'The Bachelorette' bachelor Mikey Tenerelli: Drew Kenney dreamt up James Case saying he wants to be the next Bachelor

The Bachelorette bachelor Mikey Tenerelli, a 30-year-old plumbing contractor from Winfield, IL, was eliminated on Monday night's broadcast during the fifth episode's Rose Ceremony.


The Bachelorette star Desiree Hartsock sent Mikey home after canceling the cocktail party because she had made her mind up about who should stay and who should go. Mikey seemed disappointed Des didn't take that extra time to continue getting to know him when he had yet to even receive a one-on-one date.

In addition, Mikey was the guy that apparently had the conversation with James Case in which Drew Kenney and Kasey Stewart allegedly overheard James talking about how he could potentially be the next Bachelor if he played his cards right and looked forward to picking up "women with money" on Mikey's boat in Chicago.

During a Thursday conference call with reporters, Mikey talked to Reality TV World about his The Bachelorette experience. Below is what he had to say. Check back with us on Friday for some additional details from his call. 

Reality TV World: This week's broadcast showed Drew telling the other guys that he and Kasey had overheard a conversation you had with James in which James mentioned he could potentially be the next Bachelor if he makes it to the Top 4 and he something about taking your boat out and picking up beautiful girls with money. Did that really all happen as Drew and Kasey were shown explaining it? If not, could you clarify what James told you exactly?


Mikey Tenerelli: Sure, so basically what happened was James and I were on the group date together in Germany on the mountain top. If you recall, [Brooks Forester] got the group-date rose. Myself and James included, you know, I was good friends with James on the show, so him and I talked afterwards.

We both felt like we had a really good shot of getting that group-date rose, so when Brooks got it, I was upset. Because there were some guys in the house I had some similarities with and some guys I felt I was opposite to, and I really felt like I was opposite Brooks in terms of my look and my personality.

So when I continued to see him getting roses, especially when he got this group-date rose in Germany, I was frustrated. And what happened was James and I were talking on the way back in the car, and I was just kind of airing it out.

James and I were talking as friends talk. What we said was, "Hey you know, we hope this works out. If it doesn't, we both live in Chicago. We'll have a good time this summer." I did mention the fact that I have a boat and we'll take it out. It was a normal conversation. There was no mention of who was going to be the next Bachelor or anything like that.

It was more of just two guys just kind of saying, "Hey, if it doesn't work out, life goes on and things happen," you know? If Drew or any other guy or Desiree or anyone I know has never had that kind of conversation when they've been frustrated with something or someone, then please bring them forward, because that would be bizarre to me.


Reality TV World: So you said James never made the comment about potentially being the next Bachelor. But Drew was pretty insistent about what he believed he had heard. So do you think something came up in your conversation with James that Drew might've misinterpreted or are you saying Drew made it up completely?

Mikey Tenerelli: What I'm saying is that the conversation with James and I, he did not talk about being the next Bachelor. Drew was sleeping, but okay, supposedly he was not sleeping when he overheard us. So maybe he was dreaming about being the next Bachelor himself and thought that James said that, but that was not said between James and I.

Reality TV World: We didn't see you discussing to cameras or the other guys what James had told you. How did it come about that you had the conversation but Drew and Kasey were the ones shown talking about it? Did you plan on sharing that information with the other guys or Des and Drew just beat you to the punch or did you think the information wasn't relevant and you had a different perspective on it than Drew? 

Mikey Tenerelli: Well basically, the conversation that I had with James, I didn't believe it was relevant at all to bring up to Desiree or the other guys. It was, like I said, it was just two friends just talking and airing out their frustrations.

The fact that Drew overheard it and made a huge deal of it -- and obviously from what we've seen on the last episode, I'm assuming he's going to confront James on it. I never would've imagined that it would've went that far.


Like I said, it was more of just James and I expressing our frustrations and saying, "Hopefully, if it doesn't work out for you or I, whatever happens, life goes on and we'll do these things in Chicago." And that was it.

Reality TV World: Des chose to forego the cocktail party and just go straight into the Rose Ceremony because she said she had her mind made up and didn't want to put the guy she was eliminating through that when she was sure of her decision. Once you realized she was sending you home, were you almost a little offended or insulted she didn't give you more time to get to know one another at the party or were you relieved she let you go when she did?

Mikey Tenerelli: I was both. I definitely was frustrated though because why not spend another 20-30 minutes with me, talking to me, you know? If the issue was me picking up and leaving Chicago, why not [talk] about that more? Air it out a little more; Talk to me about it a little more. Give me a chance to elaborate more than just the five minute conversation we had on the mountain top.

So I was angry about it, I was frustrated, I wanted to get more time with her at that cocktail party, and I was hurt by the fact that she had already made her mind up -- that I was the guy that she made her mind up about. So that wasn't easy to deal with.

But at the same time, from what I know about Des and from our conversations, I mean, when she makes her mind up, she makes her mind up. And you know, I don't know if I could've talked to her for another 20 minutes or half hour and it would've changed anything, but I do appreciate the fact that she was honest with herself and didn't have the cocktail party in that regard.


Reality TV World: So what's your overall opinion of James then? What do you think his intentions were? Because obviously in previews of what's to come, it definitely looks like James is going to get attacked by the guys for allegedly being on the show for the wrong reasons.

Mikey Tenerelli: He definitely does not deserve that. James and I were best friends on the show. There's no doubt about it. We're just good friends and we were good friends on the show. And I think that conveniently, I get eliminated and then conveniently, the guys kind of gang up on him.

But I don't think that would've happened if I was there, because it was only James and I that were part of the conversation that they're attacking him on. So, he was not there for the wrong reasons. He's a good kid. He talked to me about Desiree and I knew that they had something good and I knew that -- I thought he was going to be a frontrunner.

But the whole thing about the conversation got blown way out of proportion and I really think that was just used as a tactic to try to eliminate someone who's your competition from the other guys.   

Reality TV World: Bryden Vukasin obviously chose to quit the show. Could you guys sense he was unsure about his feelings for Des or did that come as a complete surprise to everyone once he opened up about how he was considering leaving? And do you respect him for his decision or do you think he should've handled it differently?


Mikey Tenerelli: Well, Bryden's decision came up in Atlantic City as you saw obviously. That's when he started doubting the process. That's when he started doubting his connection with Desiree. That's when he started doubting his feelings. So when that happened in Atlantic City, I was shocked.

I considered him to be a frontrunner. I thought they had a good connection and he got one of the first one-on-one dates, and so I heard it and was shocked. I wasn't shocked in Germany because once someone has those types of feelings like Bryden did, to me, it's only the beginning of the end. I feel like it was going to happen; I just didn't know when.

And it happened in Germany and it is what it is. But Bryden, I tip my hat to him. He's an honest guy. I have nothing but respect for him, and as Desiree talked about on the show, it is a two-way street. It's not always Desiree eliminating you and everyone's in love with Desiree. It's got to be mutual, and Bryden didn't feel like that, and he left.

He gave the other, you know, I think it was 10 of us at that time, an opportunity to further our connections and take himself out of the equation because he just wasn't into it.

Reality TV World: It seemed like Bryden was having those feelings of uncertainty for a little while and Des was clearly upset that he didn't at least tell her that he wanted to leave before traveling to Europe. What's your perspective on that?

Mikey Tenerelli: Yeah, Bryden is a very upfront and honest person, and he's a good person. So I know that when we [traveled] from Atlantic City to Germany, in his head, he still saw a chance for things to work out.


If he didn't, he never would have gotten on that plane, and I know Des wasn't happy about that. But I can tell you that, like I said, Bryden wouldn't have made that trip if there was a small chance of things moving forward. Obviously when he got to Germany, he realized that just wasn't going to happen.

During a Thursday conference call with reporters, Mikey talked to Reality TV World about his The Bachelorette experience. Above is what he had to say. Check back with us on Friday for some additional details from his call. 






About The Author: Elizabeth Kwiatkowski