'The Bachelor' bachelorette Kelly Travis: I'm not head over heels for Juan Pablo Galavis

The Bachelor bachelorette Kelly Travis, a 27-year-old dog lover from Atlanta, GA, is one of the 15 women who are still vying for the love of eighteenth-season star Juan Pablo Galavis.


Kelly arrived the first night with her dog Molly and had to dress up like a hairless spotted dog for the week's group date, which was a photo shoot for "Models and Mutts." According to ABC, tonight's episode at 8PM ET/PT will feature Kelly getting "upset when the Bachelor -- as he cooks the girls in the house breakfast -- sees her without any makeup."

Viewers will find out whether the encounter will change Juan Pablo's mind about keeping her and whether Kelly will devise a new strategy to keep herself in the running for the Bachelor's heart.

During a Thursday conference call with reporters, Kelly talked about her The Bachelor experience thus far and what's to come. To read what she had to tell Reality TV World, click here. For more, click here.

It seemed like in the first episode, Molly didn't really like Juan Pablo. Did Molly get to play with Camila?


Kelly Travis: Ugh, no. Molly didn't get to play with Camila, and you have to [understand] that Molly is in a new place and she's shooting out of a car that she's never been in and there's cameras. She was just like, "Eh, okay, I don't really know you. I'm going to go explore elsewhere." And she likes him now. They have a great relationship now, but in the beginning, I'm sure it was a little awkward for her. (Laughs)

Going back to Victoria's drunken meltdown, did you sort of expect that behavior from her or did it come clear out of the blue and take everyone by surprise?

Kelly Travis: Oh, you know, it's funny because I think Victoria had been drinking all day. So I was in the van with her on the way over to get ready for the night part of the date, and she was very loud. And I mean, I'm sure you guys saw that she made a comment that I said I wanted to put a bark collar on her because she was being so loud, and she just kept drinking!

And ultimately, like in my head, I envisioned that happening but I didn't think it would happen to that extent. And it truly was like a light switch, like one minute she was just being loud and a drunk girl, to the next minute when she was throwing our stuff everywhere.

I even think that watching it, it didn't look as bad as it actually was. I mean, it was probably the worst drunk mess I have ever seen. She was a complete disaster, and I doubt she -- I don't know how she didn't wake up the next day with the worst hangover because she was a disaster.


But it was just like a light switch that we didn't see. I mean, we saw her getting drunk obviously and kind of slurring, but we didn't see it going into like a full-out explosion.

At the beginning of the season, were you thinking that Juan Pablo could really be the guy for you, like potentially your husband?

Kelly Travis: I was lower than, say, a Clare. Clare is very quick when it comes to guys, and I think that you can see that in the episode. She is the emotional girl and I think that after their first date, she thought, "Oh, I can see myself with Juan Pablo for the rest of my life."

But for me, I need more than just, you know, a few one-on-one times to say, "This is husband material." So I saw a great guy at this point, and obviously I want to end up with a great guy, but it wasn't one of those things where I was like, "Yes! This is the one that I want to spend the rest of my life with."

That's just not how I'm wired, and some of the other girls are. It's just not me -- at all. So I'm definitely at a point where it's like, "Oh he's fun and I want a deeper connection," but up to this point, I'm not head over heels in thinking he's my husband. 


What was Juan Pablo's best quality, and what about his worst? And why?

Kelly Travis: His best quality during this was probably the fact that he's extremely fair and he made all of us feel like we were definitely going to get time with him and to share part of ourselves. Because I think that, in past seasons, some girls have felt like they didn't have time. And you know, he has said, like, "I will be completely fair throughout this whole thing." I think that he made sure that he was.

His worst quality? I mean, I wouldn't even say it's like a bad quality, but there is a little bit of a language barrier. And for me, I joke all the time, and so, I would have to explain some of my jokes.

So it was not working in my favor at all. (Laughs) I was like, "Oh no, he's not even going to get it!" I'm like, "You know, like, giddy?" And he was like, "No." And I was like, "Okay." (Laughs) So that's probably the one hindrance on the whole thing.

Do you think Juan Pablo is still hung up on his ex-girlfriend Carla, the mother of Camila? Why or why not?


Kelly Travis: I wouldn't say that he's still hung up on her. I think they have a very close relationship and he makes sure that we all know that.

She is one of his best friends, and I feel like that's how it should be whenever you have a daughter with someone in order to maintain a great relationship with your daughter, which is what he wants. I think it's great that they're close. I don't think that he's necessarily hung up on her.

You mentioned that you move slower in a relationship, but do you believe in love at first sight?

Kelly Travis: I believe in lust at first sight. I don't believe in love at first sight. I think that love requires being able to overcome so much of life, you know, whatever life throws at you. And I don't think that you can figure that out in the very beginning of meeting someone.

Maybe I'm wrong, and maybe it exists, but I personally haven't experienced it. I think that you have to build a friendship with someone in order to get through life's obstacles. I don't think you can really tell that from first impressions, so I personally don't believe in love at first sight.


What is the best love advice you've ever received?

Kelly Travis: The best love advice I've ever received is probably, "Do whatever makes your heart beat the fastest." And truly, that's what I've tried to follow.

I think that, if you follow your heart and you're doing something that you're passionate about and you're in love with someone that every day you want to wake up and do things to make them happy, then you can't go wrong. And to this day, I think that's the best advice I've received.

Because of all the drama that's gone down in previous seasons of The Bachelor, did you have any worries or fears going into the house?

Kelly Travis: I was definitely a little apprehensive going into the house. I have never had female roommates, so going into the house and living with 20 other girls, I was truly worried that they were going to be completely nuts. And luckily, we've got great girls in our house and it wasn't, you know, major chaos all the time.

But going into it, I was definitely apprehensive about the girls. I've just always lived alone and I like it that way. (Laughs) So to have to share things with all these females and have to deal with their emotions, it was like, "Oh no, how am I going to get through this!?" (Laughs) But it was better than I expected for sure.


Which women did you become closest to on the show and have you remained friends?

Kelly Travis: I am closest with [Sharleen Joynt] and [Christy Hansen], and I intend to remain friends with them for life. They're just great, great women, and I will learn from them so much.

I truly believe that we should surround ourselves with women that empower us to be better and smart, intelligent, funny, gorgeous women. That's what I try to do in my daily life and those two girls, I mean, they're just great. Like Sharleen is my heart and I will be friends with her forever. She's great.

Do you believe Juan Pablo really enjoys the fame and attention The Bachelor has brought him?

Kelly Travis: Do I think he enjoys the fame it has gotten him. I really don't think that's what he was in it for. I think that he, you know, he's very genuine and he told us that he was doing it to find love. So I believed him whenever he said that.

Do I think -- I mean, likes the fact that people know him now? Of course! What guy doesn't have an ego? But I don't think that that's why he did it.


How do you feel about extreme sports like bungee jumping?

Kelly Travis: I love that kind of stuff, like I love bungee jumping. I've never been skydiving and I've always wanted to do it. So that part of it didn't scare me at all. And luckily, it's not Bachelor Pad, so I wasn't afraid that we were going to eat gross things -- because I'm not really good at that -- but I wasn't really scared.

They give you this quiz and they [ask] you, "What's your biggest fear?" I was like, "Okay, I'm not actually going to put my biggest fear on here because I'm sure that they're going to put me on a date with it, if I put that down." So I tried to steer away from answering this, honestly, just in case. But the bungee jumping and stuff, that stuff doesn't scare me.

Did you not even view Lucy as competition? And who else were you not worried about competing against?

Kelly Travis: I didn't think that Lucy was competition at all. I didn't think that [Lauren Solomon] was competition just because she's so quiet and kind of awkward around [Juan Pablo].

She even admits that she's out of her comfort zone, so I didn't view that as competition. Those were the major ones. I didn't really view [Elise Mosca] as competition. I just didn't see a connection between them, so, I don't think there were four girls.


To read what Kelly told Reality TV World during the conference call with reporters, click here. To read more, click here.






About The Author: Elizabeth Kwiatkowski