Darva Conger (born September 21, 1965) is a former

emergency department An emergency department (ED), also known as an accident and emergency department (A&E), emergency room (ER), emergency ward (EW) or casualty department, is a medical treatment facility specializing in emergency medicine, the Acute (medicine), ...

nurse Nursing is a health care profession that "integrates the art and science of caring and focuses on the protection, promotion, and optimization of health and human functioning; prevention of illness and injury; facilitation of healing; and alle ...

who in 2000 was selected as the winner of the

reality television Reality television is a genre of television programming that documents purportedly unscripted real-life situations, often starring ordinary people rather than professional actors. Reality television emerged as a distinct genre in the early 1990s ...

show ''

Who Wants to Marry a Multi-Millionaire? ''Who Wants to Marry a Multi-Millionaire?'' is an American reality television special in which 50 women competed in a beauty pageant–style contest to marry a wealthy man whom they had never met, with the wedding being performed at the end of ...

'' Conger served ten years in the

United States Air Force The United States Air Force (USAF) is the Air force, air service branch of the United States Department of Defense. It is one of the six United States Armed Forces and one of the eight uniformed services of the United States. Tracing its ori ...

, on active duty and in the reserves and was stationed at

Hill Air Force Base Hill Air Force Base is a major U.S. Air Force (USAF) base located in Davis County, Utah, just south of the city of Ogden, and bordering the Cities of Layton, Clearfield, Riverdale, Roy, and Sunset with its largest border immediately adja ...

in Utah,

Scott Air Force Base Scott Air Force Base is a United States Air Force base in St. Clair County, Illinois, near Belleville and O'Fallon, east-southeast of downtown St. Louis. Originally Scott Field, it was one of 32 Air Service training camps established af ...

, near St. Louis and also in Korea. She was a medical services specialist and became a staff sergeant. She studied nursing at

Southern Illinois University Southern Illinois University is a system of public universities in the southern region of the U.S. state of Illinois. Its headquarters is in Carbondale, Illinois. Board of trustees The university is governed by the nine member SIU Board of T ...

at the Edwardsville and Carbondale campuses, graduating ''

magna cum laude Latin honors are a system of Latin phrases used in some colleges and universities to indicate the level of distinction with which an academic degree has been earned. The system is primarily used in the United States. It is also used in some Sout ...

''. Conger's mother was American actress

Susan Harrison Susan Stewart Harrison (August 26, 1938 – March 5, 2019) was an American actress. She is most famous for her appearance in the 1957 film noir classic ''Sweet Smell of Success'' as the sister for whom Burt Lancaster has an unhealthy affection ...

''Who Wants to Marry a Multi-Millionaire?'' and aftermath

In the show, which aired as a single two-hour broadcast on February 15, 2000, 50 women competed to be the bride of an unknown millionaire they did not see during the show, except in silhouette. At the end of the show, "millionaire" Rick Rockwell chose Conger to be his wife and married her on the spot. In addition to being wed to Rockwell, Conger won a 3-carat (600 mg) diamond ring and more than $100,000 in prizes. After the

honeymoon A honeymoon is a vacation taken by newlyweds after their wedding to celebrate their marriage. Today, honeymoons are often celebrated in destinations considered exotic or romantic. In a similar context, it may also refer to the phase in a couple ...

, it was announced that Conger was seeking an

annulment Annulment is a legal procedure within secular and religious legal systems for declaring a marriage null and void. Unlike divorce, it is usually retroactive, meaning that an annulled marriage is considered to be invalid from the beginning alm ...

, saying Rockwell had misrepresented himself. The annulment was finalized on April 5, 2000. Conger was the focus of media attention for not only winning the "contest" but also for getting an annulment so quickly after the marriage. After the show aired, Conger made numerous public comments about how she was offended by Rockwell forcibly kissing her on stage, that they never

consummated The consummation of a marriage, or simply consummation, is the first officially credited act of sexual intercourse following marriage. In many traditions and statutes of civil or religious law, the definition usually refers to penile–vaginal p ...

their marriage, and how the entire episode went against her morals. In August 2000, she posed nude for ''

Playboy ''Playboy'' (stylized in all caps) is an American men's Lifestyle journalism, lifestyle and entertainment magazine, available both online and in print. It was founded in Chicago in 1953 by Hugh Hefner and his associates, funded in part by a $ ...

'' magazine. In February 2001, Conger and Rockwell appeared on ''

The Larry King Show ''The Larry King Show'' was an American overnight radio talk show hosted by Larry King. It was broadcast nationally over the Mutual Broadcasting System from January 1978 to May 1994. A typical program consisted of King interviewing a guest, the ...

'' and sparred over comments each of them had made about the other, but Conger also said that she should not have appeared on the program at all and was harsh in her statements about Rockwell.

Later life

Conger faced

Olga Korbut Olga Valentinovna Korbut (born 16 May 1955) is a Belarusian retired gymnastics, gymnast who competed for the Soviet Union. Nicknamed the "Old World sparrow, Sparrow from Minsk", she won four gold medals and two silver medals at the Summer Olymp ...

on an episode of '' Celebrity Boxing'' which aired on May 22, 2002. Conger won by unanimous decision. Later, in 2003, she married physician assistant Jim Arellano, with whom she had one son, Cassius. They divorced in 2009, and she and her son live in

Northern California Northern California (commonly shortened to NorCal) is a geocultural region that comprises the northern portion of the U.S. state of California, spanning the northernmost 48 of the state's List of counties in California, 58 counties. Northern Ca ...

where she works as a

nurse anesthetist A nurse anesthetist is an advanced practice nurse who administers anesthesia for surgery or other medical procedures. They are involved in the administration of anesthesia in a majority of countries, with varying levels of autonomy. Nurse anesth ...

References

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Conger, Darva 1965 births Living people Reality show winners Southern Illinois University alumni United States Air Force non-commissioned officers United States Air Force reservists Women in the United States Air Force People from Carbondale, Illinois American anesthesiologists