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What It Feels Like...

(page 9 of 17)

… To Be a Former Reality TV Star

Aaron Buerge, 33
He appeared in 2002 on ABC’s The Bachelor: Season 2 but did not marry the final contestant Helene Eksterowicz. He’s been back in Springfield since, establishing himself locally as a banker and restaurateur.
BY Aaron Buerge,
AS TOLD TO TIESHA MILLER

I don’t feel like I’m fighting the image to not be that guy. I’m just actively not that guy. When the show was still on, I felt like I had to fight that image because I hadn’t been in Springfield that long and hardly any people knew me. They thought because I was on TV, I would have this pompous attitude.

It was somewhat unique transitioning back into everyday life after the show aired. We had people coming into the bank just to take pictures and things of that nature—several a day. It was flattering, and I was always trying to spin that they could open a checking account at the bank or something. Rarely though were they local people. They were usually tourists traveling through to Branson, or something like that, who would never bank with a community bank.

A typical day in banking keeps me on my toes. It’s been pretty busy. Not a whole lot really reminds me on a daily basis that I was on a reality TV show. We recently opened another Trolley’s restaurant in Overland Park, Kansas. If I’m up there or anytime I’m traveling or walking through an airport, people still approach me, which is really strange to me that people recognize me from some TV show that ran almost five years ago. If I go to Chicago or a bigger city, and people don’t know that I’m just a boring banker, then they like to come talk about that stuff, and it can be a hassle sometimes. When people approach me about it outside the area it’s: Am I Aaron? Was I a Bachelor? I usually confirm it, answer any questions they have and take pictures with them if they ask. Like I said, this doesn’t happen in Springfield ever.

Also I feel that a lot of people forget that I’m president of a bank, and they think that I’m just a restaurant owner. I’m not involved at all in the day-to-day operations of the restaurant. I’m here at the bank every day, peddling money. I feel like I have to work harder to establish my credibility in this community as a banker because people forget or just assume I didn’t go back to my career. I had a little bit of this chip on my shoulder during the TV show that people perceived me as getting all caught up in Hollywood and were prejudging me. That was not the case at all—I didn’t get caught up. I came back to Springfield to resume my career here. I didn’t go to Hollywood and pursue VH1 specials and other gigs like some ex-reality TV stars. For one, it doesn’t pay that great, and I think being famous is overrated. Everybody knows everything about your personal life. You have no privacy. That’s the biggest downside to me. It’s not disappointment at all that I’m not more of a big deal.

People ask me all the time if I’m going to settle down, when I’m getting married—I’m sure partially due to the fact that I was on that show. I haven’t had any random marriage proposals. I’ve had a lot of people try to set me up with their friends or daughters, though.

My family was relieved that because the show was on ABC for the Disney Company... that it was actually a family show, and that I was portrayed in a positive light. They only showed 1 percent of what was filmed, but I felt like I was accurately portrayed. I questioned my judgment when I agreed to go out there and do the last interview with Helene, discussing why we broke up. There’s no way you can defend yourself on national TV to a young lady whose feelings were hurt and is crying incessantly. That probably put me in a negative light there for a while. Maybe I came off as insensitive or like I didn’t care for her feelings, which wasn’t true at all. I went out there because I wanted to give my side of the story. I felt like everybody deserved to know why we broke up. I had no idea what she would say. 

I thought the TV experience was pretty humbling. You think of yourself in a certain light or when you’re talking to people you look a certain way, and when you see yourself on TV—I was like “I’m not as cool as I thought I was.” I look goofy. I sound different. I have more of a Midwestern accent than I realized. There is no before and after Aaron. After Aaron is the same. I’m just a working guy, trying to pay bills. I don’t feel like it’s changed at all.