Photo: Instagram
Looking for love in all the wrong places.
By Kaitlin Kaiser — Written on Aug 07, 2019
Annaliese Puccini was a contestant on the 22nd season of the Bachelor. She was eliminated pretty quickly. Our girl bounced back however, and vowed that she would love again. And as luck would have it, she joined the 5th season of Bachelor in Paradise. She made a lot of friends, and fell in and out of a few romances. She ended the season thinking that she found the person she wanted to spend the rest of her life with. Puccini however... was pretty wrong about that. Single again she put her faith in Bachelor Nation a third time, hoping the old adage was correct and that the third time really is the charm, or rather Prince Charming. But all of this hope and heartbreak has us wondering, what kind of optimist would go through all of this again, after such a public heartbreak? Who is Annaliese Puccini?
1. Time before fame.
Before her time with Bachelor Nation, Annaliese Puccini was a writer and an actress. She has writing credits on two movie shorts called Tres Cascadas and Voices Intervention. She also has six acting credits from different short films and bit parts on TV shows. She played a wide variety of characters, ranging from a young woman listed as yoga girl in a video short called, Keep it Hairy and most recently a character named Brittany Jade in a show called The Callbacks which doesn't have a listed plot on IMDB. If you are thinking that Puccini was just looking for exposure for her acting career, you certainly don't know our girl. She is looking for her husband and father of her future children, and she thinks that Bachelor Nation is the way to do it.
2. Bachelor nation!!!!
Puccini was cast in the 22nd season of The Bachelor. She was vying for the heart of Arie Luyendyk Jr. She spent the first couple of weeks trying to get to know Luyendyk but they never had a spark. On a group date, she was scheduled to drive bumper cars. This brought up a traumatic memory from her childhood of bumper cars gone wrong. Apparently as a child, she was stuck in her own bumper car in the middle of the arena, with no escape in sight, as tens of bumper cars ran into her. How brave of her to share her struggle on national television. During the third week of the show, Puccini and Luyendyk decided there wasn't much of a spark and they mutually decided it would be best if she left the show.
3. First few weeks on Bachelor in Paradise
When first arriving on the Island, Puccini was wary of her new surroundings. She bravely decided to face her fears and focused with new determination to find love. A short time into Paradise, she met Jordan Kimball. She boldly ignored the rumors about him being somewhat "disingenuous" by some of the other contestants on the show. Just as she casting him in the role of future husband, he met Jenna Cooper. This left Puccini back at the drawing board.
She then met Kenny King. Some say their romance was a bit rushed, as it blossomed only minutes before the rose ceremony, a sort of coupling happened anyway. Just as things were starting to look up for our girl, King decided he needed to go home and be with his daughter, as he didn't want to miss her dance recital. While the audience swooned over his loyalty and dedication to his child, Puccini was heartbroken once again. And just when we think she is out for the count...
4. Our Girl finds love!!!
Enter Kamil Nicalek. When she first lays eye on him she turns to her girlfriends and whispers that he is HOT. They all share a giggle. Later Nicalek and Puccini decide to go on a date together. They go to a place to ride ATV's. Thank GOD he didn't put our girl on a go-cart. It would be tragic for her to relive that a second time. But fortunately or unfortunately, that wasn't the trauma of their early relationship. Soon after his date with Annaliese, he began a flirtation with Shushanna Mkrtychyan. He even agreed to go on a double date with her and another couple. But after he returned from the date he realized the error of his ways. He knew that Puccini was the girl for him. There was some drama with Mkrtychyan and the couple throughout the season but for the most part, it was all love and giggles for the couple. Annaliese even said that they talked about marriage and starting a family soon after the show was over. They ended the season not engaged, but happily together. Or so she thought...
5. Public humiliation.
During the reunion special after all of the episodes had aired, the cast came back to talk about their experience on the show and where they are now. They brought Annaliese up who GUSHED about her relationship with Kamil saying that they were in a really good place. She went on and on about how they were working toward getting married and that she couldn't wait to see what their future held. Well she didn't have to wait too long. When host Chris Harrison called for Kamil to come to hhe stage, Annaliese said "yay" her own private celebration as her love entered the stage. When Harrison asked him about his relationship with Annaliese he said, "I know Annaliese is ready for a guy to get down on one knee right now and get engaged, and you deserve the best, and I think I might not be the guy for you," he said to both Harrison and Puccini. It was clearly the first time Puccini had heard anything about this and you could see her eyes fill with tears. However Kamil forged on saying, "I just feel like I kind of lost that spark we had in Paradise after leaving and experiencing it in the real world." Yikes. The cameras follower Puccini off stage as she sobs. She comes back to confront him saying that she tried to end things with him two weeks before and he begged her to give her another chance, to only then dump her on national TV. Chris Harrison had heard enough and asked Kamil to leave the stage. He couldn't stand to see Annaliese put in that position any longer.
6. Back at it again.
After a few ups and plenty of downs, Annaliese hasn't lost her faith in love, or in Bachelor Nation. Hopefully she will find the love she has so fervently been searching for. She is back in Paradise and positive that there is no harm believing the third times the charm. We believe it too and we're rooting for you Annaliese!
Kaitlin Kaiser is a writer who writes about love, relationships, self-care, spirituality and astrology.