RICK Rockwell says he has no regrets that his “ex-wife” Darva Conger has remarried.
And, unlike their marriage – which was aired live on Fox on Feb. 15, 2000, and was annulled seven weeks later – Conger’s second nuptials were so private they weren’t made public for more than six months.
Last January, Conger, 36, married Jim Arellano, 27, a paramedic she met while working as an emergency-room nurse in southern California.
The wedding, reported yesterday by the Associated Press, was not televised.
“Pity Mr. Arellano didn’t order a copy of my book, ‘What Was I Thinking?’ before he took the plunge,” Rockwell quipped yesterday. “It’s a marriage manual that all Darva Conger’s husbands should be required to read!”
Rockwell was referring to his self-styled memoir (available on rickrockwell.com) of his experience as America’s most famous and ill-fated groom from the two-hour prime-time bridal pageant, “Who Wants to Marry a Multimillionaire?”
Rockwell, who tried several times to mend fences with his “ex” in the months following the notorious TV show, has expressed bitterness at times at how he was portrayed in the media – particularly by Conger, who barely spoke to him on the chaperoned Caribbean honeymoon Fox arranged for them after their televised wedding ceremony.
Today, he has no qualms about letting her have it, even if he insists he’s only joking. “I’m not saying she’s nasty,” he said yesterday, “but her real name is actually Darva bin Laden!”
Rockwell – a comedian, corporate speaker and real estate investor – is working on restarting his speaking career, which was derailed somewhat by “Multimillionaire.” He’s also hoping to get his book in bookstores by this fall.
For her part, Conger will resurface Aug. 10 when she appears alongside another reality-TV celebrity – Evan Marriott of “Joe Millionaire” – on an episode of “National Lampoon’s Funny Money” on the Game Show Network.
Conger told the AP she thinks it’s “ironic” that her televised wedding – which was so villified three years ago – has spawned an entire new generation of reality/mating shows, from “Joe Millionaire” to “The Bachelor.”
“I find it ironic because I took so much crap,” she said. “It’s television, it’s entertainment. You watch it, and you turn off the TV and go back to real life. I don’t have a problem with it, I never did. I had a problem with the way people treated me.”
Rockwell fell far short yesterday of wishing Conger well in her new marriage, although he noted that it has so far lasted far longer than his marriage to her.
