Did 'The Bachelor' Get Some Practice?

By Todd Peterson

Tuesday November 26, 2002 01:00 PM EST

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Aaron Buerge has been down this road before.

Buerge, the star of ABC's hit reality series "The Bachelor," concluded the show last week with a proposal to bachelorette Helene Eksterowicz, 27, a grade-school psychologist from New Jersey.

But according to MSNBC, this isn't the first time Buerge has been on bended knee.

The Web site has uncovered an old online wedding profile for the 28-year-old banker from Missouri and a previous fiancee named Valerie Zellmer. The Wedding Channel page reveals that Buerge proposed to Zellmer, then 21, a couple years ago while on vacation in Ixtapa, Mexico.

The profile states that following dinner at a restaurant, Buerge suggested he and Zellmer take a walk near the ocean. While outside, Buerge reportedly found "the perfect spot" -- the same one favored by Andy Garcia and Meg Ryan in the film "When a Man Loves a Woman" -- and he dropped to one knee to propose (much like he did to Eksterowicz in front of nearly 26 million viewers ).

Buerge and Zellmer were set to be married in May 2001, though it was not immediately clear why things fell apart.

Regardless, Buerge hinted earlier this season that conditions such as previous marriages were not necessarily important to him. During a date with contestant Gwen in San Francisco, she revealed she had briefly been married.

"We all make mistakes," Buerge responded.

No wedding date has been set for Buerge and his new fiancee, Helene.