'Bachelorette' mom Jill Kufrin gets makeover ahead of final episode

Prior Lake American

Prior to the last year, Prior Lake resident Jill Kufrin had only caught a few episodes of "The Bachelorette," when her daughters turned it on when they were at home.

Since her daughter started appearing on the show, she's watched every episode.

"This is a totally new experience," Jill said.

Prior Lake High School graduate and Jill's daughter Becca Kufrin signed up to be on the most recent season of "The Bachelor" starring realtor and race car driver Arie Luyendyk Jr.

Then, Jill — who worked at Grainwood Elementary School in Prior Lake for 20 years before retiring in 2013 — and other members of Becca's family found themselves on national television during the hometown episode, where the lead travels to the contestants' homes to meet their families.

"I thought they did our family's edit very well," Jill said. "I was pleased. I think we showed we are very loving, caring. ... What they showed is what I pretty much said with how I felt about the process and the show."

Arie Luyendyk Jr. ended up proposing to Becca on the season finale before breaking off the engagement (shown unedited on national television) to pursue runner-up Lauren Burnham.

Becca was then announced as the next "Bachelorette," which meant the Kufrin family would be making another television appearance during the finale episode in the Maldives which, while filmed months ago, will air on Monday.

After the "Bachelorette" announcement, the staff at the Ridgedale Center in Minnetonka reached out to Jill about doing a makeover — which is the VIP Experience that the center offers — for the episode.

"At the time I wrote back and said, 'thank you, but I'm not interested,'" Jill said. "I just didn't know what it would entail. ... As Becca's season went on and they let us know, I think it was two weeks before, that she was going to this tropical island to meet the two guys — then reality started hitting that I'm going to be on national TV for two days meeting these two guys and maybe I should ask if they'd be willing to help me pick a few outfits."

The stylist, Jodi Mayers, then asked about Jill's style, what she likes to wear and what the weather on the tropical island. (Jill could not tell Mayers, at the time, that the island was the Maldives — just that it was tropical).

"We had an appointment that following week to meet with her and I was nervous," Jill said. "I didn't have any idea of what to expect. ... I had nothing to go on because I'd never done anything like this in my life."

Once she arrived at the center, a bouquet of roses, a mimosa and a whiteboard reading "Which outfit would Uncle Gary choose?" greeted Jill. In the week before her arrival, Mayers had pulled outfits from a variety of stores based on what Jill had told her she liked.

Jill then spent the next several hours trying on various outfits, shoes and jewelry.

"I just felt so pampered and listened to," Jill said. "If I didn't like something, they didn't pressure me. ... We kind of landed on three outfits that I could take with me."

Jill — joined by her brother "Uncle Gary" who made an appearance on the show last season and his daughter — then had lunch and had her hair and makeup done at one of the center's salons before a photoshoot with the chosen outfits.

"I felt so good in the Maldives," Jill said. "I felt confident, I felt I had a style and outfit and shoes and everything."

The experience was much different than the hometown episode during "The Bachelor," Jill said.

"Nothing was done for us for that," Jill said. "They come into your house. You just wear whatever you want to wear, so it was totally different."

In the Maldives, Jill decided on white jeans and a white tank with a floral top and a green top to keep cool to meet Garrett and Blake, Becca's final contestants.