'Bachelor' Ben Flajnik looks for love

From love unrequited to Jennifer Love Hewitt, 2011 was a tempestuous year for Ben Flajnik -- who, after having his heart broken as the runner-up on "The Bachelorette" last summer, now stars as "The Bachelor." The 16th edition of the dating competition, premieres Monday (8 p.m. on ABC/7).

"I had genuine feelings for Ashley," Flajnik, 28, said in a recent teleconference, referring to bachelorette Ashley Hebert, who ultimately chose Roslyn's J.P. Rosenbaum. The process of having his emotions tested changed him, he said. "I think that my self-discovery was something I didn't expect. And Ashley was there, you know, for support, and to help me get kind of through all that. So I don't take anything away from it."

Flajnik (pronounced Flannick) grew up in Sonoma, Calif., until high school, when his family relocated to Tucson, Ariz., according to ABC. He attended college there, then returned to Northern California upon his father's death in 2007. With his friend Michael Benziger, he founded Sonoma's Evolve Winery, a maker of organic wine. Another friend, Danny Fay, came in as a third owner.

Following his rejected marriage proposal, Flajnik became a sentimental favorite among "Bachelorette" fans -- one of whom apparently was "The Ghost Whisperer" star Hewitt, who spent time with him in San Francisco in August.

"She had reached out," Flajnik said. "And [she] wanted to come up to the winery with some of her friends, which she did. . . . And we went out to dinner and just kind of chatted about, I don't know, life and the experience and all that kind of stuff. And, you know, she's a nice girl. But . . . after all this is said and done, I just want to go back to my life in Northern California where most people really don't know who I am. . . . Ending up with a Hollywood celebrity is not something that I ever imagined doing."

But there may be a Hollywood actress in his future: Contestant Shira, originally from Massapequa Park, appears to be Shira ScottAstrof, whose listings at IMDB.com and at casting sites show a career with appearances on shows including "The Office," "How I Met Your Mother" and "The King of Queens."

Roslyn's J.P. Rosenbaum wishes Flajnik well

BY FRANK LOVECE, Special to Newsday

Among the viewers tonight when the Ben Flajnik "Bachelor" premieres will be Roslyn-reared construction manager J.P. Rosenbaum, the romantic rival who won bachelorette Ashley Hebert after she turned down suitor Flajnik's proposal.

"We're definitely going to watch it," Rosenbaum, 34, told Newsday. He and Flajnik, he says, "were friends during our season, and I know he's going to make a great 'bachelor. 'Ben's a great, down-to-earth guy . . . and I'm hoping he finds love. He really is a good guy -- it's why we both were there to the end," he says. "I think she saw similar qualities in us."

As for fiancee Hebert, she graduated in September from dental school in Philadelphia, but Rosenbaum says getting the clinical hours she needed to complete her degree "took longer than anticipated." And while they moved in together in October -- with Hebert super-commuting from Manhattan to Philadelphia -- they haven't started working on their wedding yet, he says. "Not really. We always said once she's done with school and the new year starts, we'd start planning. I think come January, February we'll sit down and start talking about when and where."

Meanwhile, Rosenbaum is involved in the construction of developer Equity One's The Gallery at Westbury Plaza, going up on Old Country Road east of Meadowbrook Parkway. "They're putting up almost 400,000 square feet of retail," he says. "It'll be open by Labor Day."