Jesse Csinksak Talks About Love, Life and The Bachelorette

I had the opportunity to chat with Jesse Csincsak, Season 4 winner of The Bachelorette

The following interview is the first in my series, Former Bachelor and Bachelorette Contestants, Where Are They Now?

On Love

Photo courtesy of Jesse Csincsak

The two most profound moments in Jesse's life have been his marriage to wife Ann Leuders and the birth of his son Noah. 

Ann was a contestant on The Bachelor Season 13 with Jason Mesnick, but ended up finding love with Jesse. 

Jesse has learned more in the last two years of his life than the previous 20. He says, “Becoming a parent is a college degree in itself. There’s no book that can even begin to explain it, no DVD that can walk you through it. It’s literally the experience of a lifetime.” Being able to guide his son every day around the mistakes he made, is something he absolutely loves to the fullest.

Jesse refers to himself as being high energy and a workaholic. Fatherhood has taken his 1000 mph lifestyle and toned it down to 300 mph. “Things that I was just blazing by before and not looking at twice, I’m more or less getting to see now and it’s kind of cool.”

On Life

There is no doubt that being a contestant on The Bachelorette has changed Jesse's life in many ways.

He feels that being on the show has given him the notoriety to fulfill one of his lifelong dreams, hosting the Winter Olympic Games. "To go to the games and cover one of the kids I ended up coaching, Louie Vito, and having Vito take 4^th place, was really a dream come true for me."

Another opportunity for Jesse that came from the show was to work with John Walsh from, America's Most Wanted, to solve the murder of a snowboarder. His expertise in describing the key components of a very unique snowboard allowed them to find the missing piece of evidence and solve the case.

Jesse says, "I'm a big believer in karma and I believe whatever people do for you they're going to get back ten-fold." That belief motivates him to do the right thing. Having a wife and child has opened his eyes to helping others, in the hopes that if they are ever in a time of need, someone will help them out. 

Although there have been many opportunities from his notoriety from The Bachelorette, finding a full-time career has been difficult. Companies Google candidates and take the position not to be affiliated with someone who has a reality television edit, no matter how good or bad it is. "It's really frustrating, because before The Bachelorette, I was a professional snowboarder and had a really great thing going. I was doing well financially for myself. It's made it very difficult for me just to have a simple job like a marketing position. My only option now is basically to own my own business or work at Target or McDonalds. I've always been my own boss so that's what we are doing."

On Making a Living

Photo courtesy of Jesse Csincsak

Ann and her partner Katie Meyer decided to open Vintage Sweet and Chic, a clothing store in Breckinridge, Colorado. Because it is going so well, they are in the process of opening another store in Scottsdale, Arizona.

"We have two houses in Colorado, so we're going to sell one and buy another one is Scottsdale, contingent upon Ann's signing a lease for her second clothing store," says Jesse. They plan to split their time between Scottsdale and Breckenridge.

Photo courtesy of Jesse Csincsak

Although Jesse feels Breckenridge is a great place to raise a son, it’s difficult to have a career when you are 120 miles away from civilization. Because Ann’s whole family lives in Scottsdale, they decided to take the plunge and open their second clothing store in that location. He adds,  "I’ve been doing a lot of stuff for ABC 15, so who knows, maybe I’ll end up doing a part-time gig there or something."

If the second store is as successful as the first, they will be able to fund the publishing of a book Jesse is currently writing. He states, "Basically the book is going to be about the behind the scenes of how reality televisions works and the business aspect of it. Right now we are just in the nuts and bolts stages of the book, getting all the pieces put together, taking all the stories I have and turning them from my misspelled paragraphs into an actual story line and book."

The book's main focus will be on Jesse's experience with The Bachelorette, but will also draw on his knowledge from three appearances on the MTV show MADE, America's Most Wanted, hosting the 2010 Winter Olympic in Vancouver, and his most recent experience on Discovery Channel’s hit show, American Guns. He says, "I think people will be very interested to know what’s going on behind the scenes of reality TV shows."

One of the things he'll share in the book, is how the Bachelor or Bachelorette chooses their final four on day one and how that actually works. "You go into the house at 8 p.m. and you go until 6 a.m. You have 10 hours to get to know the people and decide who you want to travel the world with. Those four people are not set in stone and there is no guarantee of an engagement, however, it always seems to go that way," he says.

Once the final four contestants are chosen, the producers make a television show out of the rest. How do they do that? By casting them into roles. Jesse reveals that typically every season you have two good guy roles, one guy to be with the bachelorette and one guy to become the next bachelor. "Then you gotta have the guy that's not right for her, is still a good guy, but he's kind of a dork. Then you have the guy that picks on him and calls him out. Then you got the guy who thinks he is better than everyone else and is there for his own personal gain." Putting all those personalities together in one house is sure to spark drama, and drama is what sells. 

The Bachelorette Emily Maynard

Photo Courtesy of Bachelor Spoiler Fans

Although it is not a popular opinion and has drawn a great deal of controversy, Jesse stands by his statement that he feels the #1 thing that convinced Emily to do The Bachelorette was the money. 

"People will do a million and one things on this planet if they are adequately compensated for it," he says. The analogy Jesse gives is being offered a large sum of money and agreeing to skydive. "You may end up loving skydiving in the process, but you did it for the money."

Having said that, he believes Emily does not want to be alone and appears to be taking the process seriously. It's possible she will find love.

Jesse views the show unspoiled each week and enjoys watching the pure nonsense of editing. When sharing his opinion of the guys, he says, "Jef, the water salesman from Utah is as good as it gets, as far as guys coming on The Bachelorette." Sean also stands out to Jesse as a great guy. He sees Kalon as the villain of the season, but warns viewers that what we are seeing are the after effects of the editing room. 

What stands out to Jesse more than the edit is body language and how the guys interact with each other. “You can tell a lot about a person by how they handle themselves around people who can do nothing for them." Jesse looks for the guys off camera that are helping the other guys with their bags or helping an old lady to cross the street. From his season, he says Brian Westendorf, Richard Mathey and Karate Sean Ramey were absolutely amazing. He adds, "They were the the guys that were really good dudes off camera".

Life's Passions

Photo courtesy of Jesse Csincsak

In life, Jesse says he is the most passionate about, "my beautiful wife Ann and son Noah." 

Another passion of his is being able to teach people and give them the knowledge to better their own lives. 

As long as he keeps those two passions a priority, he can ensure a fulfilling future.