Jonathan Novack: Spark wasn't there w/ 'Bachelorette' Ali Fedotowsky

Jonathan Novack isn't exactly sure what went wrong with Ali Fedotowsky, however he has a couple ideas.


"I guess it would be one of two things maybe.  There was just not any chemistry there," he told reporters during a Thursday conference call.

"Whether or not that was a result of not spending enough time with her, I'm not sure if there would have been chemistry even if we had had more time.  But maybe there would have been.  So I would say in the end really it was just the spark wasn't there unfortunately."

The 30-year-old weatherman from Houston, TX, failed to receive a rose from Fedotowsky during last week's The Bachelorette sixth-season episode.

"I absolutely wish I had more time with her. I thought she was the kind of girl I could fall for.  I mean she was brilliant girl, beautiful, great sense of humor, seemed to love life, ambitious, considerate, reasonable, I mean those are all traits that I look for," he explained.


"It's just you can't make a spark happen on group dates.  It's very tough.  So I never had a one-on-one. I wish I had.  So that's one thing I wish had been different."

Novack is most memorable to viewers for his feud with fellow bachelor Craig McKinnon -- who constantly heckled the weatherman but subsequently told reporters that he was just joking around after his ouster.

"It's a two-hour show, so you don't get to see all that happens but it wasn't just me that he was starting with and so if it had been, it wouldn't have been a big deal," explained Novack when asked about McKinnon. 

"But it was [Jesse Beck], it was [Justin Rego], it was other guys, too, and so I just felt like it was a problem just for the house and it was somebody, You know, if it was your daughter, that wouldn't be a guy that you would want her to see or date."

In addition, Novack insisted that "defended" himself "pretty well" when confronted by McKinnon.


"I think any guy in house will agree that I'd come back with great comebacks and I'd knock him back down, everybody would laugh and everything," he said.

"But when he started, almost started a fist fight with Jesse which you see a little bit of that, that's where I thought it was starting to get out of hand.  And somebody needed to say something."

Novack subsequently approached Fedotowsky in private and told her that he felt McKinnon was dangerous -- which led him to be labeled a tattle by some of the men.

"Some people may see it that way, some people may not.  I mean again you don't see a lot that happens.  Craig wasn't the only guy I didn't like in the house, but I didn't say anything about these other guys because I'm a person who speaks his mind and I don't talk trash about people but I legitimately thought there was a problem there with Craig being in this house and especially when the Jesse thing happened and that went on all night.  I mean you can only see so much in a two-hour episode.  But that went on all night," he explained.

"Producers had to keep pulling Craig away because he kept trying to get Jesse to basically punch him.  And someone like that, that's why I used the word 'dangerous' because someone who's trying to get into physical fights with other guys in the house.  I mean, what's he going to do in a relationship with Ali?"


Novack also feels that telling Fedotowsky about McKinnon didn't play any role in his own elimination.

"If you remember the first episode, she brought out that box and she wanted guys to tell her who they thought was not there for the right reasons, and so going into that conversation where I talked to her about Craig I double-checked and I made sure it was something she wanted to know, but she made it clear she wanted to know these types of things because of her past experience on The Bachelor where she knew there were things going on behind the scenes that Jake didn't see," he explained to Reality TV World. 

"So I was trying to respect that and inform her of these things that she just wasn't getting the real inside scoop on."

While Novack claims his intentions with Fedotowsky were "sincere," he came across as apprehensive on more than one occasion -- including when he was forced to wear a Speedo bathing suit for a photo shoot on a group date.

"I couldn't say it was unfair because other guys wore Speedos too," he said.


"It's just let me ask any guy, 'Hey you want to wear a Speedo?' They're not going to be like, 'Yes, let's go for it.'  They're going to be a little bit hesitant.  What really came across wasn't as much the Speedo but I had asked for like a wardrobe change... It was hard to find out who I should be speaking to about it and it just kind of went, it got dragged out and that's where I started kind of getting a little annoyed about it."

In addition, Novack also seemed nervous in approaching a kissing scene with Fedotowsky for a music video shoot on a group date. However he said his apprehension about the scene was only "acting."

"If you look at the beginning of that whole thing you see how I'm kind of pensive and contemplative and what not, the beginning of that whole part of that episode.  I was actually trying to get into the character which I was told needed to be emotional.  I kiss her, she gets upset, turns around, runs away.  I'm supposed to be emotional," he explained.

"That's what that was.  The guys were actually impressed, and that's what you guys have been talking about, that I could actually bring up some tears on queue.  So it took a little while, it took about three or four takes but eventually once they played back the music for the song, and we finally did the kiss they came up and I made it happen I thought. So that's really what you're seeing."

The Bachelorette broadcast in which the kiss occurred featured an interview of Fedotowsky talking about how she literally had to grab Novack by the neck and pull him in for the kiss -- however he said that wasn't the case.


"I went in for the kiss, she avoided it.  You remember when at the beginning I said, 'Hey, look, if you don't want to do this just let me know.' She never told me what she wanted to do.  So the first take I kind of went in for a kiss, she turns her head," he explained. 

"I said, 'Okay, I guess that means she doesn't want to do the kiss.' So then the next few takes went on and then the music came on, they finally did the playback and so it started kind of getting a little bit more emotional, she saw that, and she finally went in for the kiss."

Overall, Novack said the notion that he was constantly nervous was overblown.

"There were times I was nervous, but most of the time I was just having fun getting to go out on these dates with Ali.  Most of the time, I was having a really good experience getting to know some of these guys who I became friends with.  The most nerve-wracking parts were the rose ceremonies if anything.  I mean those were stressful for everybody.  I just tend to wear my heart on my sleeve so you probably saw it a little bit more than most people," he explained to Reality TV World.

"I'd say about three quarters of the time I was just having a great time and then when it came down to decision time, that's where my nerves really sort of bubbled up."

Novack was also asked about Rego, as Fedotowsky will learn during Monday night's episode that he had two girlfriends back home during filming for The Bachelorette's sixth season earlier this year.


"I kind of heard it through the rumor mill and then I saw this article... but and I heard rumors and then I saw what's coming up next week and it doesn't surprise me necessarily," said Novack about Rego, who was previously singled out on the show for being there for the wrong reasons.

"When that many guys have that kind of a take on him, maybe they're right."

Still, Novack said he "tried" to give Rego "the benefit of the doubt" while they were together in the house.

"But I wouldn't be surprised if he's that big of a jerk," he told reporters. "But I did, I tried to have his back but in the end he was his own worst enemy I think."

In addition, Novack said a majority of the other bachelors genuinely didn't like Rego.

"I didn't understand why they didn't like him.  I didn't think it was a big deal that he showed a T-shirt the first night. I don't see how that was really a big deal," he told reporters. 


"He wasn't treating anyone in the house badly, like say Craig, for instance, so in my opinion when I'm judging people if they're not treating you badly or anybody badly, they're just kind of doing their thing, then I don't know why you give them hell."

Novack also opined the fact that his ouster came before Rego's at-home girlfriends were revealed and fellow bachelor Kasey Kahl unveiled his tattoo.

"I think if Kasey had shown her the tattoo the night that I got sent home, I would of still been there," he said.

"As far as Justin goes, yes obviously, if that had come out sooner I would have been in his spot too, so there's definitely some variables that could have played out differently, so yes, I kind of wish it had.  But hopefully she's happy and everything has worked out."

Novack said he's unsure how the season will end and if Fedotowsky is happy.

"It's interesting because I was surprised at the conversation she had with [Chris Lambton] at the last episode where she said she was a little scared to maybe open up and fall in love," he said.


"That kind of was interesting.  I don't know what will happen.  If out of all the guys that I think she might be able to fall in love with, or fall in love with, I would think [Roberto Martinez] would be up there and maybe [Kirk DeWindt]. Of all the guys in the house I thought Roberto was the most standup, straight-up like great guy, he was a very solid dude and I think she seems to see that in him.  So I almost wonder if that's going to be her pick."

Novack said he was not as sold on Frank Neuschaefer -- who is widely rumored to have quit the competition prior to the season's penultimate Rose Ceremony in Tahiti after deciding he was still in love with an ex-girlfriend in Chicago.

"I think that he was attached a little too quickly thinking she's his girlfriend and what not, which is fine, it's just I don't think that's a trait that she would really be looking for someone who kind of gets attached that quickly," explained Novack.

"I think Roberto is a little bit more grounded and I think Roberto is just probably a little bit more right for her.  But I do think Frank is a really nice guy -- I just don't think that he's necessarily in line with maybe what she was looking for in the end."

Novack worked as the house meteorologist for an NBC affiliate in Houston for the past three years, however he doesn't think his experience in front of the camera helped at all on The Bachelorette.

"I'm not sure if it helped me that much only because the context is so drastically different having cameras around you 24/7 pretty much and the competition factor of it and the dates and the drama and you don't even realize the cameras are there.  It's just different," he told reporters.


"I'm not performing, I'm just being myself.  So I never heard from the other guys.  If the other guys have been saying, 'Hey this is weird with the cameras,' but I think everybody gets pretty comfortable in front of the cameras pretty quickly. So I think that part of the playing field evens out very quickly."

Novack's contract recently expired at the station he was working for and he thinks his next move will take him out west.

"I've done weather and I've also done entertainment at my last three stations, all kinds of franchise segments and entertainment reporting, right now I'm off contract, I just finished up last month and so I'm auditioning for both weather jobs and entertainment jobs, and I'm probably going to head out to L.A. here in the next couple of months and get back into standup comedy as well," he said. 

"Yes, I used to do that a long time ago too so I've definitely just started this week I headed out to a bar here in Houston, so I'm getting back into standup on top of it all."

Novack was unlucky in love on The Bachelorette, however he said it's not because he's gay as some have speculated.

"It's not true, so that's really funny," he said with a laugh.


While Novack was recently revealed to be a Bachelor Pad cast member, ABC would not allow him to talk about his participation in The Bachelor spinoff, which began production earlier this month.






About The Author: Christopher Rocchio