Amanda Wins 'The Bachelor'

April 26 -- In the end, didn't you expect a 23-year-old blonde to win?

While not exactly a milestone in feminism, ABC's The Bachelor turned into a ratings sensation and concluded Thursday night with Amanda Marsh of Chanute, Kan., beating Trista Rehn, a 29-year-old pediatric physical therapist and dancer for the NBA's Miami Heat.

After taking both women home to Dallas to meet his parents, Michel purchased a ring at a Harry Winston boutique and made his final choice. "I feel like we have covered an incredible distance together," Michel said to Marsh, an events planner. "I think we've come a long way."But in the end, he only showed her the ring. Instead of proposing, he asked Marsh to move to California and live with him. "I think we have even further that we can go before we walk down the aisle together," he said to her. "I want to make sure that we feel the same way about each other outside of the fantasy world of mansions and limousines."

Because they were obligated not to reveal the outcome of the show, Michel and Marsh didn't see each other for weeks. But on Good Morning America today, Marsh announced that she's "definitely falling in love with Alex."

"This is very real to me," she said."We are dating and very excited and happy to kind of get on with our lives in a more normal way."

Michel Rejects Rehn, After Telling Her, ‘It’s You’

The series that began five weeks ago with 25 women from a variety of backgrounds competing for Alex Michel, a 31-year-old, Harvard-educated management consultant. Michel spent time with the contestants in groups and on individual dates, often looking into the camera to describe in confessional tones how fantastic they all were.At the end of each episode, he narrowed the number of women at the "rose ceremony." The jilted ones sometimes walked away in tears; one hyperventilated in the third episode and required medical treatment.

Before Michel made his final choice, ABC aired a reunion of the 23 rejected women. Now that The Bachelor is over, ABC is searching for the next set of contestants from bachelorettes and bachelors. Just go to ABC.com to apply.