There are always tears on the first night of the reality show “The Bachelor.” After months of training, the bachelor releases a few girls just hours after they arrive at the Bachelor Mansion.
Hillsdale College grad Amy Jokinen, ’04, was one of the unlucky candidates not to receive a rose in episode one. Despite her disappointment about not having the opportunity to stay on the show, Jokinen said, “I thoroughly enjoyed the experience. I treated it like my bridal time.”
During Jokinen’s brief time on the show, she gave the bachelor, Juan Pablo, a massage. Jokinen works as a massage therapist in Los Angeles, while also pursuing a career as an actress.
Amber Garrett, from the reality commentary website Wetpaint, said, “Massage therapist Amy J. must have rubbed JP the wrong way, because he sent her to pack up her oils and go.”
Jokinen joked that if she would have given a massage to Sean Lowe, the previous season’s bachelor, he would have kept her because he is “goofier.”
Jokinen has also received criticism for her tearful reaction after her release from the show.
“The reason we cry is that we shut down our life for two months. I had taken time off of work and paid off all my bills,” she said. “They really prepare you for this romantic thing. And then when there is no chemistry between you and the bachelor and they send you home, it’s troubling and tear-jerking.”
Several media outlets also mocked Jokinen for her video introduction. Another commentator from Wetpaint said, “In her packaged intro, she freaked everyone out with her airplane noises and over-exuberance.”
Jokinen said that the introduction portrayed her inaccurately.
“I didn’t go on social media for two weeks. I really was frustrated with the way I was edited,” she said. “But I was just being goofy.”
Though she had followed the show, Jokinen did not originally have any intention of becoming a contestant on “The Bachelor.” Her cousin sent in a letter and her headshot describing her as the perfect person for the show.
Previously, Jokinen had decided to devote less time to acting in order to focus on her massage therapy. She had recently broken up with a bad boyfriend, and she said that she felt “powerful.”
The producers of the show called her to audition a few weeks later. Jokinen was cast during the interview.
“I pray to God every day for my husband. I was really pumped to go on the show and find love,” she said.
Jokinen said that she describes her time at Hillsdale as the best and worst of her life.
“The education there and the classes that we were required to take, truly stay with you,” she said. “It shaped my decision-making and my ideas of my country. I am eternally grateful for my time there.”
Jokinen was an active member of the college theater department and was cast as the lead role in the first play for which she had auditioned.
Jokinen was also a member of Chi Omega sorority. She said that she enjoyed her time in the sisterhood but joked that, “you can gain 30 pounds from eating in that downstairs kitchen.”
Geena Pietrefase, junior and Chi Omega president, said that many members of her sorority watched Jokinen during Christmas break. She also said that no current members of Chi Omega are interested in following in Jokinen’s footsteps and auditioning for “The Bachelor.”
“We know that reality television is not reality,” she said.
Though Jokinen plans to continue to pursue acting, she hopes one day to found a wellness center.
“I think I have a healing gift, and I think that I can make someone better,” she said. “I pray for my clients and hope when they leave me they feel physically and spiritually better.”
