Local 'Bachelorette' star concentrating on philanthropy
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SEATTLE -- It was a cringe worthy moment.
On season eight of "The Bachelorette," Seattle's Doug Clerget went in for a kiss just as Emily Maynard dumped him.
"A lot of people know me as Awkward Kiss Doug now," he said with a laugh.
It's the type of scene just made for reality TV. And, in this case, it really was made for TV.
Show producers nudged Doug to go for that kiss.
"So I kind of got set up a little. The producers knew I was going home," he said.
It's just one of Doug's stories from behind the scenes. When he was driving away from Emily, viewers saw him crying and emotional.
"I don't think I've cried since '83," Doug insisted. "I'm not a crier. I was probably five the last time I cried."
So what got the waterworks flowing? Right before the show taping began, one of the most important people in Doug's life passed away. He lost his grandfather to leukemia, and the emotion was still raw.
"They're like, 'We didn't get enough about your grandpa so let's talk about your grandpa.' I'm like, 'I'm not going to talk about him.' They say 'We really need this before you go. We don't have enough footage on this.'"
Doug cried about his grandfather, then producers threw in a question about Emily.
"When I saw it I texted some of the producers and said, 'Really guys?'" he said.
Those producer tactics behind him, the single dad who wore his heart on his sleeve is back in Seattle, still single and still drawing plenty of attention.
His son, 12-year old Austin, described the constant flow of women approaching his dad with a roll of his eyes and a here-we-go-again attitude.
"It gets annoying sometimes because it's people going crazy," Austin said. "It's like, oh my God! It's Doug Clerget!"
Doug and son Austin take the fame in stride, and Doug doesn't regret his time on the show. It was an around-the-world adventure and a platform to share his philosophy of giving back.
"When I look back at my life, I want it to be worth something," Doug said. "I want to say I didn't just spend my life making money. I spent my life doing something that mattered and making the world a better place."
But how? Should he fight the cancer that took his grandfather? Support the science that helped his son Austin who was born premature? Maybe the organizations helping foster children like Doug and his sister? Or was there a way to help even more?
DollarPerMonth.org was born. The concept is simple but unique. Users commit a donation of a dollar or more per month then vote for their favorite of three featured charities.
At the end of the month, all three charities benefit. The top ranked charity earns 50 percent of the donations. The second voter getter wins 30% and the remaining 20% goes to the third vote getter.
DPM researches all charities before including them on the site, and they don't charge the charities a fee or percentage for participating.
In its first year, DPM distributed more than $35,000 to 36 charities. But Doug has a much higher goal of raising and handing out $10 million a month. That type of success relies on more donors signing up and inviting their friends through social media.
Non profits and donors alike flood Dollar Per Month with praise, almost as often as women take to Twitter asking Doug for a date.
"I'm really looking forward to the day when I fade to black and Dollar Per Month is that really cool organization that everyone knows about," he said.
As for his single status, Doug says he has little time to date. He is raising Austin, working 50 hours or more per week on Dollar Per Month and still works part time in commercial real estate.
He has watched a few episodes of this season of the Bachelor, but he said he and Bachelor Sean Lowe are still good friends.
He already knows who Sean chooses and says they're happy. Would he give us a hint? Of course not.
The Bachelor airs on ABC Monday nights at 9 p.m.
On season eight of "The Bachelorette," Seattle's Doug Clerget went in for a kiss just as Emily Maynard dumped him.
"A lot of people know me as Awkward Kiss Doug now," he said with a laugh.
It's the type of scene just made for reality TV. And, in this case, it really was made for TV.
Show producers nudged Doug to go for that kiss.
"So I kind of got set up a little. The producers knew I was going home," he said.
It's just one of Doug's stories from behind the scenes. When he was driving away from Emily, viewers saw him crying and emotional.
"I don't think I've cried since '83," Doug insisted. "I'm not a crier. I was probably five the last time I cried."
So what got the waterworks flowing? Right before the show taping began, one of the most important people in Doug's life passed away. He lost his grandfather to leukemia, and the emotion was still raw.
"They're like, 'We didn't get enough about your grandpa so let's talk about your grandpa.' I'm like, 'I'm not going to talk about him.' They say 'We really need this before you go. We don't have enough footage on this.'"
Doug cried about his grandfather, then producers threw in a question about Emily.
"When I saw it I texted some of the producers and said, 'Really guys?'" he said.
Those producer tactics behind him, the single dad who wore his heart on his sleeve is back in Seattle, still single and still drawing plenty of attention.
His son, 12-year old Austin, described the constant flow of women approaching his dad with a roll of his eyes and a here-we-go-again attitude.
"It gets annoying sometimes because it's people going crazy," Austin said. "It's like, oh my God! It's Doug Clerget!"
Doug and son Austin take the fame in stride, and Doug doesn't regret his time on the show. It was an around-the-world adventure and a platform to share his philosophy of giving back.
"When I look back at my life, I want it to be worth something," Doug said. "I want to say I didn't just spend my life making money. I spent my life doing something that mattered and making the world a better place."
But how? Should he fight the cancer that took his grandfather? Support the science that helped his son Austin who was born premature? Maybe the organizations helping foster children like Doug and his sister? Or was there a way to help even more?
DollarPerMonth.org was born. The concept is simple but unique. Users commit a donation of a dollar or more per month then vote for their favorite of three featured charities.
At the end of the month, all three charities benefit. The top ranked charity earns 50 percent of the donations. The second voter getter wins 30% and the remaining 20% goes to the third vote getter.
DPM researches all charities before including them on the site, and they don't charge the charities a fee or percentage for participating.
In its first year, DPM distributed more than $35,000 to 36 charities. But Doug has a much higher goal of raising and handing out $10 million a month. That type of success relies on more donors signing up and inviting their friends through social media.
Non profits and donors alike flood Dollar Per Month with praise, almost as often as women take to Twitter asking Doug for a date.
"I'm really looking forward to the day when I fade to black and Dollar Per Month is that really cool organization that everyone knows about," he said.
As for his single status, Doug says he has little time to date. He is raising Austin, working 50 hours or more per week on Dollar Per Month and still works part time in commercial real estate.
He has watched a few episodes of this season of the Bachelor, but he said he and Bachelor Sean Lowe are still good friends.
He already knows who Sean chooses and says they're happy. Would he give us a hint? Of course not.
The Bachelor airs on ABC Monday nights at 9 p.m.
Wait you mean this TV show is not reality and unscripted?... OMG ... I thought everything on TV was real.... honestly if people are that dumb tha tis more entertaining than any tv show I remember watching ....when I had a tv at home that is... I got rid of it several years ago and am glad it is GONE... I don't need a tv....don't want another tv.... my wife and I are HAPPY to simply plug in a projector and watch a movie on the screen when we feel like it else we watch it on our computer screens...but paid television offers us NOTHING...programs like this one are even stronger reasons I will not even have my kids watching the garbage they put on it these days...heck even the stupid advertising bombardment this page gives is reason for me to NEVER watch the articles with videos to play as even occasionally when I do the player breaks and then I have to watch another 30 sec COMMERCIAL to see a article presentation that was not worth the 60 seconds I waited for it to even load....
I have a feeling the previous poster didn't read the entire story. Personally, I wish they would have not mentioned the "Bachelorette" aspect of the story and put the ENTIRE focus on what he is doing. Which is a VERY good thing.
 @ReallyRUSerious I didn't have to read it. I saw the whole thing on the air. And it's not like they haven't done a worthless story on the Bachelor/Bachlorette on the air before.
It really must be a slow news day if KOMO's wasting time with this, not to mention a good slice of the news at 11. WIsh KOMO would quit doing these Bachelor stories since I don't think anyone really ever cares. The only thing I got out of it was them proving just how fake those dumb shows really are!
 @Zoso Maybe you should read the whole article first. Since I've known Doug since high school and know he is a down to earth guy who can always be counted on by his friends and family and the  friends he considers his family. DPM is a GREAT organization that even my kids save money for. Not to mention a great role model for Austin,who is a great kid with an awesome sense of humor. The focus of the interview was not to talk about the show or what happened,that's how media gets fans drawn in to read the article,but rather to bring focus to DPM. But if he has the ability to use "Bacherlorette" to bring attention to DPM,the more power to him. It'ts the end result of helping others that is what's important. I was actually really impressed with the article and how factual it really was.
 @Alicia Taylor I didn't have to read it. I saw the whole thing on the air. And it's not like they haven't done a worthless story on the Bachelor/Bachlorette on the air before.