Pop Diva talks to Ryan 'Mickey' McLean after his 'Bachelorette' break-up - Cleveland Plain Dealer

POP DIVA

The bachelor who

knew when to quit

Rick Rowell/ABCRyan "Mickey" McLean gives a big Cleveland "Hello" to Ashley on the first episode of "The Bachelorette." "Why do many women seem to be attracted to jerks?" he wondered in a Cosmopolitan magazine Q&A when asked to describe "baffling girl behavior."

The Diva isn't surprised by much on the flat screen anymore.

Once you've seen Leif Garrett cook heroin on "Celebrity Rehab With Dr. Drew" or "Crystal" clean her sink with Comet, then eat the caustic cleanser, on "My Strange Addiction," what else is there? Not even Bristol Palin getting her own reality show can make the Diva's pulse quicken.

So imagine the dust that rose from your jaded correspondent's leathery heart two weeks ago when she watched Ryan "Mickey" McLean break up with Ashley Hebert on "The Bachelorette." He claimed they just didn't have that ineffable love connection and added that he was troubled by her questionable taste in men. (Ashley's turn-ons: insincerity and an oily smile!)

The Diva was so floored that someone on the formulaic, vacuum-packed show would exhibit a burst of humanity that she spilled a perfectly good lychee martini all over her Jimmy Choos.

"Mickey," as he is known on the show, is a 31-year-old from Cleveland who toiled in obscurity in the kitchen of the Flying Fig in Ohio City and anonymously served Asian cuisine at Umami in Chagrin Falls until Cosmopolitan magazine named him "the most eligible single guy of 2010." (As "Ohio Bachelor," he beat out shirtless specimens from every state and the District of Columbia after a national online poll.)

Whilst flipping through the pages of Cosmo, a casting producer spotted the Northeast Ohio hunk -- and soon, Mickey had agreed to move into a palatial estate in Los Angeles with 24 other men vying for "Bachelorette" Ashley's heart on the show's seventh season.

Then, on June 27, six weeks into the series, Mickey fired himself from the reality show that draws more than 8 million viewers a week. "Booyah!" as Mickey would say.

But then dark doubts clouded the Diva's cavernous mind. Was it the sincere act of a guy really looking for Ms. Right or a canny stunt to position himself to be named the next lead on ABC's "The Bachelor," "The Bachelorette's" testosterone twin?

Dave Hagerman/ABCMickey left, in his Express briefs, and Ames, a rival for Ashley's affections, sweat it out during a Muay Thai boxing lesson on "The Bachelorette." "Do you manscape?" Cosmo editors asked. "Absolutely." Mickey replied.

Using her high-placed contacts,the Divagot Mickey on the phone the very next day. The man who told Cosmo the "wildest place he's ever gotten it on" is "on a golf course" said he'd be happy to chat but that he'd have to get approval from ABC, as he was still under a contract as iron-clad as a Donald Trump prenup.

So began a two-week odyssey marked by a flurry of emails with an elusive publicist named Natalia, as the Diva tried to land a phone interview -- patched through the West Coast -- with a man who basically lives down the street. And yes, Natalia would be listening in, just in case Mickey divulged any trade secrets, such as the brand of deodorant that "Bachelorette" host Chris Harrison wears.

Oh, what the Diva suffers to bring you news you cannot possibly use. It was easier scheduling a phoner with Rob Lowe.

But first, a recap of the tumultuous season:

Ashley, our "Bachelorette," is a 26-year-old dental student from Philly with the voice of an adenoidal Smurf who ends most of her sentences as though she were asking a question? Even when she's not?

Reactions to her as a prospective mate have been mixed. While most found her small-chested but good-hearted (with a slammin' caboose), Bentley, a 28-year-old businessman from Salt Lake City with a Cro-Magnon brow, remained unimpressed by her charms.

"I'd rather be swimming in pee than trying to plan a wedding with her. She's just not my type," he announced out of earshot of his intended. (That didn't stop him from adding that he'd still like her to "tickle his pickle.")

Bentley toyed with Ashley's affections (and her pert, dancer's derriere), then abruptly announced he was leaving the show to spend time with his daughter Cozy. The lothario was lying, of course. ("I talked a lot about needing to be with my daughter, and she went for it," he oozed to the camera.)

Ashley wept, issuing a moving, "My heart is, like, totally broken?"

After a surprise, clandestine reunion with Bentley in Hong Kong (flown in by canny producers who know what good TV a rotten lout makes), Ashley realized what an eyeless flatworm would have concluded five episodes before.

"He's that bad boy that wants to play women," she confided. "Bentley, if you're watching this, F.U.! I'm done with you?"

(Other choice Ashleyisms: After a one-on-one date with Lucas, a lumpy Texan, she exclaimed: "There's something about his manlihood that makes me feel protected." And: "When I love, I love hard." Here's hoping Dr. Ashley never stands over the Diva with a drill about to perform a root canal.)

Her contretemps with Bentley behind her, Ashley announced during a group date/cocktail party that though she'd "completely fallen" for Bentley -- who always looked as though he were about to produce a dollar bill and try to stuff it into her bra -- she was now emotionally ready to find her soulmate among the remaining chumps, er, beaus.

"I got the closure I needed?" she chirped, wearing a minidress that would look at home in the Hong Kong strip club Bentley was undoubtedly visiting at that very moment.

This, apparently, was the last tug of the G-string for our Mickey, who took a manly swig of his drink and told Ashley he'd be beating a hasty retreat back to Ohio.

"I just don't see what the hell you saw in that guy," Mickey explained. "And I keep telling myself, 'I think we have a lot in common, I think we have the same morals, we have the same respect for people.' But if your gut is, that's what you're looking for -- please send me home."

"Really?" Ashley asked, using a question mark appropriately for the first time.

"I'm just not interested," Mickey replied. "Send me on my way."

And with that, Mickey was set aboard a slow boat out of China, his pals waving, a little weepy, from the dock. (The Diva hasn't time here for a digressive analysis of the homoerotic undertones of the show nor the porn-flick vibe of the "group dates." Another column, perhaps.)

Earlier this week, the Diva spent about 20 minutes with the country's most intriguing bachelor via cellphone.

Isaac Brekken/ABCMickey and Ashley on a one-on-one date in Las Vegas. Soon, the Cleveland man realized he had more chemistry with the aquatic life in the tank behind him than with the bachelorette. "If you could be someone else for just one day, who would it be?" Mickey was asked in his "Bachelor Bio." "I would be an African-American male," he answered.

You are one hot property -- it might be easier to get an audience with the pope. Are you in Cleveland or are you on the West Coast?

No, I'm on Chagrin. I'm just on my way to the gym.

I went to a "Bachelor" casting call at Quaker Steak & Lube recently in Sheffield and met two women there who vowed to hunt you down.

(He laughs, a magical rumble that bubbles up from his chest and makes the Diva momentarily forget to take notes, so it was good that she was recording the interview.) There have certainly been plenty that have hunted me down! For the summer, I'm bartending at Hiroshi's Pub in Beachwoood. (That's 3365 Richmond Road, Building B, in case you were wondering.)

Let's talk about "The Bachelorette" -- I was shocked that you chose to leave.

I don't think you were the only person that was shocked! Ashley's a great girl. I really enjoyed spending time with her and getting to know her -- [but] when it came down to it, between the two of us, that spark wasn't there. . . . She was there to find a husband, and I knew that wasn't me, so it was time to let the other guys build their relationships.

A lot of guys would say, "Hey, the connection isn't there, but I get to go around the globe, so I'll stick around." But you bowed out.

Once you realize that there's nothing there -- and I told Ashley this, I said, "This situation is not riding a bull, it's not how long you can hold on" -- you gotta be a gentleman about it. It was time to go.

Have you regretted your decision?

Absolutely not.

Do you miss the guys more than you miss Ashley? You boys seemed to get along so well.

I'll tell you what . . . I was very pleasantly surprised by how well everybody got along and the friendships that we made. There are certainly some guys I will keep in touch with and intend to have long time friendships with. Ashley, too.

Are you dating anyone right now?

I am not.

What a pity. Lots of fans are gunning for you to be named the next "Bachelor."

I've heard the scuttlebutt, but who knows? I went on this show to meet somebody and for no other reason than that. . . . I was hoping to walk away from there meeting The One.

How long have you lived in Cleveland?

I drove through here in '99. I planned on spending the night, and I've been here 12 years. . . . I'll tell you what -- Cleveland, they back their people. The support has been huge. I'm not from here, and I didn't grow up here, but I sure as hell consider myself a Clevelander.

Wow. East Side or West Side?

Natalia breaks in: Hey Andrea, Natalia. Just wanted to say just one last question and, if you can, just try not to print where he lives, because I don't want him to be stalked. . . . [To Mickey:] I just don't want you to be harassed, because some of our male guys have been. I know it's nice to have all women flaunting after you, but having paparazzi as well is not fun.

No paparazzi in Cleveland! I promise! Last question: I read on "The Bachelorette" site that you have one tattoo. I must ask -- where and what?

A lot of people have asked me that, and I'm not gonna tell ya.

Oooh, that's even better.

The Diva's feeling a craving for Asian food. To be continued . . .