An Interview with Jamie Blyth of ‘The Bachelorette’

I know things can get kind of confusing on our site sometimes with having two gay Brians who both live in New York, but this isn't a typo – the correct Brian is getting credit for this interview. So how did I wind up interviewing The Bachelorette suitor Jamie Blyth if C. Brian Devinney covered the show for our site? Good question.

Even though I didn't cover it, I watched the whole series and from the beginning, my two favorite suitors were Jamie and Ryan. A friend of mine passed along a link to Jamie's website, www.jamieblyth.com, recently, and when I checked it out, I noticed that he was from Hinsdale, Illinois, and I grew up two suburbs away in Downers Grove. He also spoke a lot about his experiences with social anxiety and panic disorder, and I've had experience with both as well. So I emailed him and told him about myself and asked if he'd be up for an interview, and he agreed. Over the phone (he still lives in Chicago), we talked about his experiences on the show, how he overcame his social anxiety and panic attacks, and more.

RealityNewsOnline: How did you wind up on the show?

Jamie: I was coming back from Sweden, where I had played basketball, and I was in L.A. visiting a friend, and a producer from the show came up to me and thought I would be good for The Bachelor. So I ended up being one of the runner-ups for The Bachelor 2 and then they put me on The Bachelorette.

RNO: Had you seen the show before?

Jamie: Some clips, but never an entire show. It's kind of funny – when they were asking me about it, they said, "We want you to possibly be The Bachelor," and I was like, "Oh – what's that?" I was kind of equating it to Blind Date or Elimidate or something.

RNO: And obviously, it's a lot different!

Jamie: Yeah!

RNO: What were you hoping to accomplish by going on the show?

Jamie: I wasn't going on it necessarily to get married, per se, but I knew there was a possibility that I might find someone – stranger things have happened! I just went on because it was a cool experience, something different, and I'm writing a book on overcoming panic attacks and anxiety, and it was a good way to do that as well.

RNO: Overcome your own anxieties about being on the show?

Jamie: Yeah.

RNO: Realistically, once everything got sorted out and you realized you'd be competing against twenty-four other guys, how did you view your chances?

Jamie: I didn't really view it as a competition at all. I just kind of look at things like I can control what I can control. And when I went there, these guys were all really cool and I was great friends with all of them, so if it worked out with Trista, great; if not, she was going to be with one of my friends, so that was fine.

RNO: Who did you get along with best out of the other guys?

Jamie: Definitely, my best friends were Bob, Ryan, Charlie, Jack, and Greg.

RNO: Which Greg – the one who wound up staying around?

Jamie: Yeah.

RNO: OK. With all the Gregs and Brians, it got confusing!

Jamie: I know!

RNO: Who did you get along with the least?

Jamie: To be honest with you, I really got along with everybody.

RNO: Did you ever get the impression that some of the other guys had ulterior motives for going on the show – say, just for the camera time – or did everyone seem pretty open and sincere?

Jamie: I'd say everyone was pretty much sincere. The only guy that I didn't know was quite as into it as he was was Russ. Russ is actually a great guy – he's a good friend of mine too. He was just a little more serious about it, which was fine.

RNO: What were your first impressions of Trista?

Jamie: Very poised, confident, energetic, great sense of humor, and obviously just a beautiful girl.

RNO: You had some alone time with her on that group date –

Jamie: Yeah. I had very little "alone time" with her! (laughs)

RNO: Yeah, that was probably the extent of it! But from watching the show, it seemed like your involvement with her kind of dwindled down as it went on. What would you say was the reason for that?

Jamie: I think she was very good at deciphering who was really serious about the whole thing and who wasn't. And like Bob said [in the reunion special], I think it wound up being more of a friendship thing, and she wasn't there for that. Granted, she walked away with some great friends – I went out to dinner with her and Ryan two nights ago when they were in Chicago.

RNO: Cool!

Jamie: And we're good friends, but she knew who she was emotionally invested in, and likewise who was [invested in] her.

RNO: Yeah, I noticed that when I was going back and rewatching your episodes. She had mainly positive things to say about you, and in the beginning you shared an interest in basketball and other things.

Jamie: Yeah. It comes down to who's ready to settle down at this point in their life and who did she make the strongest connection with. The first night, I talked to her for a little bit and we had a great connection, but that definitely dwindled down as the process went on.