09:33 AM EDT on Thursday, May 19, 2005

BY ANDY SMITH
Journal Television Writer

Warwick native Krisily Kennedy sounded remarkably perky yesterday for someone who had just been rejected on national television.

"I'm doing great," she said.

Kennedy was one of the final two contestants on ABC's reality show The Bachelor. On Monday night, bachelor Charlie O'Connell picked the other woman, Texas nurse Sarah Brice, over Kennedy.

Speaking on her cell phone from Los Angeles, where the final live episode of The Bachelor was shot, Kennedy said she was not caught completely by surprise.

"I kind of expected it a little bit," she said. "The conversations between us had changed. He used to call all the time and tell me how much he missed me. Then he just wasn't calling as much anymore."

Kennedy said that when O'Connell came into her dressing room during Monday night's broadcast, she had an idea why he was there. (For one thing, he was accompanied by two Bachelor camera crews instead of the usual one.)

Kennedy held back her tears, and took the news relatively calmly.

"I wanted to be strong for Charlie, because I know how difficult it was for him," Kennedy said.

She said she didn't let herself cry until she was brought out before the studio audience and saw her family.

She describes her feelings now as "bittersweet." Kennedy said she was friendly with Brice, whom O'Connell picked over her. But it still hurt some not to be chosen.

Kennedy, 25, is a former Miss Rhode Island USA who works at her cousin's hair salon, Michele Martin Salon in Cranston, and as a bartender at the Mardi Gras, also in Cranston.

Kennedy said she had no regrets about going on the show.

"It was a great opportunity for me," she said.

"The best thing about it was that I did learn to open myself up and express my feelings. I do think there is that guy out there who will make me a better person," she said.

Kennedy said she's been asked more than once whether she'd like to reverse roles and go on The Bachelor's sister show, The Bachelorette. Then she'd get to pick the men.

"I'd need some time to think about that," Kennedy said. "It would take a lot of coaxing for that. I don't know if I would want to put myself through all that again."

On the other hand, Kennedy said she has been bitten by the show-biz bug, and is thinking about saving her money, moving to Los Angeles, and getting an agent.

Kennedy said she'll be in California with her family until this weekend. Then she plans to take a week off before going back to work -- "unless I get an offer out here first."

With The Bachelor over, Rhode Island's reality TV hopes are now pinned on boxer Peter Manfredo, who is scheduled to fight for $1 million next Tuesday in Las Vegas on the finale of NBC's boxing show The Contender.

Rhode Island being Rhode Island, Kennedy knows Manfredo from the days when she was Miss Rhode Island USA. She said she left a message on his voice mail wishing him luck.

"I said now that I was out, he had to win," Kennedy said.