Oxford native stars in reality TV show

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LOVE-LY — Derek Lovely is a 28-year-old native of Oxford, who was named Maine's hottest bachelor by Cosmopolitan magazine in 2010. On April 17, he will appear in one episode of a new Lifetime® dating show, "Love for Sail," which aired for the first time on April 10.

OXFORD —  Derek Lovely, a 28-year-old native of Oxford, is now a TV star on a new Lifetime® dating show called "Love for Sail," which premiered on April 10. 

The second episode, in which Lovely will appear, airs April 17.

Lovely is a graduate of Oxford Hills Comprehensive High School, and graduated from the University of Southern Maine with a degree in Communications. He played basketball for both schools, and is currently playing on a local men's league.

Lovely lives in Portland, and works full-time as the manager for Port Resources in Gorham, a group home for mentally disabled adults. He is also a supervisor for UPS in Portland.

Meanwhile, his parents, Kurt and Pam Lovely, still live in Oxford.

Lovely never dreamed he'd be on a reality TV show.

But after an unexpected encounter in the Old Port with a modeling agent, Lovely's life took an exciting turn — in 2010, Lovely was named Maine's hottest bachelor by Cosmopolitan magazine.

"It's pretty neat," said Lovely. "There is a lady here in Portland, she's an agent, and she came up to me randomly down in the Old Port. She told me she was going to submit me into this contest. I was just like, 'okay.' I didn't know much about it; she told me to write a 400-word paragraph on what I do, basically, for work."

Caron Bryan of Port City Models & Talent, his agent, submitted Lovely's photo, along with some stats to the Cosmo editors in New York City. About three months later, Lovely was notified that he had won.

"I went down to New York twice, once for the photo shoot, and then the second time we were on the Today Show and MTV for the press release," said Lovely. "They [MTV] threw us a private party. It was just a really neat experience."

The show, he says, is also an experience he never thought he'd get the opportunity to have. He hopes that it will eventually open many more doors for him.

Along with working two jobs, this Mainer has been spending some time on the high seas, among other young men and women, looking for love.

Last December, Lovely spent five days filming for "Love for Sail," which takes place on a luxury cruise ship called Norwegian Epic as it sailed from St. Thomas to the Bahamas and then to Miami.

Each episode of the new show takes a different set of four single women and six single men and puts them on a cruise liner with two match-making cruise directors. While on the cruise, the men and women spend time getting to know one another at mixers, on dates, and during other steamy excursions.

When asked what it was like filming the show, Lovely said, "it was definitely something I'm not used to."

"We got on the boat and had group dates where we all got to meet each other, but the one-on-one dates were a little uncomfortable because we had a camera right in our face pretty much the whole conversation," Lovely explained.

"After the first day, the second day, you get used to it; but the first couple of days were awkward because the camera was right there the whole time."

While the show will run eight different episodes, Lovely said that he will only be appearing in one.

"They just matched us up. The women [decided] if they wanted to go on a date," said Lovely. "The premise of the show was basically to get dates, and to try to find love, which is really hard to do in five days."

And, said Lovely, whatever went on in front of the camera was real life.

"It was all me; there was no acting at all," said Lovely. "It was 100 percent asking each other questions, getting to know each other, one hundred percent honesty. There was no acting involved."

Lovely said he's signed a year-long contract with Lifetime, which gives him the opportunity to model or continue his TV work for the duration of the contract.

"I've already gotten offers from VH1 to be on a reality show," but Lifetime® unfortunately declined the offer, said Lovely. 

"I am applying for other shows. I hope something comes from Lifetime®. I think it's a respectable network, " said Lovely. "I didn't want to do the Jersey Shore style [show.] It's just not me. I didn't want to be portrayed like that.

"But it's a fun gig. The whole experience is really cool. It's a once in a lifetime opportunity for me. From the small town of Oxford, to do something like that is really unique."

According to Lovely, since filming in December, he still keeps in touch with the girls he dated on the show. And, since being named Maine's hottest bachelor, Lovely said that he's been receiving emails from girls from all over.

"I can't spill the beans too much, but we all still talk. We have our own group on Facebook, and we keep each other updated," said Lovely. "We talk about everything that's going on in our lives, and how excited we are for the show to come out."

If Lifetime® does a spin-off of the show, Lovely said that he most definitely would "do it in a heartbeat."

"But as of right now, we will see how this goes, and where it goes from here," he said.