Booted Bachelorette contestant Kasey Kahl says his instantly-famous body art is here to stay.
After getting a six-inch wrist tattoo to prove his love to Ali Fedotowsky, Kahl went home rose-less anyway on this week's show. Does the 27-year-old ad exec regret getting stamped? "No, not at all," the Californian told UsMagazine.com during a conference call on Thursday.
"The tattoo is awesome. It is definitely an amazing thing that I got for myself."
On the June 14 episode of the show, 25-year-old Ali endured an awkward museum date with Kahl; he told her "I'm here to guard and protect your heart" and broke into song. After she told him she couldn't give him a rose, Kahl rushed to a tattoo parlor to get inked with an image of a heart being protected by a tattoo. Kahl's efforts kept him on the show for an extra week; he was eliminated on the June 21 episode.
"I got it to show that I was genuine and sincere about who I am," Kahl told Us this Thursday. "It doesn't necessarily mean that that works for Ali."
"In the long run," Kahl explained, "I always want to guard and protect the heart of my future wife or girlfriend or whatever. But, in return, I want the same thing for me."
Kahl also tamped down talk that the tat has been altered since. "I would never change the tattoo. It [represents] so much of who I am. It represents that no matter who I am with. I don't want to change that just like I don't want to change who I am."
The body art has even become his trademark among Bachelorette fans, he added. "Everyone always wants to see the tattoo," the reality star said. "It's awesome, because I get to show a piece of me and who I am to everyone!"
Did show producers egg him on to pull the stunt? Not exactly. "You catch yourself doing things you normally wouldn't do," he admitted of the intense taping. "I normally don't go around getting tattoos. I've never got a tattoo in my life…But I made all the decisions of what I did and what I did not do."
