Bachelorette rejects
two proposals

Later tells Jerry she just wants to be friends

Donna Svennevik / ABC

Jen Schefft told "Bachelorette" contestant Jerry they were better as friends.

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updated 1:55 p.m. ET March 1, 2005

NEW YORK - "Bachelorette" Jen Schefft received two marriage proposals on the ABC Monday night finale, but didn't accept either. Schefft wavered between Jerry and John Paul until the very end. Both suitors popped the question, but Schefft denied John Paul and asked Jerry to wait so that she could be sure.

In a live show following the episode (which had been taped nearly three months ago), Jerry again brought out a wedding ring, but Schefft told him, "I think that we both came to the realization that we were better as friends."

After a shocked crowd gasped, Jerry relented, telling her, "I love you for that."

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Earlier, Schefft, 28, told John Paul that "something is just not there." John Paul took the difficult news well, but blew off some steam in the limo afterward, saying he felt "betrayed and fooled."

A new season of "The Bachelor" with actor Charlie O'Connell (brother to Jerry) premieres March 28 on ABC.

But questions of the reality series' staying power remain. This installment of "The Bachelorette" has drawn only around six million viewers each week.

Likewise, the flame of romance has also faded. Of the nine couples brought together on "The Bachelor" and its female counterpart, only two remain together.

Trista and Ryan Sutter married in December 2003 after being united in the first season of "The Bachelorette." Byron Velvick and Mary Delgado from last fall's "The Bachelor" also remain a couple.

Schefft had previously appeared on "The Bachelor."