How could we forget the epic batch of drama that ensued when Ali Fedotowsky left Jake Pavelka’s season of The Bachelor back in 2009. We obviously tune in for the promise of such meltdowns, but we often forget the contestants are real people whose lives hang in the balance.
In Ali’s case, she chose her career at Facebook over the chance to be the pilot/wannabe actor’s new wife. “I loved myself more than I loved the Bachelor. My career was the most important thing in my life at that time. And I thought, ‘If this guy really cares about me, if this is real, right, then he’s a pilot, for heaven’s sake — he can get in a plane and come find me after the show’s over. I think I knew deep down inside it wasn’t really right and it wasn’t real love.”
Of course, we already know Jake didn’t chase after her, instead embarking on a tumultuous relationship with Vienna. So, Ali signed up to be The Bachelorette in 2010. That’s when she received a surprising phone call from Facebook’s Chief Operating Officer, Sheryl Sandberg. “[She] said, ‘You have to do it. You have to show women that you can be a successful woman in business and be a wife and a mom and all these things. It’s possible to have it all.'” Since Sandberg herself is all of these things, we think she kind of knows what she’s talking about.
Turns out, her advice had a huge impact on Ali’s decision: “She’s the biggest reason why I thought, ‘No, this is like the best thing I can do to empower other women.'”
And the rest is Bachelorette history. Guess we should send Sheryl Sandberg a thank you for drafting one of our favorite Bachelorettes of all time.