After pursuing a Bachelor of Science in biology at Duke, Dr. Andy Baldwin, Trinity '99, is now the bachelor being pursued-on ABC's reality TV show "The Bachelor."
Baldwin, a U.S. Navy lieutenant, is not the first to escape the Duke dating scene unfettered and look for love via reality TV. Travis Stork, Trinity '94, was the first Blue Devil to star in the show, appearing two years ago.
Robyn Cass, casting director for the show, said she and her team spend up to four months finding the show's star every season.
"We think, what are the types of men girls dream about?" she said.
The team then developed an elite body of Bachelor candidates through head-hunting, or seeking out candidates who did not apply for the show. After a rigorous selection process, they chose 30-year-old Baldwin, an undersea medical officer stationed in Pearl Harbor, Hawaii, and an avid triathlete.
"Andy is such a hunk that of course women want to date him," Cass said.
At Duke, Baldwin was a varsity swimmer, magna cum laude graduate and a member of Pi Kappa Alpha fraternity and still had time to date.
"I couldn't keep up with [all the women he dated]," said his father, U.S. Rep. Roy Baldwin, R-Penn. "We would always meet the girls over the phone, on holidays sometimes."
Baldwin's family members said they support his participation in the show.
"He still comes to me a lot for advice," said his sister Susie, a junior at Cornell University.
And the Baldwins said they are not worried about watching the sequence of their son's romantic advances.
"You know, that's okay," his mother Cindy said of watching her son woo the 25 women. "It's pretty natural. I don't have my head in the sand. He's 29. I'm no prude."
His father, however, had other concerns.
"We wanted to make sure he knew what he's getting into, and that he's not taking it too seriously," he said. "There are two reasons he's doing it-for the whole atmosphere, and he's looking to get married."
Cass said these are the very objectives producers aim for in selecting their candidates before the six weeks of shooting, which many fans of "The Bachelor" speculate will be in Hawaii.
"Ultimately of course we want there to be a love connection," Cass said. "We definitely want the women to be people Andy will be attracted to, and the other way around-we want Andy to be their type of guy, too."
In a 2005 interview, Baldwin told Cosmopolitan about his ideal girl for the magazine's "Bachelor Blowout."
"I'm looking for someone who is witty, athletic, kind and humble," he said. "She's driven by her own goals and doesn't take life too seriously."
His father said this accurately portrayed his son's interests, adding that Andy likes to see his own personality characteristics-fit, good-natured and vicarious-in girls he dates.
"He definitely used to date a particular type-more the athletic, exotic type," he said.
Baldwin also told Cosmo that he'd prefer a more physical variation on the oft-romanticized long walk on the beach. He said his ideal date might include an end-of-the-day jog down the beach and dip in the ocean."Andy loves medicine, the outdoors and obviously women," his father said. "He's great."
He added that it's not too late for women to sign up to date his son on the show. "They still have casting calls," he said. "And online applications."
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