Pop Culture - The Honeymoon's Over: Darva Conger

Darva Conger never wanted to marry a multimillionaire. "I was just going to be on TV and wave to my family and friends," she said in an interview with Good Morning America. "We thought it was just a lark." Her decision to participate in that lark, however, started a chain of media events usually res ...erved for music and movie stars, not a career nurse. Looking back, she wishes she had just said no to Rick Rockwell's proposal. But how do you say no in front of 22 million people when you knew from the beginning that this moment was a possibility? "Consequently," she said, "I did nothing." Which meant going along with the wedding, and, like all new brides, having only a vague idea of what was to come. What followed after her "I do" were weeks of media scrutiny and harassment, including reporters hounding her, her family and her friends. With the "honeymoon" now over and Darva having survived her first experience with the media frenzy, she's vowed to make the best of the situation. "I'm courting the publicity now. I need to, to make a living -- being a professional celebrity doesn't pay very well." She knows all this attention will die down eventually. But until then she wants to make the best possible decisions she can. She includes Playboy as one of her well-thought-out moves. "I feel comfortable with these photographs, and that's nice."

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