| USA
| ABC | Mondays, 9:30-11:00 p.m., ET; season premiere Monday, April 2
U.S.
Navy Lieutenant Andy Baldwin, M.D., 30, an undersea medical officer for
a special operations dive unit stationed in Pearl Harbor, Hawaii, has
been selected to star in the tenth edition of ABC's popular romance
reality series, when "The Bachelor" returns to the network in
the Spring of 2007. In addition to his professional accomplishments,
this Bachelor is also a world-class triathlete. Now this real-life
'officer and a gentleman' faces the most exciting mission of his life --
finding true love.
Andy
grew up in Lancaster, Pennsylvania, where he was valedictorian in high
school and a competitive swimmer who made All-American; he was even
named ESPN's National Scholar Athlete of the Year in 1995. His
small-town upbringing in a family of modest means taught him a strong
work ethic, so as a teenager he worked three jobs (paper boy, lifeguard
and his own lawn mowing business), all with an eye towards paying for
his college education. |
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| As
Andy explains, there had never been a doctor or military officer in the
Baldwin family before, so he set those professional goals for himself.
He saved $25,000 for college before graduating high school, when the
Navy offered him a full ROTC scholarship. He took it and went to Duke
University, where he was a varsity letter winner on the men's swim team
and began training for marathons, all while taking a pre-med course load
and earning a degree in biology, with a concentration in genetics. After
graduating Duke with honors, he enrolled in the University of
California-San Francisco School of Medicine, and was a surgical intern
at Naval Hospital San Diego.
His
move to the west coast inspired a new passion -- cycling -- and he
combined this with his excellence in swimming and running to compete in
his first triathlon in 2000, falling in love with the sport. He has
since gone on to compete internationally in numerous Ironman, Half-Ironman
and other triathlons and marathons, often ranking among the top 5
finishers in his age group.
One
of his biggest supporters at his races was his beloved Uncle Tom, who
died of pancreatic cancer just one month after diagnosis. To honor his
uncle, Andy established a fund to raise money for pancreatic cancer
research, and has raised over $20,000 to date. In 2006 he was asked to
serve as group surgeon for a team of 50 military personnel headed to
Laos. His role during the mission was to take care of the medical needs
of his team and to treat Laotian villagers in need of medical attention.
The experience was unforgettable.
Andy's
achievements are matched by his good-natured personality, stunning good
looks and self-deprecating sense of humor. He's an unabashed romantic,
has watched the series and believes that the show can help find him the
woman who could become his wife. "Who doesn't love the movie 'An
Officer and a Gentleman'? We're bringing the best parts of that romantic
film to real life," said Mike Fleiss, executive producer of
"The Bachelor."
Hosted
by Chris Harrison, "The Bachelor" is produced by Next
Entertainment in association with Warner Horizon Television. Mike Fleiss
and Lisa Levenson are the executive producers. David Bohnert and Martin
Hilton are the co-executive producers.
MEET
THE BACHELORETTES |
