Jake Pavelka is an American pilot best known for having appeared on the ABC dating series The Bachelorette and The Bachelor. He made his first appearance on reality television in 2009 on The Bachelorette as one of the 25 possible suitors for interior designer, Jillian Harris on the fifth season of the series; however despite a promising start in the competition, he was later eliminated from the show during week six. The following year, Pavelka was given a second chance in his dating life when he was offered an opportunity to star in the original dating series of its kind, The Bachelor; it is there that he would ultimately meet his girlfriend, Vienna Girardi.
As implied by its name, The Bachelor features a single man who is presented with a group of potential female suitors on the show. With each passing week, a female candidate is eliminated via an elimination process in which the bachelor offers a flower to those whom he’d like to continue on with the competition and the opposite for those whom he feels should leave the show. By the end of the season, the bachelor is then expected to select a candidate him he would later propose to during the finale. As the season progressed, it wasn’t long before contestants Vienna Girardi and Tenley Molzahn were the only ones left standing on the show. Pavelka ultimately chose Girardi as the winner of the fourteenth season; he eventually proposed to the marketing representative in March 2010.
Besides having starred in the two dating shows, Pavelka also made a number of appearances on television during the early 2010’s in a variety of different reality series. Following the finale of The Bachelor in 2010, he was invited on to the dancing competition, Dancing with the Stars as a celebrity contestant. The commercial pilot also appeared in Bachelor Padーa spinoff of The Bachelor in which contestants from the dating series compete against each other for a chance to take home a cash prize of $250,000. In 2011, Pavelka also took part in Famous Food, a reality series by VH1 in which a group of celebrities attempt to take ownership of a restaurant.
But what has the former bachelor been up to now? What has he been working on lately? What happened to Jake Pavelka?
Jake Pavelka’s Early Life
After graduating from high school, Pavelka took the first steps in pursuing his dream of becoming a commercial airplane pilot by studying aerospace engineering at the University of Texas; he would later attend the Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University located in Daytona Beach, Florida. Following his college graduation, Pavelka passed his flight tests and soon became a certified flight instructor at the age of 23 in 2001. He would later go on to work for Atlantic Southeast Airlines as a commercial pilot. At the same time, he appeared in several television commercials under the alias of Jake Landrum.
Jake Pavelka on The Bachelorette
Pavelka starred on the fifth season of The Bachelorette and was one of the many contestants for bachelorette, Jillian Harris. Despite having had a favourable start during the first part of the show however, the pilot was later eliminated during the season’s sixth week alongside fellow contestants Tanner Pope and Robby Descant; Harris ultimately chose Ed Swiderski, a technology consultant as the winner. However while Pavelka did not win the series, his time on The Bachelorette would ultimately lead him to his starring role of “the bachelor” in the fourteenth season of The Bachelor.
Jake Pavelka in The Bachelor
By week seven, only two female contestants remained on the stageーTenley Molzahn and Vienna Girardi. While it’s no doubt that the two young women were definite beauties, something about the 23 year old Girardi must have caught Pavelka’s eye as he later picked her as the winner during the season finale with a proposal in March 2010. However despite the seemingly happy ending, the couple later broke up a few months later in June 2010.
Jake Pavelta in Other Reality TV Shows
Shortly after the end of The Bachelor, Pavelta appeared in his third reality seriesーa dancing competition called Dancing with the Stars. Having first premiered on television in 2005, each season of the show featured a number of celebrity contestants, each paired with a professional dancer; they would then perform various dances in front of a judge panel which would in turn, give them a score. Every week, the dance pair with the lowest combined score from the audience votes and judges’ points are eliminated; this continues a winner is selected at the end. Pavelka appeared on the tenth season of this series, alongside professional dancer Chelsie Hightower as his partner; however they were later eliminated during the fifth week.
The following year, Pavelta once again starred in another reality show called Bachelor Padーa game show spin-off of The Bachelor series. Hosted by Chris Harrison, the game show featured previous contestants from The Bachelor and The Bachelorette who compete against each other for a chance to win a $250,000 prize; the game show contestants were mostly from season 14 of The Bachelor and season 5 of The Bachelorette. However unlike other game shows, the format of Bachelor Pad was a little different in that the contestants stayed together at a mansion for the duration of the show, in order to participate in various challenges in order to prevent elimination. Pavelta was ultimately eliminated during the third episode of the second season, having lost to winners Holly Durst and Michael Stagliano.
In 2011, the reality star also took part in a VH1 culinary reality series titled Famous Foods. In the show, the contestants work together for a few weeks in a row in order to open up a restaurant from scratch in Hollywood; towards the end of the series, two deserving contestants are then chosen by experts as the “winners”ーthey will then be offered a partnership stake in the company. Despite the seemingly interesting premise, the show was eventually cancelled after one season.
Other realities series which the former bachelor has appeared in include H8R, Rachael vs Guy: Celebrity Cook-Off, Drop Dead Diva and The Bold and the Beautiful.
What’s Jake Pavelka Doing Now in 2018- Recent Updates
However despite Pavelka’s rather innocent intentions, his surprise appearance on the season premiere was not taken positively by all viewers of the show. In fact, many audience members were highly irritated at the turn of events; as a result, Twitter also became packed with fans tweeting rather negatively about the episode from across the country. Having said that, while bachelorette Jojo was initially confused as well, she seemed to have appreciated Pavelka’s gesture in the end.
If you’re wondering whether or not Pavelka has gotten himself into a relationship since his break up with Vienna Girardi, then the answer isー not quite. Shortly after the two went their separate ways, the pilot dated a wedding planner named Meghan Jones, whom he had met through mutual friends. However despite the initial sparks, the two later broke up after a few months. Flash forward a few months, the pilot was then seen dating actress Ashley Ann Vickers, whom he had met on the set of H8R; but they too, separated after a year. He was said to have been together with American singer, Kristin Chenowethーhowever that to, seemed to have eventually ended. Since then, we haven’t seen or heard much regarding Pavelka’s relationship front…is he currently dating someone? Your guess is as good as ours!
If you’re interested in connecting with the reality star, you can do so by following him on Twitter (@jakepavelka1) or Instagram (@jakepavelka1)!
