love dancing. So there were some commonalities.

How did you end up on the show?

Sharon: I was sitting with my best friend and my sister and we were trying to figure out how I was going to meet guys, and they said "How about you apply for The Bachelor?"

So I said "Huh, that would be an interesting way to meet someone, why not?" So I applied online.
About The Author: John Bracchitta

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