JASON MESNICK: "I HAVEN'T DATED SINCE DEANNA"

Jason Mesnick, the new star of ABC's The Bachelor, admits he hasn't been on a date since DeAnna Pappas rejected his proposal on The Bachelorette.
"I haven't dated at all since DeAnna," the single father tells Usmagazine.com. "I wanted to give myself the time to heal so that when I got out there again I was really ready to give whoever I am with the respect and total attention she deserves."
But Mesnick, 32, is looking forward to the opportunity to find love on the 13th season of The Bachelor.
"I am ready," he says. "I am through it and open to giving these girls everything I can to find the one that is right for me.
"All I am missing, really, is someone to share [my life] with," he adds. "There's no guarantee but 25 girls? I mean it's a real opportunity to find just one."
See photos of Us' best celeb weddings.
Mesnick also reveals he was approached to do The Bachelor at the "After the Final Rose Special" by the show's producers.
"All I could think was, 'Oh man, I am so excited' - mostly because really I am just the most regular guy you could ever come across and for this to be happening to me is unbelievable," he explains. "It just leaves me completely speechless."
Mesnick says "all of the guys from The Bachelorette" contacted him when his Bachelor gig was announced.
"They were so kind and said it couldn't have happened to a better guy," he tells Us.
Pappas and fiance Jesse Csincsak, both 26, have set a wedding date of May 9, 2009.
The Bachelor begins in January.
See photos of reality TV's curse.

Usmagazine