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Niels Hoven

Thoughts on the Beauty and the Geek finale

Whew! It’s been tough keeping my mouth shut all these months. What was I supposed to say when people asked me if I knew who won?

It was interesting watching the finale. This was the first episode that had any significant amount of footage that I hadn’t seen. I didn’t realize that the two final pairs had been led to believe they were going home after the night of the “fake” elimination! That was cool to see. I was also amused to see they included Scooter talking about Megan’s two years at community college but not her graduation from the University of Illinois, Chicago.

And of course, Nate is great. Maybe on Season 4 they’ll let the contestants award the money to an individual. It’s ok, though. I’m sure Nate will go far. Though I’m a little curious what the dynamic between him and Cecille will be like next week in Vegas. I’m sure she must have heard about his lobbying efforts already, but actually seeing it in full color does make it a lot more real.

And besides, as Scooter is now in LA breaking into acting, he’ll probably need that prize money just to cover rent.

That’s it for me, though! My reality TV stardom is fading fast. Nothing left but the clip show. I’ll continue writing as long as people keep reading – I’m as curious as you are how long that will be.

Comments on this entry are closed.

  • Cher

    i’m still supporting you! quality, not quantity!

  • if you keep writing, i’ll keep reading

    (i mean really, what else am i suppost to do at work?!)

  • I agree with Laney, I enjoy reading your blog. Please keep posting!!!

  • Geri

    I think that you and nate rose above the airhead cece. She got what she deserved, although, I think the show should award nate some kind of cash recompensation just for putting up with cece. That being said, I am sure cece is now applying to be the Anna Nicole’s replacement.

  • Haha! Ouch, an Anna Nicole hit… too soon? guess not!

  • dap

    Hahahaha. Anna Nicole and Cecille do look the same. They both have that retarded baby voice, blonde hair, and aura of stupidness. I like Anna better though because at least she was wasted half of the time and didn’t bitch..hahaha

  • niels your really really awesome! and of course thats not all you have to show you have us your fans and your newfound friends! your one awesomest coolest guy… i loved how they ended… it was so great! thank you for not ruining it for me and telling me who won cause i really didnt want to know lol : ) yeah your awesome

  • freeman

    It’s mind-boggling how vapid and empty Cecile was. I was floored by her final comments; she got absolutely no value from the show. Actually, I think it forced her to look in the mirror and she didn’t like what she saw. So, it hit her deep down but who knows how long it will take to manifest itself as a positive change.

  • very true freeman.
    Niels, you still see them. Is Cecile still as shallow and predictable as she was on the show last night?

    And, off topic of that, are you going to be stopping Canada at anytime? My friends and I loved the show and would really like to buy you guys a drink!

  • Norma

    I am glad at how the show ended. I think Nate proved himself to be a class act by being willing to give up the prize money so as to not condone Cece’s shallow behavior and in hopes that she may learn something. It’s truly unfortunate that she was so self-centered that she was unable to learn or gain anything from the show. People like her have other issues going on inside that will not allow them to see beyond their self loving ways. Maybe one day she’ll relaize there’s more to the world.
    Niels – you were also a class act on the show. I’m glad to see you’ve gained from it. Good luck with everything!

  • Kate

    I agree…if you keep writing, I am into reading!

  • Nadia

    does anyone on this thing not hate cece.

    i personally happen to love her and her personality. jk.jk.

    no really though, i am so glad that she didn’t win although i really wanted nate to win. oh wells, megan seems pretty nice.

  • Chris

    There was definitely poetic justice in the BATG finale, and Nate, as always, showed himself to be the real winner of the bunch, but…

    1. I think a bit much is being made of Nate’s decision to basically “give” the money to Megan and Scooter. In reality, it was obvious to Nate that he wasn’t going to win anyways, so I don’t think it was a hard decision. It would have been more interesting if Cecille had some redeeming qualities, and if more people were on the fence.

    2. I actually feel genuinely sorry for Cecille. She was humiliated on national television last night, and her (immature) defensive comments are understandable. The real question is what has become of her in the months since the show was taped. Has she reached out or apologized to anyone? We don’t know. I really believe in redemption, and I think everyone deserves a chance to change.

    I think Nate would agree with my second point. One of the most impressive things about Nate is how loyal he was to Cecille through the end. I think it says a lot about him, and about redemption, forgiveness, etc.

  • Nate is an amazing guy. If humankind was like him, the world would be a better place.

    I feel sorry for Cece. Hopefully, she will wake up and realize what really matters in life. I wonder what her background was b/c experiences shape us into who we are. I mean, I believe she said she wanted to marry a rich guy and that she didn’t really believe in love!?!?!(I think she told 2 of the guys that what they wanted was unrealistic?) (If that’s the case, maybe she loved someone and got hurt and now she has lost hope???) Hopefully, she has changed or will eventually.

  • You’re a good writer Niels, as a lot of comments can attest to. Cece was a turd, and she got what she deserved. It’s great to see Karma working its magic, but the way things ended, it really didn’t look like it registered with her brain.

    Do you know if Nate has a blog?

    Keep up the great writing.

  • blaaaazer

    I think as an individual, Megan deserved to win. Her hard work in the doghouse challenge and the farm challenge really showed that she was a pretty girl who didnt care about getting dirty if it helped the team. Also, when she was on the Keith Ablow show, she said she broke up with her boyfriend right after the finale because she realized that there were guys out there who would like her for more than her looks and wouldn’t care if she put on a pound or two. I think those realizations took real growth and I’m happy for her :)

    About the guys, Scooter showed a lot of consideration too, what with the wine and cheese on the hike. Nate’s a very sweet guy, but he always was – I don’t know how much he *changed* – if the point of the show was to award the biggest heart, maybe he should have won :)

    I wonder which one of them got married! Any ideas?

  • Nate has a myspace and I think Megan got married, I know she’s engaged. I’m happy for Scooter and Megan, but I don’t like the way they did the judging, Nate didn’t have a fair shot. It wasn’t fair to Nate because he got stuck with Cecille and it wasn’t fair to the others because they had to vote against Nate, even though they may not have wanted to, because they had issues with Cecille. I love what Scooter did for Megan and what Nate did for Cecille(she may not realize it, but he did sacrifice winning for her own good), if those guys both had decent partners it probably would have been impossible to decide who should have won.

  • Hey there, Niels. I am glad to have the opportunity to communicate with you. I wanted to let you know that, in watching the way things were cut/edited anyway it seemed that JennyLee really didn’t appreciate your point of view quite often, which was an unfortunate loss on her part.

    I was intrigued by your comments about asking women for their phone number in the park as making you feel dirty. Despite her reaction, it was something that impressed me – not because I feel it’s necessarily wrong to share such information with others on first meeting – but because it revealed a lot about your thought processes, how you view women and the idea of using others for selfish ends in a quantity over quality relationship ideal. Perhaps I’m reading too much into it. I was curious as to whether your feelings at that time were due to a religious/moral influence you had growing up and, if so, what those might have been as well as whether you think you’d still feel the same way if put in the same situation again?

    I think one of the things that irked me the most on the show was CiCi’s shredding you for crying at the elimination ceremony. I hope very much you didn’t take that to heart. I, for one, was touched at your openness of emotion and willingness to put yourself out there in front of a whole group of (near) strangers, not to mention in front of the cameras. Bravo to you. Bravo. I hope you never lose that freeness of expression. Any woman worth her salt would appreciate that quality, not berate it, IMHO. If you haven’t found her yet, I hope for you that you do. At least from the coverage on the show you came across as a great guy, somebody I’d love to hang out and chat with.

  • Amelia

    Hey neils I got the shirt I am so suprised you didn’t win And I actually know you so I saw you after the show and you had a huge transformation hey did you sell the shirt? How much money did you sell it for? ;) bot back to subject all you guys I know you guys wanted Nate to win but with a heart as nice and a brain as smart as his alot of people woud hire him.
    bye, Amelia
    P.s. I HATE CECEIL

  • urcute

    ur sooo cute! ur not going to be on tv anymore, so sad! ill miss u

  • Nate made me cry. You know, some people had speculated that he was a “plant”, like an actor placed among real people. But…I had a hunch that he WAS just as genuine as any of the others. I don’t feel sorry for Cecile. She said horrible things about almost everyone. I mean, she was nice to Matt, but only as a toy when she was bored. She said so herself.
    She showed no remorse for her comments in the elimination room that upset Nate, since it was a tender moment for him. I’m really impressed about how the Beauties has risen to the challenge. With the way Cecille acted, I am VERY surprised no one called her a bi***. It would be VERY tempting for some, I imagine. But no, they actually put a lot of thought and consideration into their decisions. This show…I think is as close to a reality show as a show can get. I feel soooooo touched. Especially at Nate, oh my God. Oh my God! He is amazing. Everyone was amazing…
    .*cough*maybe not everyone *cough* I hope Cecille learned from this. But chances are, she is so stubborn she didn’t.
    Anyways, Niels you are awesome! You seem so much more confident now than you did before, kudos!

  • A couple of weeks ago I began to suspect that Nate might throw the competition both because of his feelings for Jennylee and also because of his feelings and comments about not wanting Cecile to get what she wanted, and in fact, half-way through the finale my wife made the comment that she could see Nate talking people out of voting for him, for that reason, so when Sanjay asked “Why should I vote for Cecile over Megan” and Nate responded “I’m not sure that you should” we knew where that was going.

    I think it was an awesome thing to do, though. If it were me I know how much I’d want that $125K, but Nate’s decision was truly noble in my view. I disagree that it had less value due to Cecile’s unpopularity – Nate was by far the most popular guy there, so I think he would have been within his rights to hold out hope of a win.

    I’d be really curious to find out what is going on with Nate and Jennylee these days – anyone know? Perhaps the recap show next week will be revealing…

  • Thanks for all the support, guys. Jennylee and I are still friends, though we’ll probably never be close friends. Cecille is just Cecille. She wasn’t misportrayed on the show, or blown out of proportion, she just showed off the person she was and continues to be. She and Jennylee are still friends and hang out in LA.

    Sunny Susan – I’ve got no objections to flirting with everyone in sight, or asking someone for their phone number if you actually want to see them again. It was feigning excessive interest in people for an ulterior motive that upset me. See my post: http://www.nielshoven.com/2007/02/04/about-that-beauty-and-the-geek-phone-number-challenge/

  • Jad

    Hey Niels, i just started to watch Beauty and The Geek, and I loved it. (Season 3 being my first time)…I enjoyed watching it, and I’ve seene every episode from the beginning of Season 3 – end. Its such an amazing show, all of you started off as different, geeks, or beautys, (excluded CC) …and you’ve all transformed to be “more than just the beauty and the geek”. (Once Again, Excluding CC)…I have question that I hope you will answer…: It is most likely that CC watched the season finale…do you think/know if she is a changed person? Did Nate give it all up for nothing? Is she still the same? And how do you think she will act when she sees Nate at the reunion, the same person she was, or a new loving person? Because if she is still the same…then Nate gave up his chance for nothing.

    Please reply as soon as you can, thank you for reading this blog.

    Jad

  • I actually liked Cecille at the beginning of the show. I thought she was cute and perky but as the show progressed she started being really rude, especially after she had a few drinks in her. I agree, her comments after the final show was really uncalled for. I am really sad that the show is over but at least I get the recap next week. I love your blog Niels!

  • Kris

    The very fact that Jennylee can be friends with Cecille says alot about Jennylee and her lack of character and self respect.

    Neils – I’m impressed by your restraint when it comes to Cecille. Your contempt for her is quite obivous on the show, yet I haven’t seen any derogatory comments from you about her. Impressive.

  • Matthew Proctor, the original RedNeck!

    Oh my God, the final was aweesome and Nate was so adorable. I can’t believe he was so noble to give away the prize money to make the world a better plac. CeCe is just loco although she does have a nice bod!

    I am glad that Nate and JennyLee are not together because she was not sincere!

  • hi Niels!

    Just wanted to give you major props for doing this whole show! For what it’s worth I thought you were the most insightful of the bunch. One thing I did want to ask you though is: “did you feel that being more ‘accessible’ to such women meant being any less genuine?” I mean it’s one thing to come out of one’s shell and be a little more open and extroverted (a learned E), it’s quite another thing to be flat out lying and putting up an image; did you ever feel like the challenges on the show made you compromise your genuineness insofar as your “true” albeit growing self? Also at the risk of generalization, I felt that the guys generally-speaking tended toward seeing people in the highest light whereas the women seemed more the realists when it came to things like personal attraction, social interaction, and even human competition in the case of Cece. Unabashedly, I can’t tell you how happy I was to see her lose btw. For all the competitive pettiness that Cece volleyed on you, would you say that your own perspective or ideals about, not women, but people have also changed? Thanks again and definitely looking forward to the reunion show! Oh and congratulations on the marriage if it is indeed you! :)

  • Angela

    Hi niels!

    I just finished watching BATG season 3..yea they aired it pretty late here in Australia (yea i’m there) hehe…this is the first time i watched Beauty and the Geek and i loved it. I think it is a great show to tell the world that a geek is just an ordinary person like the rest of us. We shouldn’t call people geek just because they are shy and have little knowledge of the social life. These people have their own ability and i do think that these people are cool.
    Anyway, it was so sad that you didn’t get to the final 2,i was hoping you could because in my opinion you had the biggest transformation beside scooter.
    I’m also impressed how you managed to put up with cecille and how you tried to talk to her to change herself…but yea it was unfortunate that she was just one of those people who couldn’t understand other people’s feeling.

    I was surprised and grateful that you have a blog. I can actually communicate with you. I have few questions for you, how is your life now after BATG show? and how did you come into the decision to work in the Art of attraction? Are you still thinking of doing the PHD in Berkeley?

    Hopefully you can reply soon when you read this.

    PS: I think that you are cute even when you were known as a geek ;)

    Cheers,
    Angela

  • Curious

    Hi Niels, just a couple of questions that you might know the answers to:

    1) Did the winners of BATG have to share the $250K, or did they each get that amount?

    2) I’m curious: whose personality do you think was most accurately portrayed on the show? Was Ceci really as self-centered and mean-spirited as she seemed on TV? Is Nate really the nicest guy in the world, as he seemed to be on TV?

  • Laney – Cecille remains the same person she was on the show. And unfortunately, Canada is not on my immediate schedule. I was supposed to be in Montreal March 9, but that’s fallen through – I’ll be in Europe instead!

    Dating dummy – I don’t think Nate has a blog, but he’s got a myspace at http://www.natedern.com

    Dale – interesting question. I think there is always a temptation to take the easy way and create a false persona to fake attractiveness. Fortunately, my time with Art of Attraction has really emphasized the importance of simply becoming the most attractive version of yourself. So, yes, I do feel genuine in my increased social capacities.

    Curious – the $250k is split between the winning teammates. I think everyone on the show was portrayed fairly accurately (though Tori and Andrea got kind of the short end of the stick). Nate really is the nicest guy in the world.

  • Jenny

    Hey Niels,
    I just finished watching the finale as well, I’ve been so busy that I had to tape it. I was SOOO glad to see you again on the show even though it was only for a short period. YOU WERE THE HIGHLIGHT OF THE FINALE!! I’m also soo glad that cece didn’t win. I kind of thought the producers bought all of you guys back to be judges because secretly he didnt’ want cece to win either and that would be a sure way to go about doing that hahah!
    Anyways I’m wondering why Jennylee and cece are still friends? I thought Jennylee hated her after the bikini comment she made when you guys were in the elimination room. I’m also curious as to why Megan still hangs out with her too after she’s seen her true personality. Do you happen to know? Did they make up or something?
    And as long as you keep this website up I’ll be reading and commenting still. You’re #1 in my book!!

  • Robyn

    Niels,
    First off, you were super hot with your make over. Cutie! Secondly, I am a little sorry you were paired with Jenny Lee. I thought that she treated you badly. It got better as time went on, but not as good as it should have gotten.

  • Bill (from Atlanta)

    Niels:

    First off, a big hello and a great job on the show. I watched the whole season and just finished watching the re-union show. What came through for me was how great everyone is (well, except CC). What I mean by that is not how attractive you all are but the kind of people you are. Good hearted people. On the geek side, it seemed as if you all banded together, despite the fact that you were competitors. You all seemed to really embrace the growth aspect of the show. By the end, I really didn’t care who won, you were all worthy (except CC).

    It was pretty unfortunate that Nate got saddled with CC. She just never got it, and from what I just saw on the reunion show, it looks like she never will. How can someone be that one dimensional? I think what Nate did (asking that you NOT vote for them) was a very noble gesture. But I think his message to CC fell on deaf ears. Maybee someday, years from now, she will get it.

    Concerning your change in career – I say GO FOR IT! Life is short. Do what makes you happy.

    A big shout out to the rest of the cast! And congrats to Mario!

    be well

    Bill

  • so i have been watching a lot of ucf since the finale of the show. yea i know it has been since feb. anyways, just wondering what you have been up to and all. Please email me or post something again and at least let me know that you are posting. this is one of the first blogs taht i have seen that is not complete b/s

    thanks

  • Amber

    Niels,

    I just finished watching the show! I’d been watching the reruns on Tuesday nights, but I couldn’t wait anymore, so I watched the rest via different means, in my own very geek-esque personal marathon.

    Is it tacky to just shower you with compliments? When you teared up after sending Nate to the elimination room, I was totally touched by what a sensitive person you are… after the makeover I was floored over what a hottie you are… I respected how you stood up for yourself to your partner more than once. I am so glad that you’ve taken so much out of this show and found something you really enjoy.

    I’m finding myself in a similar boat. I got my BS in Computer Science last year, but I’m just not enjoying it; I’m not sure it’s right. Hopefully I’ll figure it out. It would be helpful if they had a BATG where the girls were geeks so I could apply. =D

    Trying to stay on topic… the finale must have been hard, picking between Nate/Cece & Scooter/Megan. Like half of America, I’m a little bit in love with Nate, and I actually expected him to do what he did, as it seems in line with what I knew of him. But did it really matter? Were that many people on the fence and willing to vote for Cece? Are you allowed to share people’s real thoughts on that, or is it a secret? shhhhhhhhhhhhhhh

    Anyway, thanks for letting me ramble. I love the site. I’m glad to see a lot more about you than I ever could have learned from the show.

    Good luck in the present and future!

    Be good,
    Amber