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The truth is whether you're chasing a record deal or a movie role, breaking into the entertainment industry is hard work.
"The reality-TV-contestant pool isn't any different than the normal pool of wannabe entertainment stars," says Derek Santos, editor of RealityTVWorld.com. "Generally, it takes a lot of perseverance and a generous helping of luck to make it in Hollywood. ... You have no idea how many people there are who went through years of acting lessons, music lessons, drama school, conservatories, and they have contacts that you don't have, and still most of them fail. Why would you succeed?"
And though reality stars enjoy the kind of exposure that can make other struggling actors and musicians jealous, they also face plenty of disadvantages from their experience. A label or studio exec, for instance, might be turned off that they can't mold the singer or actor's image, as it's already been done.
"We've seen them exposed at their highest of highs and their lowest of lows," says John Miller, editor of FansofRealityTV.com, borrowing an oft-used "Survivor" expression. And a negative image from a show can be a detriment in the real real world.
"I don't think 'Bachelor' Bob's album had any chance of being a big seller," Miller says. "He turned too many people off during his 'Bachelor' series by trying to stick his tongue down as many throats as possible."
Bob recognizes his tainted image and again points to not being in control of how the show was edited. "There's a lot more conversation than makes the screen time," he says, laughing. "I actually had conversations before I kissed everybody, but you never saw that. Strangely, all I did was kiss."
Andy Dehnart, who muses about reality shows on RealityBlurred.com, blames Bob's lackluster album sales not on his image, but on overkill.
"We were tired of him before 'The Bachelorette' ended," Dehnart says. "The fame that comes from reality TV is ephemeral. After they've entertained us for 13 weeks, we pretty much want them to go away."
Reality TV stars wanting to launch music careers have it particularly hard in that there's a track record for actual actors crossing over and, as Jennifer Love Hewitt or Bruce Willis can attest, it isn't pretty.
The deck is certainly stacked against him, yet Bob is holding out hope — mostly, he says, because of the positive feedback he gets on tour. "If people hear a song and like it, they listen," he says. "It's the people who control whether those people get to hear my music who don't know my history or take the time to figure it out [who make it difficult]."
"Musicians who get CDs released by a major label have a chance of success because the public can hear the music for itself and fall in love with them no matter what the critics say," Santos adds. "Just look at the savage press Clay Aiken gets [yet he still sells]."
Bob is so aware of the importance of his fans that he keeps them in mind when making every business decision. "I wasn't interested in doing the KFC commercials," he says, referencing one of "Joe Millionaire" star Evan Marriott's recent jobs. "I wanted to make sure I made a serious effort to establish myself as a singer and convey the fact that I'm not trying to cash in on the 15 minutes of fame."
Bob pauses to gather his thoughts.
"I guess people are always going to think that anyway, and there's nothing you can do about it," he says. "I was telling my girlfriend today, I said, 'I'm going to be married with 10 kids and somehow still be "The Bachelor." ' "
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Photo: RCA
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