‘Bachelorette’ dishes on infidelity, Jake

LOS ANGELES — Ali Fedotowsky ditched "The Bachelor" last season for her job.

The smiley former Facebook advertising account manager now has a new gig as "The Bachelorette." Fedotowsky is the latest leading lady in a long line of single men and woman — 20, to be exact — selected to sift through a stack of suitors in hopes of finding the perfect match on the interconnected, long-running ABC reality dating franchise.

Fedotowsky previously chose her career over Jake Pavelka, who was dumped by Jillian Harris on the fifth edition of "The Bachelorette." Harris was rejected in the 13th chapter of "The Bachelor" by Jason Mesnick, runner-up on the fourth edition of "The Bachelorette" with DeAnna Pappas, among those dumped by Brad Womack on the 11th "Bachelor" edition.

Fedotowsky will trek from Los Angeles to such locales as New York, Iceland, Turkey and Tahiti during her quest for love (premiering May 24 on ABC at 9 p.m. EDT). In a recent interview, the 25-year-old Clark University graduate reminisced about Pavelka, discussed her most athletic suitors and recalled when a boyfriend cheated on her — while she was sleeping.

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AP: Why did you want to do "The Bachelorette" after what happened last season with Jake?

Fedotowsky: My decision to choose my job over Jake last season was really hard. I think it worked out for the best because he is now in love and has his relationship, and he's engaged and happy, and I'm happy, and that's really all that matters. This time, I decided I wanted to do what's best for me, and that's putting love first.

AP: Have you seen or spoken with Jake since the show? Do you still have feelings for him?

Fedotowsky: I haven't seen Jake since the show. I wanted to watch him on "Dancing With the Stars," because I heard he's really great. I don't have those kind of feelings. I will always care for him as a friend. He's a great guy and a great person, but I've definitely moved on.

AP: How do you feel about infidelity? Have you ever had a boyfriend cheat on you?

Fedotowsky: I've had a boyfriend cheat on me — in a bad way — while I was sleeping in another room. It was in another room of my house. It's wrong. It's unforgivable. Do I necessarily think once a cheater always a cheater? No, I don't think that, but I think once you've done it once in a relationship, it's very hard to recover in that relationship.

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AP: Tell us about some of your suitors, like professional wrestler Justin Rego and baseball player Roberto Martinez.

Fedotowsky: Justin is an emotional guy. You would think that being a strong wrestler that he would not really be that way, but you'll be surprised the other side that you see of Justin. Roberto is a great guy. You might see a little bit of baseball on the show.

AP: Are you happy with the experience? Are you in love? Are you engaged?

Fedotowsky: Do I have tan on my ring finger? I'm very happy. I just made the decisions that were the ones I felt the most confident in along the way. I'm very proud of each decision that I made, whether or not I fell in love, you'll have to tune in to see.