BuddyTV had the privilege of participating on a press teleconference call less than an hour ago with the bachelor himself, Andy Baldwin, star of ABC’s The Bachelor: Officer and a Gentleman. On Monday, May 21st, Andy returns home to Pennsylvania to share his experience with his family and to ask them for guidance in making one of the most difficult decisions of his life – choosing between the two remaining women on the two-hour season final of The Bachelor: Officer and a Gentleman. Andy of course wasn’t able to tell us who he chose in the end; we’ll have to wait until Monday to find out. But here’s what he did say…

When asked what he likes best about Bevin and what he likes best about Tessa, Andy said, “Bevin and Tessa are both amazing woman, and they have much different story arcs and how they got to this point. Bevin is a woman not afraid to share who she is, she wears her emotions on her sleeve. I think that’s what I love about her and what I think is so admirable. She’s very open to showing her affection and emotions and I’m an affectionate person, so we had a lot of chemistry from the get go. Tessa on the other hand is very grounded, she had skepticism and doubt from the beginning. Her and Bevin were best friends in the house which they didn’t really show, but it played out in the end. I saw a lot in her and I was falling for her although last episode she came out of her shell in terms of what she was saying, and I started having doubts. And I think she had doubts as well. It was kind of like a game when we were in LA, but once we got to base and to Hawaii, it became much more real and the feelings I have for them.”

When asked how hard it was for him to make that final decision, Andy said “It got really hard with the last three. I wasn’t acting. There’s a reason that those three were the last three. Each had different qualities that I really liked that I thought would be compatible. My emotions were overwhelmed and I couldn’t stress enough how much time I needed with each of them to figure it out.”

“They’re very much on the same level and my head is spinning, my heart is getting pulled in different directions. It was extremely hard in the end; I had to do some real soul searching.”

Andy is very excited and eager for Monday’s episode to finally roll around as he’s been anxious to move on with his life and his new relationship with the new love that he’s found on the show. Andy exclaims, “I can’t wait. It’s so hard right now because we’re watching this and all these emotions come back and we’re tired of watching what happened in the past and are so looking forward to moving on as a couple and in the future. All I can say is our love for each other has grown for each other more and more since the finale.” He also tells us, “We know each other so much better now than we did after the finale. We’ve seen each other three times since the finale and talk for hours and hours on the phone everyday. Were so excited to be able to finally go out in public as a couple and fall in love with each other all over again in the real world."

His response to reports saying that one of the girls has already revealed who he picked was cut short by the moderator simply stating: “All we can say is that he is engaged to the woman that he proposed to and you’ll find out who it is on Monday. The woman he proposed to said yes and he’s very happily engaged.”

So when is the wedding date? According to Andy, “No wedding date is set. The first step is her moving here and us being together, living together in the real world and falling in love with each other again and living a normal life outside The Bachelor world. But we’re both very happy and optimistic.”

What does his family think about the decision he made and are they supportive? Well apparently, they don’t know about his final decision either. Andy states: “My family doesn’t know who I chose, nobody does. They’re waiting eagerly to find out as well.” Andy adds, “I value my family’s input a great deal. Ultimately, I do know that they very much approved of the final two, they know that I’m happy, and for their son, that’s what matters, and they’re going to be supportive of whoever it is. My sister on the other hand, as you’ll see, asks some tough questions.

Andy tells us that in the end, it was a great experience and he’s glad it’s finally almost over. “When I see these episodes every Monday, it’s the first time I’m seeing it, so it’s very enlightening and revealing as well….I wouldn’t have done anything differently, but it has helped put the puzzle pieces together.”

When asked if he felt he was portrayed pretty accurately on the show, he said, “There have definitely been some times (watching the episodes) when I cringe where I say, ‘Amazing.’ (Laughs) Did I really say ‘Amazing’ that much? There were times I used big words, and they would say that you have to use another word because people wouldn’t understand it. But a lot of the cheesy lines are my cheesy lines. So people can make fun of me as much as they want to.” (Laughs)

- BuddyTV Staff Writer

(Image courtesy of ABC)