LinkBack URL
About LinkBacks
Here's an article from the local paper about Stephanie T
Link Here
Rising star
Family gathers to watch ‘Stephanie T.’ on TV show
By Trevor Stokes
Published: April 10. 2007 3:30AM
When “Stephanie T.” and her younger sister, Ashley Tipper, were growing up, Ashley said the two would pretend to be on TV, mainly doing commercials for Circuit City and Cocoa Pebbles.
“She was always so much better at it than me,” Ashley said.
Well “Stephanie T.,” as she’s known on ABC’s dating reality show “The Bachelor,” no longer needs to pretend.
Stephanie T. has become the latest television celebrity from the Shoals, just weeks after Zac and Angela Hacker competed on “Nashville Star.”
“She’s been really nervous about the shows,” Ashley said before the Tipper family
gathered to watch Stephanie, the rabble-rousing competitor who is one of 25 women vying to win a man’s heart.
The man: Andy Baldwin, 30-year-old U.S. Navy lieutenant and tri-athlete stationed in Hawaii.
Stephanie T.: 27-year-old organ donor coordinator, alum of Rogers High School and the University of North Alabama who Entertainment Weekly dubbed as “The One Everyone Is Going to Hate.”
On the other hand, Star Magazine’s April 2 issue noted her as one of four favorites to win.
But as the first one to get the “first impression rose” and an exclusive date with Andy on the yacht, perhaps all the other women are jealous.
On last week’s episode, contestant Lindsay called Stephanie T. “kind of heinous” after the local, who now lives in Folly Beach, S.C., got the first rose. Later, Lindsay didn’t receive a rose and got kicked to the curb.
But Stephanie showed her confidence on Monday’s program.
“I plan on getting rose after rose until I get a ring on the finger,” Stephanie said during Monday’s episode, during one of several teasers that lead up to her date on a yacht.
“It’s a rental,” Stephanie’s stepfather joked.
“We used to go on cruises and had to give her Dramamine (motion sickness medication),” her mother said.
During their date, in a bid to emulate the hit movie “The Titanic,” Stephanie and Andy stood at the tip of the ship and Stephanie flapped her arms. “Andy, I’m flying,” she said, which brought laughter from her family.
Before, she told her competitors, “If the opportunity is there, I’m not turning it down,” she said of having a potential first kiss with the bachelor. (She got her kiss, but it wasn’t the first on the show.)
But as the date progressed, the editors cut back to the other women who waited at the house and cut up Stephanie T. as she sailed the Pacific Ocean.
“When I get back from my date, I’m going to run back with my rose,” Stephanie said during the episode.
True enough, Andy offered her a rose, which means that she gets to stay.
Drama aside, her family is proud of her.
During Monday’s episode, at a cross-generational gathering, several times when Stephanie appeared on screen, the family would cheer and clap.
“It’s just a wonderful experience to see your daughter on TV,” said beaming mother, Cathy Markovitz.
During the six-week taping period, Stephanie had no contact with her family, even on her birthday. Stephanie is now one of 12 contestants remaining on the show.
“She’s always wanted to model and go to Hollywood. Period,” her mother said.
Reply With Quote
Originally Posted by rizzo0904;2323445; 
