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Arts & Entertainment

Hometown Visit of a Different Kind for Constantine of "The Bachelorette"

For Constantine Tzortzis 'life is good' as he celebrates Giorgio's 20th anniversary with "Bachelorette" pals Ben F, Mickey and throngs of female fans.

Local restaurant owner Constantine Tzortzis hosted a different kind of "hometown" visit Monday night. Instead of bringing home Ashley Hebert, “The Bachelorette 2011”, he invited two friends to his hometown to celebrate the 20th anniversary of his restaurant, Giorgio’s

Former contestants on ABC’s “The Bachelorette” Ryan “Mickey” McLean, of Cleveland, Ohio and Ben Flajnik of Sonoma, Calif., arrived late to the event due to metro Atlanta traffic. The spirits of the almost-entirely female crowd were not dampened by the delay. 

Under the tree and umbrella-shaded patio of Giorgio’s, the three gentlemen were quick to finish one another’s sentences and behaved like life-long friends, despite having met a few short months ago.

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“There was no competition between the three of us,” explained Tzortzis.

The experience was, according to McLean, “mentally tough." Tzortzis described it as “the best thing. I’ve expanded my circle of friends. I have friends for the rest of my life.”

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McLean described the atmosphere of living in the mansion as “summer camp for adults” and the three did most, if not all, of the cooking. McLean, a chef, explained that he and Tzortzis compiled the grocery list and everything was provided. They met March 12, according to Tzortzis and by March 12 McLean was gone by his own request. Almost two months later, Tzortzis left, under his own doing. Flajnik was one of the final two gentlemen and left one week later in mid-May.

Despite the airing of the show months later, contestants and their families were bound contractually not to share details. “We had a respect for the agreement. We didn’t want to ruin it,” explained McLean, 31. 

“It was a hefty contract. We [Flajik and Tzortzis] have businesses. We didn’t want to jeopardize our businesses,” added Tzortzis, 30.

Ben F, 28, was the quietest of the three. Especially when questions involved Ashley Hebert, 26, who accepted a proposal of marriage from another contestant.

The question was posed as to whether or not Ashley made the right choice when she offered the final rose to JP Rosenbaum, 34, a New York construction manager.

“Legally I’m not allowed to answer,” stated Flajnik. 

As for their new-found fame, McLean explained that “with 10 million viewers, somebody’s bound to recognize you. They say a few words. It’s fun.” 

Flajnik added that “in San Francisco it’s not getting too crazy.”

“We do alright,” said McLean with a mega-watt smile.

Were there any regrets? “No,” replied McLean. Tzortzis added that “we made friends, we got to see the world. Life is good.”  The three unanimously agreed that Thailand was the favorite location of the season and were relatively unbothered by Hebert’s simultaneous dating of other contestants. 

They are not contestants on this season’s “The Bachelor Pad”, ABC’s newest Bachelor-reality show in which 19 castoffs from “The Bachelor” and “The Bachelorette” battle for a quarter of a million dollars because “we’re not ‘Bachelor Pad’ kinda guys,” replied Tzortzis.

When asked who was going to be the next Bachelor, the sunglass-wearing trio reacted quickly with a group gesture that was invented during their time together on the show. A photo captured the moment and McLean suggested it be used as this year's Christmas card for the three friends, much to the amusement of his friends.

Tzortzis, his friends and his family members spent the rest of the evening posing for photos by Atlanta photographer three pennies with guests who paid a $3 per photo fee. Photos will be available by e-mail within a week.

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