Darva Conger is looking back on the “dark times” that followed her experience as Rick Rockwell’s bride on the reality series “Who Wants to Marry a Multi-Millionaire” 25 years ago. “I did it, and I had some dark times, but I also had some really fun times,” Conger told People in an interview published Saturday.
But she added that the show brought a lot of good to her life, too. “I got to go to the Playboy mansion with my friends and it was so fun. I wouldn’t have my son, who is the light of my life. I wouldn’t have some of the experiences I had,” Conger, who now lives in Northern California, continued.
Conger joined the cast of the series in 2000 at the encouragement of her coworkers. At the time she’d recently ended a relationship and was “interested in a free week in Vegas,” she explained to the outlet. What happened next came as a shock. Rockwell chose Conger as his wife and that’s when things began to change.
“Rick was just odd from the beginning,” Conger said. “I assumed it was because we’d been thrown together in this strange circumstance, and figured okay, I can fix this later, let’s just go through with it.”
Conger asked for an annulment of the marriage, and only agreed to go on their so-called honeymoon as long as a chaperone accompanied them and they each had their own bedroom. After news Rockwell had a restraining order against him broke, the media and paparazzi began to stalk Conger’s home.
These days things are a lot more relaxed for Conger. “Now I’m just working, raising my son, doing my woodworking on the side, and living a really comfy, laid-back life,” she also said. “But it was crazy back then, having to defend myself against all the names I was called. A whore. A gold-digger.”
You can read the entire interview at People.
