Sorry, Charlie: Trista Chooses Ryan

By Stephen M. Silverman

Thursday February 20, 2003 10:57 AM EST

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Household name Trista Rehn -- aka "The Bachelorette" -- has found someone to put out the flame in her heart: firefighter Ryan Sutter, 27, of Vail, Colo., whom she selected on Wednesday night's finale to the ABC hit reality series.

Rehn's choice sent strapping financial analyst Charlie Maher packing. Maher, from Hermosa Beach., Calif., was seen by many as the frontrunner going into the final episode. As he left by limo after getting the bad news, Maher said he felt like he'd been hit by a bus.

But then, in addition to looking great in his firefighter uniform, sensitive Sutter also writes poems.

Once she announced her choice, Rehn, 29, a St. Louis physical therapist and former Miami Heat cheerleader, witnessed Sutter fall to his knees to ask the woman he'd known for six weeks to marry him.

"So, Trista Nicole Rehn," he said, presenting a ring, "will you marry me?"

Barely audible, she replied, "Yes," before breaking into tears and telling her newly hatched fiancé: "You stepped out of my dreams and into my world ... My walls have finally crumbled, and I can now tell you without reservation that I am in love with you."

Ryan replied that he loved Trista "with every ounce of who I am."

As also shown on the finale, Rehn took both guys home to meet the folks, and Trista's mother and stepmother both swooned over Maher (all but asking if they could watch him clip his chest hair), though the shy Sutter scored big points by privately seeking approval from Trista's father before asking for her hand.

Obviously, father knows best.