Stephanie Hogan, the 34-year-old single mom from Huntsville, Alabama, left her four-year-old daughter Sophia at home to go and find love on The Bachelor. Stephanie will be remembered for being the classy, mature, beautiful woman who made a true connection with Jason Mesnick. Unfortunately for her, it was more of a platonic connection rather than a romantic one, and she was sent home this week, right before the all-important hometown dates.
Stephanie participated in a conference call with members of the press today to talk about impressions of Jason Mesnick and the connection she made with him.
Being from Seattle, I was interested to hear about her impressions of my fair city. From the episode, it looked like she got to see a lot, going on a Golden Argosy Cruise of Lake Washington and all. After talking to her, though, I realize filming a reality show is probably very restrictive. She and the other bachelorettes stayed in a fancy-schmancy hotel downtown, which is only minutes away from Pike Place Market, but she said that she never got a chance to see the market. She spoke glowingly about getting a chance to walk down the sidewalk and feeling the cool air, so ABC probably had them sequestered in the hotel suite for most of the time.
I was also curious about why it seemed that there was never any discussion about where Jason and the eventual winner of The Bachelor would live. It seemed like it was just a given that whoever won would immediately uproot and move to Seattle. According to Stephanie, there never was any discussion about that as far as she was aware. She figured that Jason was just so grounded in Seattle because Ty’s mother lives there too. I suppose this is a pretty good explanation.
All throughout her time on the show, and especially after that date to Legoland in which her daughter Sophia made a surprise appearance, Stephanie had been talking about the special connection that she and Jason were beginning to develop. However, after this last Rose Ceremony, she conceded that she never saw that spark in his eyes whenever he looked at her. In the conference call today, Stephanie explained this apparent contradiction, saying that their connection was more a strong friendship than anything romantic. He didn’t fill her with overwhelming passion when he walked into the room, and she didn’t think she did that for him either.
“I think we will [stay friends]. No doubt. I just had such a bond with Jason. I think our friendship will remain strong,” Stephanie said.
Stephanie was also one of several single moms who left her child at home to be on the show. Sophia took her mother’s absence and her own appearance on national television in stride.
“You know what, she had no idea. She thinks it’s just a video. She didn’t know she was on TV,” Stephanie said of her daughter’s feelings on the whole experience.
Stephanie said that after this season of The Bachelor is over and if she is still single, she would definitely consider becoming the next Bachelorette if ABC approached her. We’ll just have to wait and see if that happens. If she does become the next Bachelorette, I’m sure that she’ll be just as poised and polished as she has been while she was on The Bachelor.
-Debbie Chang, BuddyTV Staff Writer
(Image courtesy of ABC)
Staff Writer, BuddyTV
