Alex Michel

Alexander Mattheus Michel (born August 10, 1970 in Charlottesville, Virginia) is an American businessman, producer, and television personality, best known for being the first star of The Bachelor during its premiere season in 2002.

Michel was born in Charlottesville, Virginia, the son of a corporate executive and a marriage and family therapist. He has two younger sisters.

In high school, Michel was the valedictorian, student body president, homecoming king, and captain of the swim team. He graduated with honors from Harvard College, majoring in History and Literature, and was a member of the varsity swimming and water polo teams. During college he spent a summer working as an analyst in the Office of Management and Budget in the Executive Office of the President of the United States.

After college, he worked in the U.S. Embassy in Mexico. He later became a documentary travel video producer, which took him to Australia, Brazil, China, Fiji, India, Japan, Kenya, Malaysia, New Zealand, and Venezuela among others. He speaks Spanish and some Portuguese.

He later returned to school and earned an MBA at Stanford University's Graduate School of Business in 1998. He worked at CNET as a television producer, and at the Boston Consulting Group as a management consultant. He was named the Sundance Institute New Producing Fellow for 1993.

At the age of 31, a friend at Harvard Business School sent Michel an email about auditions for a new reality show in which a bachelor chooses a wife out of 24 female contestants. After seven weeks filming The Bachelor, he chose Amanda Marsh over runner-up Trista Rehn, but did not propose to her. After dating Marsh for a year, the couple broke up.

After the airing of The Bachelor, Michel returned to the business world and did a variety of media projects. He became a spokesperson for Match.com, guest-starred on The Re-Run Show, and became a spokesperson for Princess Cruises. He is currently a media industry executive in New York City.