Fans share date with 'Bachelor Bob'/ Reality TV star visits Springs

0 Comments | Gazette, The (Colorado Springs), Dec 19, 2003 | by LINDA NAVARRO

"Ohhhhhh, he is soooo good looking. Oh, my heart . . ."

Fans perched in the Clear Channel lobby on South Circle Drive had just caught their first look at Bob Guiney, television's most recent "Bachelor."

The overnight celebrity stopped at KVUU (99.9 FM) Thursday afternoon to meet and greet and sing several songs for fans. His first CD, "3 Sides," hits the air in January.

But first, what's this about a homecoming queen? Did Bob remember a blonde beauty from his Michigan high school who served in Desert Storm, is now an IT consultant, who knows Bobby's mother and who was here to see him, asked KVUU assistant music director A.J. Carlisle. An astonished Guiney was face to face with Dawn Judd, his longtime friend who brought their 1989 Riverview High School yearbook.

Guiney, 32, is having one heck of a year. He went from being the popular reject of Trista Rehn on "The Bachelorette" to combing through his own group of 25 eligibles.

A rapt audience listened as Guiney performed several songs from his CD, accompanied by guitarist Andy Patalan. Tops for most in the intimate gathering was "Girlfriend." No, he told the curious, the song wasn't written for Estella, the Beverly Hills mortgage broker who accepted his "promise ring" at the end of the show.

But, the group insisted, "What ABOUT Estella?" He was diplomatic and noncommittal, "We're working on things."

And yes, he was at Trista's wedding, but "don't believe anything in the tabloids, it's crap," he said with disgust, addressing rumors of his abandoning Estella at the festivities and turning into something of a wild party-boy. He's been serious about music for years. Several fans from Michigan in the KVUU gathering had followed his first band, Fat Amy, during college.

Meanwhile, Guiney's first book has been talked up by Oprah and is on Amazon.com and in book stores.

"What a Difference a Year Makes: How Life's Unexpected Setbacks Can Lead to Unexpected Joy" (Jeremy P. Tarcher/Penguin, a member of Penguin Group (USA) Inc.) recounts how Guiney went from a married guy whose wife told him "Dear John" in a Post-It note to a slimmed-down, kissyfaced, TV-star loverboy.