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 care of pati ...

nurse Nursing is a profession within the health care sector focused on the care of individuals, families, and communities so they may attain, maintain, or recover optimal health and quality of life. Nurses may be differentiated from other health c ...

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 unfamiliar people rather than professional actors. Reality television emerged as a distinct genre in the early 19 ...

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 the ...

'' Conger served ten years in the

United States Air Force The United States Air Force (USAF) is the air service branch of the United States Armed Forces, and is one of the eight uniformed services of the United States. Originally created on 1 August 1907, as a part of the United States Army Signal ...

, in active duty and 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 northern Utah, just south of the city of Ogden, and bordering the Cities of Layton, Clearfield, Riverdale, Roy, and Sunset with its largest border immediately adjacent to ...

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. Scott Field was one of thirty-two Air Service training camps established after the U ...

, 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 Tr ...

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 So ...

''. 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 immediately 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 ...

, it was announced that Conger was seeking an

annulment Annulment is a legal procedure within Law, secular and Religious law, religious legal systems for declaring a marriage Void (law), null and void. Unlike divorce, it is usually ex post facto law, retroactive, meaning that an annulled marriage is c ...

, 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's forcibly kissing her on stage, that they never

consummated In many traditions and statutes of civil or religious law, the consummation of a marriage, often called simply ''consummation'', is the first (or first officially credited) act of sexual intercourse between two people, following their marriage t ...

their marriage, and how the entire episode went against her morals. She then posed nude for ''

Playboy ''Playboy'' is an American men's lifestyle and entertainment magazine, formerly in print and currently online. It was founded in Chicago in 1953, by Hugh Hefner and his associates, and funded in part by a $1,000 loan from Hefner's mother. K ...

'' magazine in August 2000. In February 2001, Conger and Rockwell appeared on ''

The Larry King Show The ''Larry King Show'' is an American overnight radio talk show hosted by Larry King which was broadcast nationally over the Mutual Broadcasting System from January 1978 to May 1994. A typical show consisted of King interviewing a guest, then t ...

'' 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, ; russian: Ольга Валентиновна Корбут, group=nb (born 16 May 1955) is a former gymnast who competed for the Soviet Union. Nicknamed the " Sparrow from Minsk", she won four gold medals and two silve ...

on an episode of ''

Celebrity Boxing ''Celebrity Boxing'' is a FOX television show, in which celebrities whose careers and/or notoriety had diminished were pitted against each other in exhibition boxing matches. The contestants wore headgear during the fights, which were scheduled ...

'' 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 (colloquially known as NorCal) is a geographic and cultural region that generally comprises the northern portion of the U.S. state of California. Spanning the state's northernmost 48 counties, its main population centers incl ...

while 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. A survey pu ...

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