FARGO
It's been almost a year since Abbi Noah was sitting on a couch in front of a national TV audience trying to figure out if she was sitting next to her "Real Chance of Love."
Twelve months later, the reality TV star from Detroit Lakes, Minn., is still looking for love.
But unlike other reality TV notables, she isn't searching for the next fix of fame.
The girl who was dubbed "Corn Fed" for the VH1 show "A Real Chance of Love," has forsaken the fame game by moving away from Los Angeles, shelving her dreams of becoming a TV host and reconnecting with her roots.
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Rather than join the crowd of ex-reality stars hoofin' it in L.A., Noah has returned to Detroit Lakes and is currently working at her family's Noah Insurance Co.
"It's not the most fun job in the world, but I wanted to go back to a normal life," Noah says while on a break at her job. "For some reality stars, it's hard to go back to a normal life."
Indeed. That's why MTV and VH1 can continue to recycle their pseudo-celebrities on various "new" reality shows.
But while she doesn't close the book on a return to TV, Noah says you won't see her looking for more love via reality show dynamics.
She's still wary from her experience with Ahmad "Real" Givens.
For those who need a recap, Noah's fame came when she outlasted a gaggle of gals to become the love match for Givens, a long-haired singer and wannabe cowboy who paired with his brother Chance to find love on a reality show.
As the series ended with Givens expressing his feelings to Noah, it looked like true love might have been found. Months later, though, on a reunion show he seemed more interested in preserving his celebrity machismo than telling Noah romantic rhymes.
"We haven't talked since our reunion show," Noah says. "I tried to reach out to him a couple times after the reunion show because he said in front of everyone he wanted to try to work it out. But he didn't call back."
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Her voice doesn't crack when remembering this past. But her tone is altered enough to suggest she had true feelings for the man.
The tone continues as she explains that the supposed lovers were broken up before "Real Chance of Love" began airing in October 2008.
Part of the break-up was disinterest from Givens. Part of it was mistrust from Noah, who says she had to find out Givens proposed to a different reality star - before they met - from someone other than him.
Even more bruising was watching her reality show debut knowing its hope for love had already been extinguished.
"I had to watch it. It was heartbreaking," she says. "I would text him and tell him I missed him. He did the same. But I couldn't trust him."
Even without the commitment of her beau, Noah moved from Fargo to Los Angeles to find out if she could turn her sudden exposure into a career as a TV host. To pay bills, she made celebrity appearances at clubs and hoped of becoming a TV host. But after a while, hanging with friends who were chasing fame became tiresome. She wanted to go home. So last September she returned to Detroit Lakes.
"I came out here to be normal again," Noah says. "I don't think the fame and fortune thing was for me."
Yet, if there's a constant thread from her reality TV lifestyle to now, it's that Noah's still looking for love.
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She hasn't dated anyone since Givens.
"I would love to find somebody and get married and settle down and just be a mother," Noah says.
But, "It's hard for me to date anybody. ... Guys don't really take me seriously as a normal person, they think I'm a reality star.
"A lot of guys will show interest in me because I was Corn Fed. I want guys to be interested in Abbi."
She doesn't sound desperate or remorseful when talking about her situation. Rather, Noah comes off as a woman content about her decisions and confident in her future.
But she's still hopeful about love.
"I am looking for Mr. Right," she says. "And I know Mr. Right is looking for me."
The Forum of Fargo-Moorhead and the Herald are Forum Communications Co. newspapers.
