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Some Nebraskans might recognize a pretty face on the TV in coming months.
A former Nebraska woman is turning heads in her hometown of Imperial and elsewhere as one of the 25 women looking for love on “The Bachelor.”
Vying for the heart of Jake Pavelka, Elizabeth Kitt is one of the 15 contestants who made it to the second round on Monday's premiere episode.
Nebraskans — especially hometown folks — are excited about Kitt's appearance on the show.
Current and former Imperialites were abuzz on Facebook with comments about Kitt during and after Monday's show.
Her former roommate tuned into the episode.
Char Robinson was a family friend of Kitt's and lived with her in Lincoln about 10 years ago. Robinson enjoyed Monday's episode and was happy to see her friend on the show.
“I am so proud of her,” Robinson said by phone from San Diego, where she now lives. “She handled herself in the show with class and confidence. Hollywood is a world of pretend and full of people with hidden motives. The producers could have easily manipulated Elizabeth's personality to make her out to be something she is not.
“In the premiere last night, she proved that she can rise above that and that she is truly beautiful inside and out. She is the real deal ... I'm so excited to see what happens next!”
The show, in its 14th season on ABC, follows one eligible man as he looks for love by whittling down a group of bachelorettes. Those who advance to the next round receive a rose in a ceremony at the end of each episode.
Monday night's premiere episode boasted 9.5 million viewers, the most popular show that night aside from the Fiesta Bowl.
While 10 women were eliminated on Monday's show, Kitt, a brunette, blue-eyed beauty, was the third woman to receive a rose and also got plenty of face time on the premiere.
She was introduced wearing a bikini and strutting down the beach while she talked about her past love life.
“I've lived the ups and downs of love. In the beginning, it's awesome and life couldn't be better, but then if you lose that love it's like the worst feeling in the world,” she said. “But I'm really hopeful that Jake and I do find love with each other. I'm excited for that.”
Kitt caught the eye of one blogger who has been writing about the show since its second season. Lincee Ray, 34, dissected the premiere episode on her blog, ihategreenbeans.com.
“Any which way you look at it... “The Bachelor” is BACK, people! And it's going to be a great season,” she wrote.
Ray became fascinated with the reality series years ago.
“It's not that I love the show,” Ray said, calling from Houston. “I started writing it because I was thinking ‘this is the dumbest thing that I've ever seen.'”
Ray said Kitt impressed her for several reasons: She's one of the best looking women on the show; she seems like the girl next door; “She's not one of the crazy psycho ones” who already think they're in love or will get married to Pavelka and she used an interesting tactic to catch the bachelor's attention.
During the episode, Kitt takes a football to Pavelka and pulls him outside for a game of catch. Kitt, who was a high school athlete, talked about her love of sports on the show.
“I grew up in a very athletic family and I love football so I want to see Jake in action. I just feel like you can tell a lot about a guy by the way he throws a football,” she said. “He looked perfect throwing the football. He looks athletic; he looks comfortable; he looks like he knows what he's doing. I think every girl wants that in a guy.”
Chris Harrison, host of the “The Bachelor,” disagreed about Pavelka's football ability.
“The guy kinda throws like a girl,” Harrison wrote on his blog.
“Chris, let's see how well you can throw a football in a fitted suit jacket without ripping it,” Pavelka responded on his own blog at People.com.
Eventually, the other bachelorettes found Kitt and Pavelka playing catch and turned it into a football game pitting the blondes against the brunettes. (For the record: the brunettes won.)
The show's cast, including Pavelka, looked like they were having a great time.
“He has to think at some point the fun part of the football game was ignited by (Kitt) bringing the football in the first place,” Ray said. “I wouldn't be surprised if she gets a one-on-one date early on.
“She's also the right age. He's 30-something and she's 29. I personally don't see him with one of the 25-year-olds, and after he cut it down the other night, there are a lot of 25-year-olds.”
Ray, a manager for a public relations firm by day, thinks Kitt will go far in the show.
“After he cut it on Monday night, she'd be one of my top 3,” Ray said.
Past stars of the series also liked Kitt.
Jillian Harris and her boyfriend Ed Swiderski, both of last season's “Bachelorette,” met each of the women.
“Great looking, great personality, but very down to earth. She was just very relaxed,” Swiderski said about Kitt.
The season has finished filming, and will air through the next few months, but no one can be sure how Kitt finishes as participants are required to sign nondisclosure agreements.
It could be a rocky road, though: A promo at the end of the show teased that Kitt has a “big secret” to be revealed later in the series.
Contact the writer:
444-1557, kevin.coffey@owh.com
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