Aloha for ‘Bachelor’

Fans and media greet Andy Baldwin and fiancee Tessa Horst

John and Jennifer Kass were strolling through Waikiki when they discovered that Lt. Andy Baldwin and his fiancee, Tessa Horst, would sign autographs and pose for pictures with fans at the Sheraton Moana Surfrider yesterday afternoon.

So they decided to wait with a few dozen "Bachelor: An Officer and a Gentleman" devotees for the opportunity to interact personally with the couple and see if the television-generated relationship felt real.

"I have to admit we were watching the show," said John, who later added that he's viewed every season of "The Bachelor." But what attracted them this year was the Hawaii setting, which made the former Honolulu residents, now living in Seattle, long for home. Jennifer said she appreciated how the show portrayed the islands, Pearl Harbor and the military. But John's focus wandered elsewhere.

"I liked the fact that there were 25 women!" he laughed. "I mean, what man would not want 25 women to choose from -- at once?"

Initially, the scene in the lobby of the Moana seemed moderately uncontrolled, with people from their 20s to their 50s straining to photograph Baldwin and Horst -- on the veranda in front of a bevy of television cameras and reporters -- through the glass windows. One person even stood on top of a couch to get his shot. But the scene took a more orderly turn when fans realized they would get a chance to take pictures and give the happy couple cards and leis.

"We're so connected with this," said Gar Yip, a Kailua resident whose nephew attended Duke University with Baldwin. Not usually a fan of the show, Yip said she followed this season diligently. "I even got a DVR for it!" she said. "He's the best because he's real."

Did she believe in the whirlwind romance presented to the public in a nice neat package? "I believe in it to a certain extent," she said, clutching leis for the couple. "But I'm a realist. We'll have to wait and see what happens."

Sandy Terryberry, who never missed an episode, had no trouble putting faith in the process. The North Carolina resident in town for a family wedding explained that she had been happily married to her husband for 21 years -- and that they had met through a personal advertisement. "So I know it could happen!" she said.

Salt Lake resident Tricia Masaki said she never attends events like these. "Usually I'm not like this," she said, "but we're all addicted to (the show)." Every Monday night, she and her friends gathered for wine and baguettes at their own private "Bachelor" party.

When asked if she would ever consider meeting someone this way, Masaki shook her head. "No, I don't think I would be able to do that." But she wanted to tell Horst, who is planning to find a job when she moves here at the end of the summer, that she will adjust well to Hawaii "because everyone's so friendly and welcoming."