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Akron native and Walsh grad still looking for love after show ends; she's optimistic about her future
Published on Saturday, Apr 12, 2008
Not long ago, Holly Durst went out looking for love. To help, she had her blonde good looks and a pleasant personality, a communications degree from Walsh University, clothes from the Beverly Hills store where she worked, and lots of shoes.
But romance did not come. Instead, she made some friends, got a bunch of TV time and managed to hold onto more of her dignity than a lot of the people she was around.
Durst, born in Akron and brought up in Suffield, was one of the bachelorettes on the latest round of ABC's The Bachelor. It's subtitled London Calling because the latest bachelor, Matt Grant, is a Brit.
Based on what has aired, Grant is also quite the lech, a serial lip-locker with women on the show. And even though Durst caught his eye early on, he bid goodbye to her on the most recent telecast, contending that he at times found it difficult to converse with her.
''I don't think he made a good choice,'' Durst said in a recent telephone interview. Durst and another contender, Marshana (the show uses only first names on the air), went on a combined date with Grant. At the end, he gave Marshana the rose, signifying he wanted her to stay around.
But she did not think Grant saw the overly dramatic side of Marshana. ''She didn't show that side to Matt at all,'' Durst said. Nor did he see all aspects of Durst.
Low-key dates
''I'm a lot of fun, but they didn't show that on the air at all,'' she said. She went with Grant on dates to low-key events like a movie preview. ''I didn't get to go on the tennis date. I didn't go on the rugby date.''
And she admitted that, by the time she left the show, she was finding it more difficult to talk to Grant. In fact, she had a somewhat rocky introduction.
''When I stepped out of the limo (for the first meeting), I didn't think he was attractive. I was thinking, 'What do I do now?' '' she said. When she got closer and actually met him, he was more charming. She saw a romantic match. And while other women seemed desperate in pursuit — one even put her underwear in Grant's pocket — she was more measured, and he appeared to respond to that.
Serial lip-locking Brit
Then she became aware of how he was behaving. ''I started to put up a wall when I saw he was kissing other girls. . . . A lot of people say I'm better than him.''
But overall, she found the Bachelor experience worthwhile. She had gone on the show because ''I really am looking for love, and it's hard to date in L.A.'' (She moved there, she said, ''because the job market in Ohio was horrible.'')
She did have a publicized romance with Justin Guarini, the singer who was runner-up in the first season of American Idol. Grant told an interviewer that the movie preview was his first time on a red carpet, but Durst said, ''Thank goodness they didn't ask me.'' She had walked red carpets with Guarini.
Still, she and Guarini are no longer together. ''We're still really good friends,'' she said, but there's no chance of a reconciliation.
Indeed, if she was asked to star on The Bachelorette, she would say yes. ''I would like to be in that position of choosing someone,'' she said. And whom would she want? ''I love funny guys, athletic guys, very honest people,'' she said.
New friends a dividend
She also came away with new friends, especially Shayne, the daughter of actor Lorenzo Lamas.
The famous name meant nothing to Durst. They bonded in other ways. Although Shayne's sizable collection of shoes was talked about on the show, Durst — who roomed with Lamas — said that she was right up there in the footwear stakes.
''Both of us had suitcases of shoes,'' she said with a laugh.
On the other hand, when I asked her whether everyone in the house hated the contestant Robin as much as they seemed to on the air, she said: ''Yes. Definitely. She didn't get along with any of the girls. . . . She said she was there just for the competition.''
And the competition was always an issue. The women not only lived under one roof, they also had no access to television or the Internet. ''They wanted you to focus on the bachelor,'' Durst said. ''It was overwhelming. You were with all these girls, but all the girls want the same thing you want.'' Much of the time, Durst said, ''I slept and ate.''
One reason she and Lamas were able to stay friends was that ''Shayne and I made a pact.'' Each agreed not to offer the other information about their one-on-one dates with Grant, to have a little distance from the nonstop competition.
But now that's over for her, and she has other things to think about. She's getting ready to publish her first children's book, I Miss You, about an adult having to leave a child. She has her job. And there's still a chance for love.
Rich Heldenfels writes about popular culture for the Beacon Journal and in a blog at http://www.ohio.com. Contact him at 330-996-3582 or rheldenfels@thebeaconjournal.com.
Not long ago, Holly Durst went out looking for love. To help, she had her blonde good looks and a pleasant personality, a communications degree from Walsh University, clothes from the Beverly Hills store where she worked, and lots of shoes.
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