KINGSTON — A few weeks ago, Kingston’s Kaity Biggar was handed the final rose by “The Bachelor,” Zach Shallcross, on the reality TV show, and the couple got engaged.
Born in Sarnia, Biggar moved to Kingston with her family when she was a year old and would go on to attend Lancaster Drive Public School and Bayridge Secondary School. After high school, she took a one-year health sciences course at St. Lawrence College in Kingston before doing her nursing degree in a joint program run by the college and Laurentian University, working part-time jobs while she was in school. The 28-year-old, who also worked at Kingston General Hospital, relocated to Austin, Texas, a year or so ago to continue her nursing career.
Since the show wrapped, Shallcross and Biggar — who was cast on “The Bachelor” after her aunt submitted an application on her behalf — have been busy doing the interview circuit.
On Thursday afternoon, it was the turn of the Kingston Whig-Standard, her hometown newspaper, to ask her some questions, which she answered over the phone. This interview was edited for clarity and condensed.
Q: You returned to your nursing job right after filming of “The Bachelor” concluded in the fall. Do people at work look at you differently now? Have any of the patients recognized you?
A: “Patients haven’t recognized me yet. It’s funny, though, because I’ve walked into a patient’s room when ‘The Bachelor’ is playing, and I’ve been on the TV and they don’t even recognize me. It’s so funny. I always have makeup on (when I’m) onscreen, but, when I’m nursing, I don’t have any makeup on, so maybe that’s why, but who knows? There have been some nursing students, some people that I work with who’ll ask for a picture and whatnot, but for the most part, it hasn’t been overbearing or anything.”
Q: The show wrapped shooting in the fall. How hard has it been keeping the results of the show a secret?
A: “Honestly, it was pretty easy. I told my family, obviously, and I told my best friends, but that was about it.”
Q: While your life obviously took a life-changing turn with the show, what was it like for your family and friends?
A: “They were super excited for me. They were very supportive and, honestly, they just wanted a good man for me and, thankfully, I found one. He’s incredible. If (the show) was the way that I had to find my person, then so be it. They just wanted to make sure I was happy.”
Q: What would you have done had your “hometown date” segment taken place in Kingston, rather than Austin?
A: “It was in the fall, so we’d probably just rent out a restaurant (her favourite is Woodenheads), film there and then go back to my house and film the hometown part, meeting the family. But I think if it was in the summer, it’d be different. I’d love to go to the pier, go for a walk downtown. That’s really cool to me. Hopefully, he’s going to come in the summertime. That’s the plan. I’m going to take him to all of my favourite spots.”
Q: “The Bachelor” has millions and millions of viewers, and being on it, you were suddenly the centre of a lot of attention on social media and the like. How did you deal with it?
A: “Honestly, everybody was very sweet and supportive, and I got bombarded with lots of love. And for that I’m so grateful, so blessed for that. I’m still ‘average Joe’ Kaity from small-city Kingston, Ontario. Nothing’s really changed.”
Q: Did people you haven’t seen or heard from in years reappear in your life after your sudden rise to fame?
A: “Yeah, the ones that, you know, say, ‘Hey, Katie, we should get a drink.’ I see right through it. So I keep a close circle and I love my friends, my family, and I keep it there.”
Q: Now that you’ve had a week or two since the finale and the secret’s finally out, have you and Zach had a chance to spend a low-key night at home just watching TV or a movie rather than renting out a museum for a date (the couple had a sleepover date in the Natural History Museum of Los Angeles County early on in the season)?
A: “He hasn’t moved to Austin (from California) yet. He’s actually coming to Austin tonight. We’re gonna go out for a drink, maybe a bite to eat and just kind of relax with our feet up, and I think he just wants to have a nice night with just the two of us. … So for us it’s been go, go go. Finally, with him being in Austin, we’ll be able to do that. And we’re just looking forward to doing that this weekend. And, yeah, it’s awesome.”