​As far as celebrities go Haliburton has had its fair share visit and reside in the area.

Add another one to the list since the airing of the reality-television show Bachelor Canada because Lara Campbell was one of the women on the reality television show broadcasted by the Women’s Network recently. Campbell has periodically worked as the automotive finance manager for Curry Chevrolet (when she isn’t working in the Cobourg sister dealership) over four years in Haliburton.
The show is based on the premise of an eligible bachelor looking for love. This year it is former pro baseball player Chris Leroux. Campbell was one of 20 women who were chosen from an open casting call based on an application. There are challenges group dates and one-on-one dates as selected by Leroux. The total number of women who all live in the same home under the watchful eyes of producers and cameras  is reduced each week when the bachelor selects women to go home until he is left with one woman.

Unfortunately Campbell  was seen departing the show on Wednesday night Nov. 1. The small town woman was most proud about how she stayed true to her ideals and gained a new perspective on life.

Campbell wasn’t too emotionally invested and could see her connection with Leroux just wasn’t as strong as he had with others.

“The first night that we spent time together there was a potential connection there but then each week we just spent less and less time and I think he was developing stronger faster connections with everyone else. I think that is the reason I didn’t continue” she said.

The silver lining to her early departure is that there weren’t any  emotional connections  established.
“It would have got harder because there would have been more emotions involved but at the point that I left we both weren’t invested with each other so that made it easier. But I can imagine it would get harder as more feelings developed” she said.

Coming into the show she was optimistic about her chances despite the un-predictability of reality shows.

As mentioned in her biography for the show Campbell’s mother was listed as a hero in her life for her strength. She drew upon that to be true to herself.

“She just reminded me to ‘be yourself and don’t do anything you wouldn’t do in your real life.’ I think that’s what I did. I just stayed true to myself and I wouldn’t get involved with any confrontation with my normal life so I wasn’t about to do it there either” she said.

Campbell is the daughter to Curry Chevrolet owner Bill Campbell who was very encouraging before going on the show.

“My family was super supportive. Actually I was very surprised the most supportive person was my dad. He would say ‘Of course you should do this. It’s an opportunity of a lifetime. Why wouldn’t you do it?’ I think the extra push from him and the support from him it gave me the extra confidence to go and do it” she said. Her extended family were excited wearing T-shirts with “Team Lara” while watching the weekly episodes that air Wednesday nights.

When asked if she would go on a reality show again she hesitated and said “I’m not sure if I’m the right reality type but I’m definitely glad I went on this one because I think I learned so much about me and what I want in life. It was really eye-opening.”

Campbell admitted she was used to her own routine and doing things her way. Now she is less “uptight” and is more open to change.

“It was really good for me to go through this because I had to let go of some of those things” she said.
She lives in the small town of Baltimore Ont. which is located outside of Cobourg where she also works. For the past four years she has worked at Haliburton’s Curry Chevrolet and for its sister dealership in Cobourg.

Campbell had never been on a speed date or experienced anything like this before and admits she prefers one-on-one dates.

Growing up she watched The Bachelor with her friends. However being on the show she learned to appreciate the work that goes into production.

“I see all the hard work that goes into making a show like this. From putting it all together” she said.
Some reality shows have a bad reputation. However she credits Bachelor Canada with staying focused on the narrative of finding love.

“It is more about the love story. They do stay true to that” she said.​