A Hudson native and daughter of Step2’s chief executive officer made her television debut Monday night on ABC’s popular reality show The Bachelor.
Caila Quinn, 24, was born in Westlake and is a graduate of Western Reserve Academy in Hudson, her father, Streetsboro toymaker Step2’s CEO Chris Quinn, said in a telephone interview Monday.
And spoiler alert: According to Internet blogger Reality Steve and other websites, Caila Quinn makes it at least to the final four contestants from a field of 28 vying to become bachelor Ben Higgins’ wife.
Caila Quinn, a software salesperson in Boston and a Boston College graduate, lists Hudson as her hometown in her show bio on the ABC website.
Her father said the whole family considers Northeast Ohio as their home.
Quinn said he was limited in what he could say since the family had to sign contracts limiting their comments while the show aired. ABC declined to make Caila Quinn available, a customary practice until a contestant has been eliminated.
When asked what he thought about his daughter looking for love on a reality TV show, Chris Quinn said: “I didn’t want to crush her Cinderella dreams, which is really the truth. The reason she wanted to go on the show was she felt a connection with the bachelor, Ben Higgins, and felt like he was a real and genuine person that she could establish a relationship with.”
Quinn said he and his wife, Rosanna, whose family immigrated to the Cleveland area from the Philippines when she was 7 years old, didn’t think Caila would make it onto the show.
“She tried out with a lot of other people. We love our daughter and adore our daughter,” he said.
Quinn said he planned to watch the show debut with his parents.
The family was not in contact with Caila during the taping a few months ago. He knows the results, but he can’t share.
“I’m proud of her. She was authentic and genuine. Those are the qualities we think are incredibly important,” he said.
Quinn also said though Caila had done some freelance modeling to make “a few extra dollars,” it’s not a career aspiration and she wasn’t on the show “to become a Hollywood starlet, but to hopefully find a long-term relationship.”
Caila was a marketing major in college and had internships with New Balance and TJMaxx, her father said.
Chris Quinn and his wife returned to Northeast Ohio last January when he took the top job at Step2. It was a homecoming for the couple who met in 1989 and lived in Akron, Cleveland and Bay Village. The couple moved from Boston, where Quinn was an executive for New Balance, to be closer to his wife’s family in Northeast Ohio and for Quinn’s new job. They also have a son, Chris Jr., 21, who is a student at Boston University.
Staff writer Rich Heldenfels contributed to this report. Betty Lin-Fisher can be reached at 330-996-3724 or blinfisher@thebeaconjournal.com. Follow her @blinfisherABJ on Twitter or www.facebook.com/BettyLinFisherABJ and see all her stories at www.ohio.com/betty.