Interview by Whitney Johnson. Written by Sarah Batcheller and Shannon Seibert.
Bartlett, Illinois native Chris Bukowski was the fourth runner-up on Emily Maynard’s season of The Bachelorette and was seen as a main competitor on season 3 of the Bachelor Pad. Since his initial reality TV appearance, he has molded himself into quite the entrepreneur as the owner of The Bracket Room, a sports bar and lounge in Arlington, Virginia. Earlier this summer though, Bukowski put his business on the back burner and returned to the small screen with the hope of finding a celebrity romance on Bachelor in Paradise (fourth time’s a charm, right?).
Chris Bukowski on Looking for Relationship and Love on Reality TV
Related Link: ‘Bachelorette’ Star Marcus Grodd Is Engaged to ‘Bachelor in Paradise’ Costar
He recently created quite a media frenzy when he “crashed” the premiere episode of Andi Dorfman’s season of The Bachelorette. We saw on the Men Tell All episode that host Chris Harrison wouldn’t let Bukowski come to the stage and meet her. “I was totally thrown off-guard when Chris said something to me — I wasn’t miked or anything. He kind of bombarded me!” he shares in our exclusive celebrity interview. Still, he says that final pick Josh Murray “seems like a good guy for Andi.”
When he got the call for Bachelor in Paradise, it was no surprise that he was open to the experience. “The producers approached me about it, and I figured, ‘Why not?’ I was able to take time off from the restaurant, so it worked out really well in that sense. When you have an opportunity to be on reality TV, it’s hard to say no!”
Bukowski shows up on the island in tonight’s episode and is immediately surrounded by familiar faces, including AshLee Frazier. Although he and Frazier were friends prior to the show, he says she was too busy with Graham Bunn to spend any time with him. “I knew almost everyone there, which made it a little hard to find a relationship and love. Obviously, if something was going to happen, it would’ve already.”
Related Link: ‘Bachelor in Paradise’ Star AshLee Frazier: “My Goal Was to Know Graham Bunn”
Bachelor in Paradise Celebrity Romance and Fling
Still, that didn’t stop him from having a celebrity fling. The restaurant owner had a brief “showmance” with castmate Elise Mosca and gushes that their dates were “simple but at the same time spectacular — not your normal, real world dates.” He also states that their celebrity romance is “too good to spoil” for Bachelor in Paradise fans, refusing to share any of the hot details.
Evidently, a happy ending isn’t in the cards for this entrepreneur, though. Sources close to us reveal that Bukowski only stays in paradise for two episodes, sending himself home next week. Still, he doesn’t blame the show’s format for his failure to meet someone special. “I’ve seen it work on reality TV before, so it was worth a shot. Plus, it’s really hard to find a relationship and love in the real world! At the end of the day, I just wanted to have a good time — and I did.”
In regard to the Jesse Kovacs drama that audiences are wildly anticipating later this season, the blue-eyed contestant admits, “I’m definitely caught up in some of my own controversy on tonight’s episode, but I’m not around when Jesse gets there, so I’m not sure what kind of trouble he got into.” Well, now we’re awaiting two scandals! Make that three gossip-worthy moments as we watch ousted Michelle Kujawa’s love life unravel…
Another source shares that Bukowski and fellow Bachelor in Paradise contestant Christy Hansen (who hasn’t shown up in Tulum, Mexico yet) became good friends prior to the show after meeting in Chicago. Unfortunately, Hansen arrives in paradise after Bukowski is gone, so audiences won’t get to see them together. While the hopeless romantic clarifies that they’re not dating, he won’t confirm whether or not he’s single.
Related Link: New Beginnings for Old Flames on ‘Bachelor in Paradise’
Back in the real world, Bukowski maintains his determination to find love, as many of his fans witnessed during his recent search for “Deerfield Abby.” The Bachelorette veteran describes how he and fashion blogger Dana Weiss of Possessionista tracked her down: “Dana saw that I posted on Facebook that I was looking for someone in Deerfield, Illinois. Once Dana and I connected, it turned into quite the extensive search and got way bigger than I thought it would. Dana is amazing, and she definitely helped find the Abby I was looking for, but it turns out that Abby has a boyfriend, which is why her friend was so mad about Dana’s post. At the end of the day, it was settling to be able to find her even though nothing happened from it — except for now I have about 15 new friends named Abby.”
As his time on Bachelor in Paradise comes to an end (for now, at least), his business continues to flourish. “We just signed a deal that will open two more Bracket Room’s,” he says enthusiastically. “We’ll have one at Reagan National Airport and Dulles International Airport, both in Washington, DC.” He’s also launching a cold-pressed juice brand this December in Chicago. “I’m not releasing the name for another couple of weeks though.”
Keep up with Chris on Twitter @ChrisJBukowski. Be sure to tune in to Bachelor in Paradise on Monday nights at 8/7c on ABC!
