Newnan’s reality TV darling, DeAnna Pappas, found love with a snowboard instructor from Breckenridge, Colo., Jesse Csincsak. The two talk about first impressions, speed dating and having a working relationship.

JEZEBEL: Jesse, what was your first impression of DeAnna?

Jesse: The first night of the show, it was like seeing a Barbie doll and thinking that she must be [like] that girl who is too good to talk to you and isn’t going to [give you] a second look. She proved me wrong.

JEZ: How about for you, DeAnna?

DeAnna: I was thinking, “My dress is really thin,” and I was feeling mad that this guy showed up in jeans and a T-shirt.

JEZ: Was it hard to pare down the 25 guys?

DeAnna: I think, like for anyone, you walk into a bar and out of 25 guys there are probably five, maybe six, guys who you would like to get to know. It was like that.

JEZ: Was there much time to get to know the guys, or was it as quick as it seemed?

DeAnna: It’s fast. On the show you see five seconds of an eight-hour date. Even when you get to where you’re going, you have to wait for the camera crew to set up. It is a long process, [during which] a lot of the time we talk. Maybe it is on camera, maybe it isn’t.

JEZ: Were you instantly attracted to Jesse?

DeAnna: It was definitely not an instant attraction with Jesse. There is obviously something about him that is kind of different and cool. I typically date the tall, dark, handsome Abercrombie model types. But when I sat down to talk with him, I realized that he is one of the coolest guys I have ever met in my life. I didn’t feel like I had to impress him. He didn’t feel like he had to impress me. It was just easy. It felt right.

JEZ: Who did you think would be the last men standing?

DeAnna: I thought my final two would be Graham and Jeremy, and that I would let Jason go home at final four and Jesse at final three. Somewhere along the way, Jesse stepped up and kind of crossed that friendship line. At first he was just kind of this cool friend dude. He never really flirted with me or made me feel that there was a romantic connection between us. But when we went to ride four-wheelers in Palm Springs, Calif., he had me that day.

JEZ: Jesse, at what point did you know you really might be a contender?

Jesse: When she took me on the date with Natasha Bedingfield. But she was still dating like nine dudes, and I was like, “If she keeps me around until hometowns and meets my mom and dad and [they] like her, we will go from there.” They loved her, so that was when I opened up to her–that night.

JEZ: Did you think you would fall in love?

Jesse: Going into this, I was that guy who would sit at home and make fun of people on reality shows trying to fall in love on TV. So when I actually went on the show and fell in love, I was like, “I am so that guy.”

JEZ: What about you, DeAnna?

DeAnna: Because it was my second time on the show, after having been in the previous season’s The Bachelor, I knew that it could happen. I mean, I fell for Brad, but I can’t help it that he didn’t fall for me. It worked out in the end for the right reasons.

JEZ: Now that the show is over, how is it working out?

DeAnna: We are very busy. The show stopped airing on July 7, and we have been together 24/7 nonstop since July 1. It’s hard. Relationships are hard to begin with, and ours is magnified.

Jesse: It is tough. When you get married, you go to work and your husband goes to work. Our work is us. Everyone wants to talk to us and interview us, so when we go to work, we go together. When we go home, we go together. We are a normal couple. We get in fights just like everyone else, but things are great and we are in love.

DeAnna: There are all kinds of blogs on the Internet–people that write about the show, about us; there are still people that are hating us. Obviously, it’s hard to deal with, but we try not to read those things. We can’t change everyone’s minds. And, unfortunately, yes, a part of us is a business relationship. But when we go home, we try to make it about home. We work hard at it. No Internet. No talking business. It is a learning process. And don’t get me wrong. If you count the show, we have been together about four months, give or take. Four months and we are engaged.

Jesse: It is tough coming to Georgia, because I don’t know anyone here, so I kind of cling to her. And when we go to Colorado, she doesn’t know anyone so she clings to me. And when we are in Los Angeles, [neither] one of us knows anyone. We are pretty much splitting our time. We’ll be in Breckenridge for the winter, and back and forth to Atlanta and L.A.

DeAnna and Jesse: We feel like we’re going to be together forever.